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APWH Ch. 24 Guiding Questions Key
1. What factors combined to cause the Industrial Revolution?
Industrialization is an enormous change in world history and therefore is caused by not
one thing but a combination of forces. As the chapter states, the cause of the Industrial
Revolution is one of the great questions of history. One force was population growth in Europe
in the eighteenth century due to improved diet and greater control over disease. Second, the
Agricultural Revolution is an important force with the enclosure of lands, new crops, and
fertilizers. Third, is the growth of “cottage industries” as well as the scientific innovations and
the improved transportation networks with construction of roads as well as canals and railroads.
(In order to obtain full credit students need to provide specific examples where necessary)
2. Why did the Industrial Revolution take place first in Britain rather than in another country?
Although the British were innovative, they were no more innovative than some other
nations; however, they made practical applications of those innovations much more quickly.
Furthermore, they were the world’s leading exporters of tools, guns, hardware, and other craft
goods. British engineers tried new approaches to problems. Britain also had many skilled
refugees, who brought important skills with them. In addition, British society was a factor in
promoting the Industrial Revolution. The British monarchy was less powerful and oppressive
than those in other countries, and political power was less centralized. Because class lines were
less sharply drawn, moving up through the classes was more feasible in England. British
superiority in shipping and water transportation played a crucial part in the era before railroads,
when land transportation was prohibitively expensive. Finally, British financial institutions were
most aptly suited to the Industrial Revolution. Examples can be seen in the writings of Adam
Smith, as well as in joint-stock companies and the insurance system.
3. What five revolutionary innovations made possible the Industrial Revolution? Give one
example of each of these innovations, and describe how each was adapted.
The five innovations were (a) mass production through the division of labor; (b) new
machines and mechanization; (c) an increase in the supply of iron; (d) the steam engine; and (e)
the electric telegraph. Josiah Wedgwood and the porcelain industry were one example of
applying mass production techniques originally developed by the Chinese. Wedgwood broke
down the work into individual steps, maximizing the use of labor and other resources within each
step. The cotton industry exemplified the role of machines in the Industrial Revolution.
Machines such as the spinning jenny, the mule, and the power loom produced cotton textiles at
lower costs. Watermills improved both production and quality. As for the enormous increase in
iron production, it allowed great expansion and improvement of transportation through the
building of bridges, railroads, and steamships. More iron also meant that more machinery could
be built more cheaply, and larger factories were constructed to accommodate those machines.
Iron production was boosted by the innovation in removing impurities from both iron and coal.
Coke production allowed Britain to produce iron without depending on dwindling charcoal
supplies, as other nations did. The most important innovation, however, was in energy. James
Watt’s improvement of previous designs of the steam engine made available cheap and portable
energy sources—and insufficient energy seemed to have been the only constraint on rampant
industrialism. Power for pumping water from mines, operating mills, and driving ships and trains
let the Industrial Revolution careen forward. The advent of railroads coincided with the
development of the electric telegraph. After Alessandro Volta invented the battery in 1800, many
inventors tried to apply electricity to communication. The first practical telegraphy systems were
developed almost simultaneously in England and America. In England, Wheatstone and Cooke
introduced a five-needle telegraph in 1837 that remained in use until the early 20th century. That
same year, the American, Samuel Morse, introduced a code of dots and dashes that could be
transmitted with a single wire. No longer were communications limited to the speed a ship could
sail or a horse could gallop.
4. Describe the working conditions encountered by women and men during the Industrial
Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution created both positive and negative effects for industrial
workers. On the positive side, many new opportunities opened up for those with particular skills,
such as machinists and metal workers. Wages for these specialties and others also increased. For
other workers, the Industrial Revolution seemed like a nightmare. Most work was boring.
Repetitive motions mandated by the mass-production system made workers feel disassociated
from their work. Employers added new machines and ran them faster and longer. Health
conditions deteriorated, causing infant mortality rates to soar and average life expectancies to
plummet. Many factories sought women and children as laborers. National and international
mass migrations of workers began, as workers moved from rural areas to industrializing cities.
Industrial accidents were commonplace, and workers were allowed little say in controlling their
workplace. The work day routinely lasted fourteen to sixteen hours.
5. What were some of the ideological responses to industrialization? Explain each of the
responses you mention.
There were a broad range of responses, including laissez faire, utilitarianism, positivism,
utopianism, Chartism, and workers’ protests. Laissez faire, literally a policy of “let them do,”
was embodied in Adam Smith and his The Wealth of Nations. According to laissez faire, if
individuals sought personal gain and advancement, the general welfare would improve as well.
Government should protect private property, should not interfere in business or in the relations
between workers and management, and should allow tax-free international trade. Utilitarianism
was a theory propounded by Jeremy Bentham, who said that an enlightened Parliament could
legislate improved social conditions to maximize “the greatest happiness of the greatest
number.” The count of Saint-Simon espoused positivism, which argued that the poor should
work in ideal communities, led by scientists and benevolent business leaders. Utopians wanted to
create communal societies that would provide prosperity for all. The Utopians were unrealistic,
but did have a lasting influence on late-nineteenth-century socialism. Chartists presented
petitions to Parliament to improve working conditions and helped create a legacy of labor
organizing. Workers themselves responded, sometimes in the extreme, with riots, strikes,
boycotts, violent protests, and sabotage. However, workers often protested without violence—by
unionizing, presenting demands in common, and petitioning factory owners and political
representatives.
Bonus (Optional)
6. How did industrialization alter the relationship between Western Europe and the nonindustrialized world? How is the Nemesis a symbol of these changes?
Industrialization transformed Western Europe’s relationship with the non-industrialized
world profoundly. In the early modern era, Europe sought luxury goods from India and China
such as silk, tea and cotton textiles but that as a result of industrialization Europe began to
demand raw materials from Egypt, India and China instead. England began to build steam
powered gunboats like the Nemesis which they used to penetrate China and humiliate the large
Chinese military. This gave the West a distinct military advantage over China and showed the
power of industry in spite of China’s size, history and population. In Egypt and India,
industrialization was not delayed but rather stopped when it had hardly begun. Egypt developed
a system of state capitalism, where the central government was the major benefactor. European
advisers built factories, foundries, and shipyards. The aim was to lessen Egypt’s dependence on
the Ottoman Empire, but instead it became more dependent on Great Britain. The British
intentionally flooded Egypt with cheap manufactured imports to prevent Egypt from becoming
powerful. India, once the world’s largest producer and exporter of cotton textiles, suffered from
the domination of the British East India Company. For example, after the Industrial Revolution
began in England, the BEIC flooded India with duty-free textiles. The former handcraft workers
could find no employment, and most became landless peasants or emigrated overseas when
slavery ended. Like other colonies, India became an exporter of raw material and an importer of
manufactured goods. The British, however, controlled the Indian government and were more
interested in encouraging British imports than in furthering Indian manufacturing.