The Industrial Revolution
1750-1915
Turning Point in History
- Shift from villages, cottages, farming, natural
time scheduling, self-sufficient living to cities,
apartments, manufacturing, 24 hour a day
scheduling, specialization.
- Everything changes!!! – This is the 2nd and last
biggest change in the history of man!
New Agricultural Revolution
- Combined smaller fields into
larger and tried different
soils for higher crop yield.
- Enclosures – taking over
and fencing off land
formerly owned by
peasants.
- Crop production grew – less
workers needed for bigger
farms and small farms were
forced out of business –
workers now available!
- The population exploded as
well in the 1700’s – bigger
farms helped fight famine.
Enclosures Today in England
New Technlogy and Use of Natural
Resources
A. Coal for energy – helped
develop the steam
engine (created by
Thomas Newcomen and
improved by James
Watt)
B. Iron was used differently
as well – separated iron
from ore (smelting
invented by Abraham
Darby). Created a better
quality and less expensive
iron.
Britain Leads the Way
Why Britain?
A. Resources – coal and
iron supplies.
B. Economics – growing
trading economy – lots
of capital (wealth
available for investment)
in industry and new
ventures.
C. Political and Social
Conditions – strong navy
and stable government
as well as religious ideals
that encourages hard
work.
Changes in the Textile Industry
Changed from the “putting out” system (give raw
cotton to peasants to spin, weave into cloth, and sell
back to a factory system.
- Inventions – Flying Shuttle, Spinning Jenny, and
Water frame all made textile production faster.
- Factory System – brought workers and machines
together to produce large quantities of goods.
-
1813
2400 looms
150, 000 workers
1833
85, 000 looms
200, 000 workers
1850
224, 000 looms
>1 million workers
Revolution in Transportation
Turnpikes – privately built roads that charged a fee for
use.
Steam Locomotives – Railroads now could be laid all
over to transport goods.
Steamboats (created by Robert Fulton) for transporting
goods up-stream in rivers.
Hardships in New Industrial Cities
I. Urbanization: rapid growth of cities causes
overpopulation and infrastructure issues.
- Poor/lower class forced to live in slums – tenement
housing (multistory apt buildings with tiny rooms) –
no running water, sewage, or sanitation.
- 12-16 hr shifts with no breaks in dangerous
conditions (fingers and limbs were often lost) and
bad air quality
- Women – cheaper and easier to manage
(exploited).
- Children – cheaper and could get into small places
Working Class
- Luddites were
skilled workers who
were put out of work
and destroyed
machines and
factories.
- Workers were
forbidden to
organize and strike.
- Methodist Church
started by John
Wesley – stressed
personal sense of
faith and rekindled
hope in the slums
with messages of
hope through a
moral life.
Middle Class
- Rags to riches
stories, artisans,
and merchants.
- Lived in wellfurnished homes,
gained influence in
Parliament.
- Believed in hard
work, and took
little pity on the
poor – should
work their way up.
Benefits and Problems
- Reformers pushed for labor laws.
- Worker organized into labor unions (bargained for better
wages, hours, and conditions).
- Benefits – wages rose, transportation costs fell, workers had
some money to spend leisurely – opportunities grew!
Reforms and New Thinking
I. Laissez-Faire Economics
- Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations –
free markets would lower costs and
encourage reinvestment for further
growth.
- Thomas Malthus – poor had too many
children and unless that trend
stopped, the population would
outpace food supply.
- If wages were high, poor had children
– higher number of poor and
unemployed – called economics a
“dismal science”
II. Unitarians
- Goal of society should be the “greatest
happiness for the greatest number.”
- Accepted mostly by the poor at first
but grew popular in the late 1800’s.
New Thinking Continued
III. Socialism
- Rejected capitalism and the injustices created
by social class.
- The people (government) should own and
operate the means of production – farms,
factories, railways, etc to produce and
distribute goods.
- Once all property was shared and class
disappeared, peace would be dominant.
IV. The “Scientific Socialism” of Karl Marx
- Wrote the Communist Manifesto –
Communism (a form of socialism) saw an
unavoidable conflict between the “haves” and
“have-nots” (rich and proletariat – working
class).
- Proletariat would take over the means of
production and set up a classless society.
