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garrett augustus morgan was born in 1877 and was the child of two former slaves. after spending his childhood in kentucky, morgan set off for cincinnati, ohio when he was just 14 years old. there, he obtained a job as a sewing-machine repairman after he became fascinated with how sewing-machines worked. he became so good at learning the inner-workings of machines and how to fix them, that he soon acquired a patent for a new and improved sewing machine and opened up his own business. after years of success, morgan was able to save enough money to enjoy the luxury of owning an automobile. this was considered a luxury, because many people during this time in history could not afford to purchase an automobile. people mainly traveled by horse-drawn wagons, bicycles, streetcars, or walked to get to their destination. during this time, the streets of ohio were crowded with people, and there were only manually operated traffic signals that switched from red to green for major intersections. this led to many collisions and fatalities.

one day, morgan witnessed a terrible accident that gave him an idea for a new and improved traffic signal. he developed and designed an automatic signal that issued a warning to drivers that the light was going to change. his warning signal was the precursor to the yellow light in traffic signals today. this allowed drivers and pedestrians to clear the intersection before new traffic entered. morgan’s idea was such a success, he sold the rights to his invention to general electric for 40,000 dollars.

morgan was always developing new ideas to fix problems he saw in the world. in 1916 he developed his version of the gas mask. this invention proved when a group of miners became trapped in a shaft under lake erie after a natural gas explosion. morgan’s breathing device rescuers enter the shaft and save two lives. his design became the prototype for gas masks used later during world war i.

in 1943, morgan developed glaucoma, which is a condition that damages the eye’s optic nerve and can result in blindness. he lost most of his eye sight as a result. just before his death in 1963, morgan was honored by the united states government for his traffic signal invention and was recognized for his part in saving lives during the lake erie gas explosion. his inventions saved many lives throughout the world, and his work continues to inspire people today.

in the passage, “ready, set, go! ”, the author states that morgan’s, “inventions saved many lives throughout the world”. how does the author support this statement? use evidence from the text to support your response. write your response in paragraph form.

** use the race writing strategy to you answer the prompt.**

r- restate the question
a- answer the question
c- cite evidence from the text
e- explain your evidence

r- people agree that inventions are important
a- answer the question
c- cite evidence from the text
e- explain your evidence