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Revolutions in World History and Geography
Industrial Revolution Notes
An industrial revolution occurs when people move from living and working on farms to working in factories and
living in cities. This movement had both positive and negative effects on people. More, better, and inexpensive
goods, transportation, and communication were possible. On the other hand, industry also brought pollution,
child labor issues, and crowded cities.
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In the histories of nations, innovations in technology have sometimes occurred at such a rapid pace that the
era became known as an industrial revolution. The first Industrial Revolution occurred in Great Britain between
1750 and 1830. Developments there moved the country from a largely rural population that made its livelihood
almost entirely from agriculture to a town-centered society that was increasingly engaged in factory
manufacture. Later in the 19th century, similar revolutionary transformations occurred in other European
nations and the United States. The main effects were not felt in countries like Russia and Japan until the 20th
century. In other countries these transformational developments are only now occurring or still lie in the future.
Two Industrial Revolutions
The term 'industrial revolution' was used to describe the period by the 1830s, but modern historians
increasingly call this period the 'first industrial revolution', characterized by developments in textiles, iron and
steam led by Britain, to differentiate it from a 'second' revolution of the 1850s onwards, characterized by steel,
electrics and automobiles led by the US and Germany.
What Changed – Industrially and Economically
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The invention of steam power, which was used to power factories and transport and allowed for deeper
mining.
Improvement of iron making techniques allowing for vastly higher production levels.
The textile industry was transformed by new machines – such as the Spinning Jenny - and factories,
again allowing for much higher production at a lower cost.
Better machine tools allowed for more and better machines.
Developments in metallurgy and chemical production.
Creation of new and quicker transport networks thanks to first canals and then railways.
What Changed – Socially and Culturally:
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Rapid urbanization leading to dense, cramped housing and living conditions.
New city and factory cultures affecting family and peer groups.
Debates and laws regarding child labor, public health and working conditions.
Anti-technology groups such as the Luddites.
Causes of the Industrial Revolution:
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The end of feudalism changes economic relationships.
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Higher population because of less disease and lower infant mortality allowed for a larger industrial
workforce.
The agricultural revolution frees people from the soil, allowing – or driving – them into cities and
manufacturing.
Proportionally large amounts of spare capital for investment.
Inventions and the scientific revolution allowing for new technology.
Colonial trade networks.
The presence of all the required resources close together.
Culture of hard work, taking risks and developing ideas.
The Industrial Revolution started in England around 1733 with the first cotton mill. A more modern world had
begun. As new inventions were being created, factories followed soon thereafter. England wanted to keep its
industrialization a secret, so they prohibited anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country.
Meanwhile, Americans offered a significant reward to anyone who could build a cotton-spinning machine in the
United States. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and
came to America. Once here, he reconstructed a cotton-spinning machine from memory. He then proceeded to
build a factory of his own. The Industrial Revolution had arrived in the United States.
The Industrial Revolution brought severe consequences to society. Factory owners, needing cheap, unskilled
labor, profited greatly by using children and women to run the machines. By the age of 6, many children were
already working 14 hours a day in factories! These kids had no free time to do anything else and earned low
wages. Some got sick and died because of the toxic fumes, while others were severely injured and sometimes
killed working at the dangerous machines in factories. Obviously, the Industrial Revolution had both good and
bad sides.
The cotton gin (short for cotton engine) played a large role in the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, when it
was invented, nobody realized that the cotton gin would revitalize and support slavery in the US. The invention
helped the cotton industry just when the South was suffering economic problems. The cotton gin was a
machine for getting seeds out of cotton. Where before the seeds had to be picked by hand, slaves used the
machines to significantly increase production.
The steam engine was an important invention because it was important to the transportation industry. With
steamboats traveling major rivers, they became the fastest way of transportation.
Revolutions in World History and Geography
Industrial Revolution Notes
The Industrial Revolution transformed human life by changing methods of manufacturing, the way people
made a living, and the products available to them.
I.
The Nature of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution took place in England in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was
made up of four sets of changes: first, the introduction of new technology; second, the use of new
mineral sources of energy; third, a concentration of workers in factories; and fourth, new methods of
transportation.
A.
The New Industrial Technology
The Industrial Revolution introduced machines to textile manufacturing, iron, printing,
papermaking, and engineering industries. The most significant machines were steam engines
and the machines used to make cloth.
1.
Textile Machinery
Until the eighteenth century, the manufacturing of cloth was done by hand. In 1767, the
spinning jenny was introduced, which increased the amount of cotton yarn that could
be spun. In 1769, the water frame was introduced, which produced stronger warp yarn.
A decade later in 1779, the jenny and the water frame was combined into one machine
called the mule. The mule could produce 300 times as much yarn as a person on a
spinning wheel. These machines produced more yarn than weavers could handle until
1787, when the power loom was invented. Because of these machines and
improvements made to them, English weavers were working 200 times more cotton in
1850 than they had in 1780.
2.
