Text Structures in Wheels of Change, Part 2 Answers

Read this excerpt from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.Some attribute the breakthrough to Ernest Michaux, a French carriage maker, though others credit Pierre Lallement, who worked for him. At any rate, the new velocipede was propelled by pedals and cranks attached directly to the axel of the front wheel, which was slightly larger than the wheel behind it. Forward progress could be stopped or slowed by pedaling backward. However, with iron tires and only an ineffective steel spring under the seat to absorb bumps in the road, this velocipede was a challenge to ride. It quickly earned the nickname "boneshaker."

Consider this text feature from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change of by Sue Macy.

Read this excerpt from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.What interested Pope, however, was a display in one of the English buildings, where two manufacturers from Great Britain presented the latest bicycles. Pope was tantalized by these bicycles, called high wheelers, which had huge wheels in the front and tiny ones in the back. A Civil War veteran and entrepreneur, he wondered about the machine's possibilities as both a business venture and a means of transportation. If only it didn't seem so impossible to ride. Pope dismissed the idea of investing in this new vehicle until he encountered another one the following spring, during a jaunt on a horse near his Massachusetts home. All at once, a man on a high wheeler sped by him. When Pope's horse couldn't catch the cyclist, even at a gallop, the businessman suddenly saw the potential of traveling on two wheels.

Read this excerpt from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.The crash caused his horses to run away, Hough said, flipping over the buggy and killing one of the animals. "I consider the bicycle to be the most dangerous thing to life and property ever invented," exclaimed Hough, who suffered a broken arm and finger in the accident. "The gentlest of horses are afraid of it." In the end, the judge upheld the right of New York's parks commissioners to ban bicycles and fined the cyclists five dollars each. Pope was not alone in his determination to fight for the rights of American cyclists. In the spring of 1880, he had joined author Charles Pratt and others in forming the League of American Wheelmen ("the L.A.W."), an organization that pledged to "promote the general interests of bicycling, to ascertain, defend, and protect the rights of wheelmen, and to encourage and facilitate touring."

Consider this text feature from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.Kate Parke, Chicago, Illinois: Bicycle Lock, 1890 “My present invention has, primarily, for its object to provide [an] improved lock mechanism whereby bicycles may be locked to prevent them from being used without the owner’s consent or to prevent them from being stolen.”

Consider these text features from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.In England, high wheelers were called penny farthings because the relationship of the front wheel to the back wheel resembled that of the large British penny coin to the smaller farthing (quarter penny) coin.

Read this excerpt from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.Inventors began to explore the idea of attaching cranks or pedals to the velocipede's wheels as early as the 1820s. Although a few made successful models for personal use, no one developed a prototype that gained widespread acceptance until the 1860s. Some attribute the breakthrough to Ernest Michaux, a French carriage maker, though others credit Pierre Lallement, who worked for him. At any rate, the new velocipede was propelled by pedals and cranks attached directly to the axel of the front wheel, which was slightly larger than the wheel behind it. Forward progress could be stopped or slowed by pedaling backward.

What solution does Pope provide for the new American bicycle industry in Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy?

Read this excerpt from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.On its members' behalf, the L.A.W. campaigned for separate bicycle paths in cities and pointed out to farmers that better rural roads would save their horses from injury. The smooth surfaces, claimed the organization, would also allow farmers to use fewer horses to move their goods to market, resulting in an annual saving of $700 million on horse feed alone. Before long, farmers stood squarely with the L.A.W. in the campaign for better roads. For their trouble, they saw the farmland along newly paved roads double in value.

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