Introduction to the Industrial Revolution
Follow the prompts and complete this outline as directed by teacher discussion!
1. Is the term Industrial Revolution a bit misleading – Was it “revolution or evolution? Why?
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The “Industrial Revolution” was long in coming and required prior events to take place!
- Renaissance + the Enlightenment provided growth in science
- Under Mercantilism there was some accumulation of wealth
- Acquiring world empires provided nations w/ essential natural resources
The means of production of goods was somewhat basic and relied upon human labor!
2. During the Medieval Period in Europe, people worked to fit into Feudal/Manor System.
a. Craft guilds existed – goods were handmade by master craftsman! Of high quality!
As a result, products for sale were hard to come by and so were very expensive.
b. Farming required the cooperation of humans + beasts of burden – not very productive!
c. Diseases, plagues, frequent wars kept the populations of Europe under control!
3. Prince Henry and others – sought… a trade route to the Indies
* Remember, Whichever nation got to the “Indies” first = $$$$ would get great wealth!
Some merchants had begun to accumulate wealth and wanted opportunities to make more!
4. Mercantilism had replaced the Feudalism, it permitted nations to acquire greater
wealth in their treasury. The greater the wealth of a nation – the greater its Power!
This system relied heavily upon merchants – who sought out trade opportunities to make $!
From about 1500 – 1700s, themost common means of production used was called the
“Domestic System”a.k.a. The Cottage Industrial System
It is a system of production whereby goods are made in the home/at home in part or whole.
The system relied heavily upon a merchant to coordinate efforts and to sell the final products!
Ex. 1600s England
What steps were required to make a few dozen blue, wool sweaters w/ brown bone buttons?
1. someone raises sheep / shears the wool 2. Wool is brought to a home w/spinning wheel
3. Wool is spun into yarn/thread 4. Spun yarn is brought to a home w/a loom
5. Yards of wool cloth – brought to tailor 6. Tailor makes basic sized garments
7. Another home provides buttons 8. buttons get brought to tailors too Dye?
You get the idea! Production was slow, labor intensive and goods were well made but expensive! People had far fewer possessions – which could be bought in a general store or in a.k.a. a Mercantile.
People worked part-time when not busy with farm chores, planting/harvesting of crops!
The Cottage Industrial System had both positive and negative aspects!
Positive Negative
Quality? High / Quantity? Hand labor was slowPay? Low but a big help to farmers / Price? Few in # meant high in price
Production? Slow – done by hand / Supply?Not many could be made
Worker Pride?High / Merchants Success? Limited – not enough…
The taxes passed by Britain on the 13 Colonies – to increase Britain’s wealth = Mercantilism!
- Merchants were becoming frustrated, were limited in the wealth they could acquire!
- People of wealth began to seek and get more political power – wanted to more money!
- A new economic system was needed!
1776 Adam Smith writes “The Wealth of Nations” – it is highly critical of Mercantilism!
Adam Smith is now sometimes regarded as The Father of Capitalism
Capitalism – an economic system whereby private individuals own the means of production
- Private owners, own “shares” of the company – represented by stock
- The system depends on free enterprise, open markets for trade, low taxes/tariffs
- The term laissez – faire – meaning government keep out of business was coined!
This is our economic system today but before it could happen you first needed the…
The Agricultural Revolution of the early 1700s
Advances in agricultural practices gave rise to what is called the Agricultural Revolution!
During this time several things happened!
- Food became more abundant due to better farm practices
- Overall nutrition and health improved
- People were better able to survive infancy and in general began to live longer lives
- Less disease, plagues and fewer wars led to an increase in the overall population!
- Some inventions improved the means of production in the Cottage Industrial System too!
Still a problem existed, why would people give up their lives in the country to live in what most people considered the dirty, unhealthy cities of England or elsewhere?
How do you get the farmers to move to cities?
The answer…by force – leave them no choice!
The Enclosure Movement–In 1700s, large wealthy landowners in Britain got Parliament to pass laws closing off public lands to small farms for grazing their sheep/goats/cattle/cows…
As a result, the already poor herders/farmers who could no longer use open public grazing lands …lost their cottages and had no choice but to live impoverished lives in the cities!
And just like that – you have now created your “cheap labor” for the new to come, factories!
Early British inventors/innovators and entrepreneurs- bring many changes!
Charles Townshend – developed idea of crop rotation – increasing crop yields 1730s
Richard Arkwright – his water frame used water to power a Spinning Jenny 100 spindles!
John Kay – made the flying shuttle which sped up the weaving process
Edmund Cartwright – invented a water powered loom – made 200 times the cloth
Jethro Tull – invented a seed drill – it made holes in the ground and placed seeds in them ho
James Hargreaves – made a Spinning Jenny permitting 1 person to spin several threads
Samuel Crompton – built a Spinning Mule – combined the Spinning Jenny +Water Frame
Eli Whitney – USA. 1793 makes “cotton gin” – 1 person could clean the more cotton far faster
The Industrial Revolution
When/where it happened was no coincidence! It all started in Britain in the 1750s! Why?
It alone had all 6 of the essential ingredients!
