Download The Industrial Revolution

NATS 1760 6.0 B – Lecture 11 – The Industrial Revolution
- For our purposes, the scientific revolution was a 17th century event, the industrial
revolution started in the 18th century and extended into the 19th
- Industrial Revolution is frequently portrayed as a change in technology and
management, but there were political and economic influences as well
- Naylor looks at the competition between nations and the shift from mercantilism
to capitalism
- Thus there is a technological change happening at the same time as an economic
change
- Mercantilism is an economic system based on the idea that nations should have
more exports than imports, and that they should hoard specie (gold or silver)
Precursors to the Industrial Revolution
- At the beginning of the industrial revolution England had various resources,
technologies and organizations:
o Agricultural technologies that emerged from population and land deficit
(plow, horse collar, field rotation, hydraulic engineering), increased
surplus, freed up labor for manufacturing
o Started to use pit coal rather than charcoal, which allowed for the
development of steam engines
o Established universities, professional organizations, guilds
o Established (poor) road infrastructure (horses & carts) & waterways for
transport of goods and people
o A resource base in distant colonies, and the ability to bring resources
home (navigation, astronomy, telescopes, ships, nation states)
o Machines (mills, metallurgy, clocks, printing press), individuals skilled
with them
- There were three dominant modes of production before the Industrial Revolution:
o Artisanal production: highly skilled artisans or craftsmen produced goods,
they trained apprentices, there was little division of labour, and most
goods were produced from start to finish by one individual
o Mass-production: there was limited mass-production in the pre-Industrial
Revolution period, in the putting-out system. Groups of workers would
perform one operation on a product, moving it on to the next group to
perform the next operation. This work was done in small buildings in rural
areas, and merchants controlled production
o Factory production: when large numbers of labourers were needed and
could be gathered at one particular place, factory production was possible,
but this was limited to a few fields (ship production, mining)
- The Industrial Revolution saw the dominance of the last two modes of production,
deskilling the worker, lowering wages, and producing goods more cheaply and on
a larger scale than ever before
- There has been disagreement about the timing, the scope and the magnitude of the
industrial revolution, but most historians agree that profound changes occurred in
the eighteenth century
-
In terms of raw output of manufactured goods, there were huge jumps in the end
of the eighteenth century
The industrial revolution represented a culmination of a long process of growth,
one fed by the development of international markets and colonial acquisition of
resources
The Industrial Revolution – Major Developments
- The industrial revolution was characterized by a switch from craft work by
agrarian communities to manufacturing using machinery by urban industry
- Workers who were displaced from agriculture to work in urban areas saw the
value of their income decrease as goods that were previously produced at home
had to be purchased on the market
- The industrial sector came to dominate the economy over the agricultural sector
for the first time since the beginning of civilization
- After industrial revolution technological innovation was rapid, this influenced:
Incomes, employment, skills, social relations, consumption possibilities (the
market of available goods)
England, Cotton and Textiles
- England industrialized over the 18th and 19th centuries, before other countries:
o Removal of feudal and royal restrictions on manufacturing
o A shortage of wood led to the use of coal as a fuel
 Coal was concentrated enough as a power source to be a source of
power for a mechanical engine (steam), used in printing, dying,
and the making of iron
o An abundance of natural resources
o The development of cast iron
- The revolution started in the dominant industry of the time, textiles, the
combination of ample supply of materials and increasing demand for clothing led
to the need to increase production
- The first major product to be incorporated into the new modes of production was
cotton, made from a tropical plant into cheap clothing
- Cotton textiles were important to the early stages of the industrial revolution as
cotton could be traded for slaves used on sugar plantations
- Cotton had to be ‘carded’, straightened out into fibres that could be stretched and
twisted together to form thread
- Threads were then woven, bleached, dyed and printed
- Richard Arkwright added a crank for removing the fibres from the cylinder
- James Hargreaves Spinning Jenny was the only technology capable of dealing
with finer fibres, it had a horizontal wheel with hundreds of bobbins on it
- Samuel Crompton’s mule divided up the twisting between rollers and bobbins,
and could be used for fine or coarse thread
- The mule was improved by many after Cromptons’ initial introduction (metal
frame, better gears), and it eventually came to dominate the wool industry as well
- Kay’s flying shuttle was widespread by the late 18th century
-
A shuttle moved the thread back and forth, weaving it together automatically, and
eventually a method was developed to coat the fibres to prevent snapping
Impact of Machinery on Production
- Machines initially multiplied the actions of individual hands, later artificial power
was added to the process increasing speed and production
- Machines represented specialization for some employees (mechanics, some
operators), deskilling for others, factories predate machines for manufacture
- Factories could standardize products, cut down on transportation costs (by
transporting in bulk)
- Water power was used in many places before steam power replaced it, and even
then the replacement was gradual and piecemeal
- There is a cascade effect in improvements, an increase in demand for textiles led
to the development of machinery and chemicals for processing, these led to an
increase in the demand for coal, and this to improvements in transportation and
mining
- The dependence on coal led to a concentration of industry in areas near coalfields
- Agricultural improvements also contributed to the economy, with changes in
breeding, crop rotation and the use of machines such as harvesters
- Also important, the increase in mechanized agriculture led to a diversion of labour
to the cities and industry
- By 1750 spike in rate of innovations, as measured by the increase in patents
- Patents first established in Italy, England was one of the first countries to have an
extensive patent system by 16th century
- The limited protection offered by patents encouraged innovation
- England Anglican; Protestant, Jewish, Quaker and Puritan minorities often went
into industry as they were barred from civil service, military, and some schools
Capitalism, Labour and Markets