The Steam Engine
Another key invention of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine, invented by
James Watt in 1763, to pump water out of mines. The steam engine was used to raise
minerals from mines, provide heat for smelting iron ore, and drive machines in textile
mills.
B.
Mineral Sources of Energy
Until the eighteenth century, transportation of goods was powered by humans or animals.
Organic sources of fuel were wood, charcoal, or water power. Beginning in the eighteenth
century, the Industrial Revolution began to rely on coal to produce the high temperatures
needed to smelt iron. Eventually it also became a source of heat for the steam engine.
C.
The Growth of Factories
One of the major developments of the Industrial Revolution was the large factory. In the
sixteenth century, businessmen began employing families in the countryside to spin and weave.
This was known as the domestic system, and all members of the family participated in the
production. The businessman provided the materials and was responsible for the marketing.
The introduction of machines in the late eighteenth century led to the development of the factory
system. The large factory was more cost effective because it allowed the concentration of
machines and workers in one place. It also reduced transportation costs and allowed for greater
quality control. The factory owner had greater control of the work force and enforced much
stricter discipline. It also made possible what the economist Adam Smith called the "division of
labor," whereby each person was responsible for one stage of production, allowing for great
increase in total production. The workers needed no special skills to operate the machines.
D.
New Methods of Transportation
As industry expanded, so did the transportation network needed to move raw materials and
finished products. Thousands of miles of canals and all-weather roads were built in the
eighteenth century. The main innovation in transportation of the nineteenth century was the
railroad. The railroads were driven by coal-burning, steam-power locomotives and provided
quick, cheap transportation to places inaccessible by water. The construction of railroads
created a demand for iron and for large numbers of workers and became a large industry in its
own right. Unlike manufacturing, railroad networks usually involved a combination of private and
public investment.
II.
Conditions Favoring Industrial Growth
The presence in England of a large population, capital, and people with scientific knowledge and
entrepreneurial skills were among the social and economic factors that helped make the Industrial
Revolution possible.
A.
Population Growth
The population of England doubled between 1680 and 1820. The population increase
provided the large supply of cheap labor needed by the factories. It also provided an increase in
demand for manufactured goods.
Population of Britain in 1750
6 million
Population of Britain in 1851
21 million
Population of London in 1750
500,000
Population of London in 1851
3 million
Families in agriculture in 1750
65% of population
Families in agriculture in 1851
25% of population
B.
Agricultural Productivity
In the eighteenth century, British agriculture experienced a revolution of its own. The process of
enclosure allowed farmers and landlords to fence in their fields and control production. They
introduced crop rotations that restored nutrients to the soil, allowing for greater yield. They also
began scientific breeding to improve the quality of their herds. The result was an increase in
productivity with fewer agricultural workers. This allowed more people to leave the farms to
work in the factories while supplying them with cheap food.
C.
Capital Formation and Accumulation
The term capital refers both to money and to fixed capital (factories and machines). The
investment capital needed for the Industrial Revolution came mostly from merchants engaged in
domestic and foreign trade, from landowners who profited from their estates in Britain and
plantations in the colonies, and from banks.
D.
Technological Knowledge and Entrepreneurship
England had been a leading center of the scientific revolution and consequently had plenty of
people with the scientific knowledge to mechanize the industry. It also had a merchant capitalist
class who organized the domestic system. The combination of these two elements is
exemplified by the partnership of James Watt and Matthew Boulton. Watt had the scientific
knowledge and Boulton was a leading entrepreneur who was able to assemble the workers with
the needed skills to mass produce Watt's engine.
E.
Demand from Consumers and Producers
In addition to the supply of capital, labor, and knowledge, demand for goods also played an
important role in fueling the Industrial Revolution. The demand for goods was created by
advertising, as well as by the increasing ability of the working class to buy goods as their
purchasing power increased.
III.
The Spread of Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution spread to the rest of Europe and North America over the course of several
decades after it developed in Britain.
A.
Great Britain and the Continent
Part of the reason for the delay in the start of the Industrial Revolution in the rest of Europe was
the political situation in individual countries. Germany, for example, was politically fragmented
into many states, each with its own tariffs and taxes, which hindered the free passages of
resources and goods across the country. Local privileges in France also hindered the free
economic passage. By contrast, all of Britain was a single market. Another factor in delaying
industrialization was protectionism. While it protected the local economy from competition, it
also hindered the importation of necessary resources. Another factor in hindering
industrialization was the aristocracy in continental Europe, who drew their wealth from land.
They lacked a capitalist spirit and were more cautious about investing in the new enterprises.
Finally, parts of the continent lacked the availability of the needed natural resources.
B.
Features of Continental Industrialization
After 1830, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Germany began to imitate the English
industrialization process by introducing machinery into the production process, concentrating
workers in factories, and beginning to build their transportation network. However, the
industrialization process in the European continent differed from the British in a number of ways.
First, the governments played a greater role providing capital as active partners in
industrialization process. Governments built railroad systems, which facilitated the beginnings of
industrialization. Second, the banks were also major partners in financing industry. Third, the
development of the railroad system helped begin industrialization. It helped stimulate other
industries to meet its needs by the markets it created.