1. Abundant/cheap labor force 2. Entrepreneurs – to take investment risks
3. Key natural resources 4. Transportation
5. Investment capital – money to invest 6. Markets to sell finished goods
England itself and its growing world empire provided it with everything it needed! It had the
3 essential natural resources required Iron deposits, coal deposits, + large/cheap work force!
Where did the work force come from? Enclosure Movement/ debtors and health improved?
Many of those and others lost their livelihoods, their meager wealth and their homes! Why?
Just a few more British inventors/innovators + early entrepreneurs included men such as…
Thomas Newcomen – invents a 1st steam engine – made of iron but very large
James Watt – innovates + makes a smaller more practical steam engine, able to be moved!
Robert Fulton – USA 1807 builds the “Clairmont” – 1st steamship – tested in N.Y. harbor
John McAdam – Scottish engineer develops a road surface of crushed stone – 1700s
George Stephenson –Britain1829 builds the first steam locomotive
Iron – although the most abundant metal on Earth has some obvious limitations!
What happens to it over time? How is it degraded?
It rusts, corrodes , fatigues , and under pressure it fails and explodes!
Henry Cort – came up with a “Puddling Process” that made a higher quality iron
Something will have to be done about that problem…a solution comes later!
Britain now builds a network of canals to make the movement of raw materials faster!
The inventions/innovations by the British are kept secret…giving it the lead for decades!
By the early 1800s some of those ideas then spread to Belgium and to Germany!
Why not to France? It lacked 3 key ingredients? Large iron and coal deposits, +abundantcheap/labor Being more agriculture based–it also has pride in its agricultural successes! Which Industries?
Southern plantation owners in U.S.A. /members of the Cottonocracy will aspire to be like French aristocrats
The “Cottonocracy” were the elite of the South – they dominated, life, culture, society, politics
1820s - The Industrial Revolution Comes to America!
Why the delay?
- The USA is across the ocean from Europe
- The USA was really a new nation founded on agriculture – cash crops!
- The USA had not yet developed some of the required ingredients!
There were at first shortages of :
Entrepreneurs
A surplus population for cheap labor
Science + the know-how was still more based in Europe
The USA was very regional w/ differences between the 13 states North – South
But the Industrial Revolution will take hold – in New England! Why in New England?
- It had good harbors for trade in goods. Merchants were based in N.E. port cities.
- It had less suitable geography for agriculture - Colder and more mountainous
- Those mountains provided iron and other resources
- Mountains gavefast moving streams + rivers –Early factories were powered by water!
- New Englanders – had wealthy merchants who had contact w/Europe
- These merchants became entrepreneurs who would take a gamble on building factories
- Those first factories were textile factories – using the processes innovated by the British!
But Americans had no experience in such matters?
Who would be needed to operate the machines?
Who could serve as supervisors?
Who could develop and work in the mines?
Who had the essential skills?
Who could readily blend into the new American culture and landscape? The Brits!
Miners from Wales, Scotland, Midlands of England, + later from Ireland and Germans too!
America will then go on its own canal building craze – linking the nation by a network of natural and man made water routes for the movement of raw materials and finished goods!
The Erie Canal was built linking Lake Erie to the Hudson River – New York mushrooms!
Cites such as Cleveland, Cincinnati and others grow at a very fast rate.
Immigrants from Europe come to New England! Serve as the cheap labor!
In the winter, men will take work in the first factories – later women will take those jobs!
Lowell Massachusetts becomes a model factory/mill town using women as the laborers!
Women will not be welcomed into the workforce by the men…why not? Think about traditional roles!
So the Industrial revolution takes root and spreads through parts of New England!
But inventions and innovations do not simply cease…do they?
Meanwhile, the problems inherent to iron are finally defeated by the first ½ 1800s!
A better product was known to exist… Steel! But it was expensive to make! Solution…
John Kelly+Henry Bessemer – independent of each other came up with a process to make high quality steel in large quantities! It uses Blast Furnaces to inject air and carbon into the iron while also removing impurities and making a harder, more pure and stronger steel! This process has been perfected and is in various forms in use today! Bessemer Process
The new higher quality steel is going to be used for key products associated with industry!
Examples:
Rail road rails, bridges, clipper ships and steamships, locomotives, machines of many kinds, skyscrapers, automobiles, weapons of war/warships/tanks/planes - endless uses!
Northern Industrialists model themselves after their English counterparts!
By the time of the Civil War – the Industrial Revolution is poised to change everything + entrenched in
New England and to lesser degrees in the Middle States!
Cities are growing…
Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburg Philadelphia New York Boston numerous small cities too!
Southern plantation owners in U.S.A. /members of the Cottonocracy will aspire to be like French aristocrats!
The “Cottonocracy” were the elite of the South – they dominated, life, culture, society, politics
Prior to the Civil War - the South’s economy will remain dominated by agriculture…a few exceptions…
Richmond – ironworks New Orleans center of trade Atlanta – a rail hub for shipping
Vicksburg – shipping of cotton to New Orleans Charleston – Shipping
So, should the Industrial Revolution be renamed the “Industrial Evolution?” Why or not?
Defend/justify your response with several examples! ______