- Displaced agricultural laborers in the UK were too poor to provide a market for
the textiles that fueled the industrial revolution, so colonial markets became
crucial
- Thus, colonial acquisitions were not only important as they represented resources
for the home country, but they also provided markets for the consumption of the
products made from those resources, products that were frequently too expensive
for the urban poor in the home country to purchase
- As the colonial powers, based in land poor Europe, needed their land for food,
colonial acquisitions were well suited to the growing of cotton, which was landintensive
- Both labour and capital were changed in this period, labour was liberated from the
fields, and capital was made available from the profits made through 17th century
mercantilism
- Capitalists at the start of the Industrial Revolution invested in land, peerages and
overseas ventures, new ventures like mills and factories were invested in by a new
entrepreneurial class
-
Capital requirements for factories were initially low, so small businessmen could
invest, but their margins were tight, and as a result they demanded savings from
labor, and wages lowered, the working day extended, and child labor was used
Key Technological Developments
1. Transportation Networks (Roads and Rivers)
- Until 17th century, road system in UK trusted to supervision of local parish
- Turnpike roads (named for hinged bar that prevented passage through such a gate
until the toll was paid) were built, tolls paid for road maintenance
- Rivers made navigable, extensive canal works were constructed, by the mid-tolate 18th century Britain had the most extensive road, river and canal network in
the world
- Transport advantages increased regional specialization & urbanization in UK
- Transportation increased competition (goods manufactured elsewhere could be
shipped to a local area to compete)
- Urban growth allowed innovators and investors to hook up over distances to
artisans
- Transportation allowed specialized labor in different regions to work on different
parts of manufacturing tasks (e.g. the 20 tasks involved in needle and nail
manufacture were divided up amongst workers), accelerated division of labor and
creation of specialized tools
2. Steam Power
- As coal, tin, iron & copper manufacture increased, coal mines had to go deeper &
required draining with pumps, powered by steam engines
- Early steam engines not mass produced, assembled by local craftsmen
- 1725: iron cylinders replaced brass, increasing heat capacity of system
- James Watt introduced separate condenser for engine, improved efficiency
- Watt’s engine relied on cluster of innovations: ability to bore and plane valves,
steam proof valves, tighter component fit & governor to reduce power
3. Railroads
- Steam power was eventually used to move goods on rails
- Railways necessitated: speculative investment & a banking system for loans
(capital intensive), land claims (assisted by state), technical education for
engineers & skilled workers, an industrial base for equipment & fuel
- 1841 over 1300 miles of track in UK, 1860 over 30,000 miles of track in US
- India had one of the world’s biggest railway networks from 1890 on, yet it was a
colony, & it failed to industrialize during the railway boom as other countries did
- Crashes, derailments, explosions & collisions common
- Railroads technological innovators, largest firms of their time, & organized to
meet shipping & transport schedules
- Governments subsidized railroad lines, & provided land grants
- Railroad lowered transport costs, increased coal, iron & engineering industries, &
contributed to the US economic growth in 19th century
- Railways tied markets together, increasing scale of production
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They facilitated personal travel & the exchange of ideas
Firms had access to a wider range of raw materials & markets
Trains reduced travel from weeks to days, railroads linked country
Note some of the business structures that surrounded rail, iron and steam power:
protective tariffs, monopolies, congressional regulation, patents, state and private
infrastructure investment, legal resistance to development
New transport technologies, steam trains and boats, led to:
 Transformed landscape
 Led to new laws & political problems
 Led to the creation of a new national market for industry
 Led to cultural standardization as travel increased
Competition for Empire in the 19th Century and the Shift Away from Mercantilism
- Naylor argues that the Nineteenth century saw a competition, primarily between
the English and the French, for control of global trade and resources
- Importantly, countries began to realize that disrupting trade was as important as
military victory, as military strength relied on economic power
- So, for example, he points out that the French managed to seal off Europe from
British trade, but Britain managed, through the use of its powerful navy, to secure
colonial markets in compensation
- In the case of India, British acquisitions allowed them to tax the local population,
and use the funds for purchases of Chinese silks, cottons and teas, thus
eliminating the need to use specie (silver and gold)
- This shift from West Indies (sugar and slaves) to East Indies (India) marked
transfer from mercantilism to industrial capitalism
- This transfer destroyed the economies of the West Indies, and suggests that the
abandonment of slavery was less a social or moral issue than one of economics
- In 1813, after war with France, UK flooded India with cheap cotton exports, India
went from luxury fabric exporter to major market for cheap fabric (1873 – 60% of
UK cotton exports to India)
- Mercantilism relied on the control of Spanish silver through dominance of luxury
trade, therefore luxury items (furs, sugar, spices, Indian cotton)
- Introduction of sugar beet in Europe contributed to the abandonment of the West
Indies and their poor, predominantly African slave populations
- With the Industrial Revolution markets became important as productivity
increased, India and North America became important to the UK as they
represented larger markets, and political decisions were shaped accordingly
- Over 18th century UK moved to gold standard from the silver standard, as the UK
gained Brazillian gold from Portugal, and paper money was used as gold was too
valuable to circulate
- In 1816 gold standard for paper money announced, import and export controls on
gold lifted
- The shift from silver to gold was thus not a practical one, nor was it one based on
a preference for paper money, instead it was a political change based on imperial
trade possibilities
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London became the centre of a financial empire in European commerce, offering
loans to government and business through merchant banks
Naylor thus suggests that it is not ownership that matters the most, but instead
who controls the flow of capital
Tariffs were reduced and trade liberalized to increase trade with UK, as trade, not
specie, was valued, this was the core of the shift from mercantilism to capitalism