C.
Industrialization in the United States
The Industrial Revolution began in the United States in the 1820s with the textile industry of the
northeast. It then continued with the development of heavy industry in the Pittsburgh and
Cleveland regions. U.S. industrialization followed patterns borrowed from England and Europe.
Most of the machinery was modeled on that of England. Like England, it also had a vast supply
of raw materials. The relatively short supply of labor helped avoid the awful conditions suffered
by the English working class. After 1865, U.S. industry began to expand rapidly. The major
American contribution to the industrial process was the assembly line.
D.
Industrial Regionalism
The industrialization process was regional in character. Different regions of the various
countries developed different branches of industry. For example, the French textile industry
developed in the northeast, near the Belgian border, and the east-central region around Lyons.
In Germany, the iron industry was concentrated in the Ruhr valley. Some areas of the country
remained engaged only in agriculture.
IV.
The Effects of Industrialization
Industrialization affected every aspect of human life.
A.
Population and Economic Growth
One of the most important changes was the continuous expansion of the population and the
economy. Most observers in the eighteenth century did not believe that expansion of the
population and the economy could be sustained indefinitely. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
argued that population naturally grows faster than the food supply, and therefore malnutrition,
famine, and disease will correct the imbalance. Malthus's cycle of expansion and contraction did
not take place. The population had consistently expanded as the greater agricultural productivity
permitted maintaining an adequate food supply. The industrial economy had been able to
employ large numbers of workers. Despite economic swings, industrialized nations continued to
experience an increase in the gross national product and per capita income.
B.
Standards of Living
There has been much debate about the impact of industrialization on the working class. The
optimists have pointed to the long-term effects of industrialization, which have helped avoid
Malthus's predictions, such as the rise of individual income. Pessimists have emphasized the
fact that improvements did not appear for several decades after the beginning of
industrialization. Pessimists blame the system of industrial capitalism for the laboring
population's hardships. In an effort to reduce costs and maximize profits, employers kept wages
low and utilized labor-saving devices. Pessimists also point to the early decades of
industrialization, when people were forced to live in decrepit housing around the factories. The
monotonous, demeaning, and exhausting nature of factory work adds to the pessimists'
argument against the positive effects of the Industrial Revolution.
C.
Women, Children, and Industry
During the early Industrial Revolution, large numbers of women and children were part of
the workforce. They were willing to accept lower wages and were more easily disciplined. The
factory system changed family life. In the early years of the Industrial Revolution many families
worked together in the factories and mines. As mothers found it impossible to care for their
small children while working, they began to leave the factory. The British Factory Act of 1833
enforced restrictions against child labor. Eventually, the trend was that the man earned a living
outside of the home while the woman stayed home to care for their children.
D.
Class and Class Consciousness
Writers began to describe industrial society as divided into three classes based on the type of
property they owned. The aristocracy owned land. The bourgeoisie owned capital
enterprises and gained their wealth from profits. The working class owned only their labor
and received wages. There is great debate over the extent to which the people of the
nineteenth century were conscious of their class status. Some historians argue that worker
exploitation and conflicts between capital and labor over wages led to the formation of class
identity. Others argue that workers were more conscious of their trade, ethnic, or local identity
than they were of their class identity.
E.
Industrial Landscape
The Industrial Revolution changed the landscape. Small towns grew into huge cities. In the
countryside, bridges, viaducts, railroad lines, and canals were built to improve transportation.
The destruction of the natural beauty of the landscape triggered a nostalgic reaction in art and
literature. Some of the new industrial architecture, such as the new bridges, were romanticized
and thought to be architectural marvels
V.
Industry, Trade, and Empire
By the middle of the nineteenth century, Britain produced 66% of the world's coal, 50% of the cotton
cloth and iron, and 40% of the hardware. In the search for raw materials and markets, the interests of
industry, trade, and empire worked closely together.
A.
East Asia: The Opium War, 1839-1842
For three centuries after the arrival of the Europeans, China maintained a tight control over
trade with Europeans. In the 1830s conflict broke out between China and the British over the
trade of opium, which was causing severe problems in Chinese society. When the Chinese
authorities began seizing and destroying chests of opium, the English declared war. The British,
with their superior technology, attacked and defeated China. In the aftermath, the Chinese were
forced to open several ports to English merchants and allow the ports to be governed by British
consuls who were not subject to Chinese law.
B.
India: Annexation and Trade
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Britain gained control of India. Political
control of India served British merchants' interests. British merchants controlled the trade
between India and the rest of Asia. India also became a market for British textile goods, which
destroyed India's own textile industry. India also became a major source of revenue for the
British government.
C.
Latin America: An Empire of Trade
In Latin America, Britain was an ardent supporter of the movements to gain independence from
Spain and Portugal. Once independent, these countries became markets for British goods and
capital. While these countries remained politically separate from Britain, they became
economically dependent on the British in the same way India had become. Latin America's
village artisan economies were destroyed and Latin America became a market for British
finished goods.