The Industrial RevolutionDawn of the Industrial Age

Background to the Revolution

• Since the beginning of civilization, most people had lived in small farming villages. In the mid-1700s, this way of life began to change.

• This period of change lasting from 1750 – 1850 is known as the Industrial Revolution.

• The Industrial Revolution began in Britain.

A Turning Point in History• In 1750, most people used handmade tools to

farm the land. They lived in small cottages, lit by candles. They made their own clothes and grew their own food. Very few people were adventurous enough to travel very far from their homes.

• With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, this way of life began to disappear. Stores offered a variety of machine-made goods; people began to move to cities; new inventions led to improvements in communication and transportation.

• Medical improvements led to the use of anesthetics, antiseptics, and vaccines.

A New Agricultural Revolution

• The industrial revolution actually was brought on by a new agricultural revolution that led to population growth.

• The first agricultural revolution was when people learned to farm and domesticate animals. The second was a time of technological improvements in farming.

• The Dutch led the way in this revolution by building dikes or dams to hold back the sea and increase the amount of land available for farming.

• The Dutch also combined fields and began to use fertilizer to increase production.

• British farmers began to expand on the Dutch experimentation by mixing kinds of soil and using new methods of crop rotation. They began to grow turnips to replenish the soil. Jethro Tull invented the seed drill – a device which deposited seeds in orderly rows rather than scattering them wastefully.

• The British also began to publish their ideas in farm journals. King George III was nicknamed “Farmer George” because he wrote articles about his own farm.

• Rich landowners also initiated the process of enclosure, or taking over and fencing off lands that had once been shared by peasants.

• Enclosure actually increased farm output and decreased the amount of labor needed on the farm.

• However, it had a high human cost, as farm laborers and small farm owners were forced out of work and off their land. With nowhere else to go, they moved to the cities, where they formed the backbone of the labor force that would fuel the Industrial Revolution.

The Population Explosion

• Increased agricultural production contributed to a rapid growth of population that is still continuing.

• This was not because of increased birth rates, but because of declining death rates.

• Inventions like Edward Jenner’s development of a smallpox vaccine contributed to the declining death rate. Increased agricultural output meant a decline in famines. Women ate better, so they were healthier and had stronger babies. Better hygiene and sanitation also led to a decline in disease.

New Technology

• Due to developments in technology, new sources of energy and new materials enabled business owners to change the way that work was done.

• During the Industrial Revolution, windmills and water wheels were used to create power to fuel machines. Coal was used to develop the steam engine, which could then power machines.

• The steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen, but it was not until it was improved by James Watt that it became a vital power source.

• Coal was not only useful as an energy source, but it was also vital to the production of iron.

• New methods of producing iron were developed when Abraham Darby used coal to smelt iron, or separate iron from its core. He later developed a way to remove impurities from coal.

• Darby’s experiments allowed him to produce better-quality and less expensive iron. This led to the widespread use of iron for things like railroad ties.

Review Question

What three factors led to the Industrial Revolution?

1. New Agricultural Revolution

2. Population Growth

3. New Technology

The Industrial RevolutionBritain Leads the Way

Why Britain?

• There are several key reasons why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain.1. Natural Resources - Britain had access to a lot of natural resources necessary for industry – this included coal, iron, and people to mine the coal and iron, build factories, and run machines.2. Technology – Britain had skilled mechanics who were eager to meet the demand for new, practical inventions.

Why Britain?3. Economic Conditions – The British economy had long prospered from trade, so there was plenty of capital – or wealth to invest in new enterprises, such as shipping, mines, railroads, and factories. People were willing to risk their capital.4. Political and Social Conditions – Britain’s stable government supported economic growth. The strong navy could protect the empire and overseas trade. Religious attitudes fostered economic growth, since many people came from religious backgrounds that fostered hard work and thriftiness. People were also focused more on worldly desires like gaining wealth than on the afterlife.

Changes in the Textile Industry

• The first industry to be affected by the Industrial Revolution was Britain’s largest industry – textiles.

• In the 1600s, textile production was a cottage industry – most of the production of textiles took place in people’s homes.

• The problem with cottage industry is that production was slow. New inventions began to speed up production of cloth, and eventually led to the rise of factories.

Textile Inventions1. John Kay – flying

shuttle –wove cloth faster than the threads could be spun

2. James Hargreaves – Spinning Jenny – could spin several threads at once.

3. Richard Arkwright – used water power to speed up spinning even more

• The new machines were too large and expensive to be operated at home. Thus, manufacturers built long sheds to operate the machines. These sheds became the factories. They were located near moving streams, in order to provide water power to operate them.

• Later, the machines were operated by steam engines, which meant that factories no longer had to be located near running water. They could be moved to the cities, where there was a large labor pool.

• One worker described an early factory by saying, “The same [amount] of labor is now performed in one of these structures which formerly occupied the industry of an entire district.”

Revolution in Transportation

• As production increased, entrepreneurs needed faster and cheaper ways to move goods from place to place. Some capitalists invested in turnpikes, or privately built roads that charged a fee to travelers who used them.

• Others dug canals to connect rivers or to connect inland towns with ports.

• Engineers built stronger bridges and better harbors.

• The greatest revolution in transportation, however, was the steam locomotive. It led to the growth of railroads.

• Since railroads did not have to follow the rivers, manufacturers could locate their factories anywhere and use the railroad to ship their goods over land.

• The first major rail line, from Liverpool to Manchester, opened in England in 1830. By 1870, rail lines crisscrossed Britain, Europe, and North America.

• Water travel also increased. In 1807 Robert Fulton developed a steamboat using Watt’s steam engine. The boat traveled at a record breaking 5 miles an hour!

• By the late 1800s, steam powered boats were also being used on the oceans. They could carry 10-20 times the amount of the old wooden boats.

The Rocket, built in 1830, traveled 40

miles an hour!

• The Industrial Revolution triggered a chain reaction. Increased demand led to the inventions of newer, more efficient machines.

• As the supply of goods increased, the prices decreased, so the demand increased.

• This led to the invention of newer and better machines.

NewMachines

LowerPrices

IncreasedDemand

IncreasedSupply