Chapter 9

Main Idea

From the mid-1800s, industrialism spread rapidly across Europe to North America and beyond. During this second Industrial Revolution, the western world acquired greater wealth and power than any other societies in the past. Big businesses emerged that dwarfed those of other eras. Economic and social changes transformed daily life. By the early 1900s, the western world had taken on much of the structure and patterns of life that are familiar to us today.