The Industrial Revolution, 17601850
The West
CHAPTER 20
New Industrial Technology
• Dramatic increase in the use of machinery,
in manufacturing, transformed the entire
industrial process
• The steam engine and technologies for the
textile industries were the most significant
• New technologies reduced the time and
costs of labor, and increased production
• Machine-making became an industry itself
Mineral Sources for Industry
• Prior to late eighteenth century, energy
generation was limited by organic resources
• Harnessing of more efficient mineral
resources, initially coal, provided fuel for
industrial expansion
• Transition from natural to mineral fuel was
gradual, expanding dramatically only after
1870
The Growth of Factories
• Gradual transition from rural household
industries and handicraft workshops to large
factories
• Factories made mechanization costeffective and reduced labor costs
• Growth in demand for unskilled labor
• Implementation
of
unprecedented
workplace discipline
New Methods of
Transportation
• Development of new transport facilities, to
ship materials quickly over long distances canals and railroads
• Railroads rapidly became the main transport
method of the industrial economy
• The construction and operation of railroads
became an industry itself
Conditions Favoring
Industrialization in Britain
• Sustained, but not dramatic, population growth
• Increased agricultural productivity
• Economic system that favored capital generation
and accumulation
• Widespread
scientific
knowledge
and
entrepreneurial talent
• Demand for manufactured goods, from both
middle and lower classes
Great Britain and the
Continent
• Britain began to industrialize, in the 1760s
• Continental Europe only began to industrialize
after 1815
• Internal political barriers impeded transportation
• Protective tariffs limited economic growth and
prevented vital industrial imports
• Aristocratic indifference or hostility to commerce
compounded commercial cautiousness
• Absence of abundant raw materials
Features of Continental
Industrialization
• Governments played a much greater role in
encouraging and stimulating industrial growth
• Greater dependence upon bank loans, rather than
upon private capital
• Expansion of railroads preceded and encouraged
industrialization
• Industrial activity was often concentrated in one
region within a country
Industrialization in the United
States
• Expanded rapidly, after 1865
• Americans made innovations in business
organization
• American manufacturers developed the assembly
line and the production of interchangeable parts
• Low labor supply gave workers advantageous
conditions, until late nineteenth century
Industrial Regionalism
• Entire economies became distinctly regional
• Regionalism was more pronounced outside
of Britain
• Striking contrast developed and persisted,
between industrialized regions and those
that retained a pre-industrial appearance
Population and Economic
Growth
• Industrialization fueled a sustained growth in
population and economy
• For the first time in history, Europe avoided
cyclical demographic and economic collapse
• Increased agricultural productivity and capital
accumulation sustained growth
• Growth was steady, but neither rapid nor
continuous
Standards of Living
• Optimists maintained that sustained
economic growth led to a fall in poverty
• Real incomes did increase, after 1820
• Pessimists argued that systematic efforts by
employers to reduce labor costs prevented
real gains for workers
• Criticism over the environmental, public
health and social costs of industrialization
Women, Children and Industry
• Female and child labor was plentiful and cheap
• Increased physical separation of home and
workplace restricted women’s employment
• After child labor was restricted, in 1833, a gender
division of labor became more rigid - men
worked, while women reared families
• Working women received neither financial
autonomy nor social prestige
Class and Class
Consciousness
• New social terminology developed, based upon
property ownership and acquisition - aristocracy,
middle and lower class
• Both middle and lower class experiences were
generally too diverse to foster a common class
consciousness
• The Peterloo Massacre, 1819, did increase labor
organization, in Britain, and fueled class
distinctions
The Industrial Landscape
• Industrialization had profound effects upon
the appearance of urban and rural
landscapes
• Development of grim, polluted industrial
cities
• Spread of railroads, bridges, tunnels and
viaducts across rural areas
• Stimulated a nostalgic appreciation for
natural beauty
Industry, Trade and Empire
• In Britain, industry, trade and empire were
interlinked and mutually reinforcing
• Industrialization promoted trade, which led to
territorial acquisitions and new commercial
relationships
• The British trade network systematically retarded
or destroyed economic and industrial growth in
Asia and South America
Industrialization and the West
• Profound changes in organization of society,
work patterns and the landscape
• The West came to be identified by
industrialization and industrial capitalism
• New divisions, based upon industry, arose
between the West and the rest of the world
• Industrialization and economic development
is now commonly called Westernization