- Used for the Russian Revolution, but as time
passes, this system shows its flaws.
Industrial Revolution Spreads
- Germany, France, and United States
follow Britain’s lead
- Other places in SE Europe lacked
resources and capital.
- Impact – cities grew through the
demand for workers and western
powers grew to dominate the world.
Technology and Industry
1. Steel – Henry Bessemer Process
removed oxygen from Iron to create
steel – lighter and stronger (used for
Railroads, tools, buildings).
2. Chemicals – dynamite (safer for
demolition), and fertilizers (farming).
3. Electricity – Michael Faraday created
a dynamo (machine that generates
electricity) and Thomas Edison
created the incandescent light
bulb.
4. Interchangeable Parts – identical
pieces of a machine (make it easier to
repair than replace the whole
machine).
5. Assembly line – workers add parts
to a product as it moves down a
conveyer belt.
- All made production cheaper and
faster.
Transportation and Communication
1. Steam Engines/Railroads
connected countries
(Transcontinental RR in US
and Trans-Siberian RR in
Russia)
2. Karl Benz created the first
automobile – Henry Ford
created the Model T with the
Assembly Line and made cars
popular.
3. Orville and Wilbur Wright
- First in flight in Kitty Hawk,
NC in 1903.
4. Samuel Morse invented the
telegraph and Marconi
invented the Radio – could
talk to people all over the
world in minutes!
New Directions for Business
Stock (shares in their
companies) were sold to
investors to gain
ownership.
- Big Business grew –
Corporations
(businesses that owned
by many investors)
- Monopolies – one
company controls an
entire industry (John
Rockefeller with
Standard Oil Co. – known
as Robber barons).
-
The World of Cities
I. Medicine Improvements/ Life of the Cities
- Louis Pasteur proved the Germ Theory through the use
of vaccines and pasteurization – hygiene became very
important to health.
- Cities went through Urban Renewal (rebuilding poor
areas).
- Improvements such as sidewalks, skyscrapers, sewage
systems, etc.
- Culture flourished and drew people (music, theaters,
entertainment).
II. Working Class Struggles
- Formed mutual-aid societies – self-help groups.
- Labor unions gained power and increased the rights of
the worker (8hr workday, better conditions, etc).
- Minorities were treated badly, but the standard of living
rose (quality of living).
Changing Attitudes and Values
I. New Social Order and
Values
- Super-rich to lower middle
classes grow!
- The cult of domesticity
(women should be in the
home) were encouraged.
II. Rights of Women and
Growth in Education
- Supported the Temperance
Movement – ban alcohol
consumption/production.
- Women’s Suffrage
Movement – right to vote
(19th amendment)
- Increase in education at
primary and secondary level
(college attendance increases
for women).
Changing Attitudes and Values, Cont.
III. New Science/Darwinism
- Development of the Atomic Theory and the
Periodic Table.
- Fossils and geological discoveries showed
proof that the earth was millions of years
old and was occupied by prehistoric
humans.
- This led to the idea of evolution (humans
had evolved) and natural selection –
Charles Darwin wrote On the Origins of
Species.
- This theory undermined the ideals of
Christianity and creationism.
- Darwinism was applied to Society – Social
Darwinism (“business” survival of the
fittest).
IV. Religion in the Urban Age
- Churches found a new way to serve their
religion through service to their community
and the poor – called the Social Gospel
Movement (set up community center,
housing, health care services, and spread
Christianity through their service).
New Culture
- Romanticism – rebelled against the
Enlightenment ideals and embraced
nature and the use of strong
emotion.
- Writing – The Three Musketeers
(Dumas) and Jane Eyre and
Wuthering Heights (Bronte
Sisters).
Music – Beethoven and Chopin.
- Realism – an attempt to represent
the world as it really was.
- Writing – Charles Dickens’s Oliver
Twist and Great Expectations
- Impressionism – an art form that
started in Paris – its goal was to
capture the first impression of a
scene (Monet, Degas, etc.)
Romanticism - Abbey in an Oak Forest
Caspar David Friedrich
Romanticism - An Avalanche in the Alps
Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1803
Impressionism: Monet, The Lily Water
Pond
Impressionism: Mary Cassatt,
Boating Party