The War of the Currents: the Race to Electrify the World

In the late 1880’s, two systems of electricity battled for prominence. Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Power Station used direct current (DC) to light up New York City’s streets. This system proved inefficient compared to its budding rival, alternating current (AC), which was backed by the brilliant minds of the Westinghouse Corporation. The battle that ensued, the “War of the Currents,” signaled the turning point in electrical generation and transmission. The outcome determined how power would be produced and distributed to New York City, the nation and the world.

The demand for electric power emerged after the invention of the incandescent lamp in 1879. Many of the wealthy New Yorkers hurried to have their homes lit and soon became heavily invested in Edison’s DC system. Meanwhile, Nikola Tesla, a young Croatian immigrant, obtained a partnership with George Westinghouse and together they began to improve upon AC. AC’s ability to travel longer distances using smaller and less expensive wires threatened DC’s position. DC required a power station every square mile making it less efficient and more expensive than AC.

AC’s accelerating popularity caused Edison to retaliate with propaganda campaign emphasizing the dangers associated with AC. These accusations were accompanied by sensationalized public displays as Edison and his colleague Harold Brown electrocuted over one hundred animals using AC, the victims being mostly street cats and dogs. The 1903 public electrocution of Topsy, a circus elephant, was the most notable of these terrible demonstrations. This cruel event occurred almost ten years after the establishment of AC as the premier power system.

In 1887, Edison was approached by dentist Dr. Alfred Southwick to give his opinion on alternative means of execution. Edison, opposed to capital punishment, refused at first to make a public statement. However, with DC losing ground, Edison saw an opportunity to further his position that AC was lethal and...