Ch. 22 – The Revolution in Energy and Industry
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
 define what the Industrial Revolution was and discuss the factors that caused it.
 explain the effects of the Industrial Revolution on people’s lives.
 analyze the positive and negative outcomes of the Industrial Revolution.
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1. Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in England?
 mercantilist policy provided a source of raw materials and markets for finished goods
 agricultural revolution provided the means for people to have a surplus of money that enabled them
to buy manufactured goods
 central bank and well developed credit markets; stable government
 labor surplus from enclosures in late 18th century provided industrial workforce
 abundance of raw materials necessary for industrialization – i.e. iron ore, coal
2. How did the change in textile production affect employment in spinning and weaving for adults and children?
Improvements such as the spinning jenny by Hargreaves and the water frame by Arkwright allowed more
efficient and producing spinning that could now keep up with (if not surpass) the demand of weavers. Wages for
weavers rose markedly until about 1792 and they were among the best[paid workers in England. Children, usually
foundlings, were often “apprenticed” to factory owners and forced to work long hours from very early ages (56). Often, they were housed, fed, and locked up in the factory dorms at night and received little or no pay.
3. Identify the major accomplishments of the following individuals:
Individual
Invention
Impact
James Hargreaves
Cotton spinning
Could spin 6-24 spindles of thread at a time, increased
jenny
amount of thread available for weaving
Richard Arkwright
Water frame
Powered by water, it could spin many spindles of course
thread, which was then spun again on the jenny – increased
supply of thread for weaving
Samuel Crompton
Spinning mule
Combined features of spinning jenny and water frame – made
stronger thread, finer, and more consistent
Edmund
Cartwright
Power loom
Increased speed and production of weaving
4. Describe the energy crisis in England and explain how it was solved.
Energy sources were primarily human power, water power such as water mills, windmills, all of which were
insufficient for the developing industries. The steam engine, pioneered by Thomas Savery in 1698 and Thomas
Newcomen in 1705, invented the first primitive steam engines. James Watt perfected its use in the 1760s.
5. Explain the relationship between the following:
a. steam engine and coal mine – Coal mines would usually fill with water once they reached a certain
depth. The steam engine provided a reliable power source for pumping water from these mines and
increased the production of coal
b. railroad and coal mine – the increased production of coal and steam power helped ironmakers develop
strong iron and steel (Besemer), which then became cheap and integrated into other industrial
machines, etc. Coal also provided the fuel for the steam engines. Railroads provided a way to pull
heavier loads of coal than otherwise possible, which ultimately led to railroads.
6. What impact did the railroad have on the:
a. factory system – They reduced the costs and uncertainty of shipping freight overland, and helped
foster larger markets and larger factories.
b. rural workers – the railroads created a strong demand for labor and rural workers filled these
unskilled positions. Once finished, the men usually drifted toward cities rather than back to their
villages, and ended up urban workers.
c. outlook and values of society – they revealed the power and increased the speed of the new age.
7. Describe the theories of the following:
Individual
Work
Economic Theory
– he believed that population would always grow faster
than the food supply, and only famine, war, disease, etc.
could ward off catastrophic strains on the food supply.
Supported late marriages to control population.
David Ricardo
Iron Law of
believed that wages would always be just high enough to
Wages
keep workers from starving because of the pressure of
population growth.
a. Were they right? No. The rapid population growth meant a more mobile labor force with young
workers ready to go where the jobs were.
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8. What effect did the French Revolution and the wars of 1792-1815 have on the economies of the continental
states?
- the unending political and economic upheavals that began with the French Revolution disrupted trade, created
runaway inflation, and fostered social anxiety. This period also allowed Britain to gain domination in the world
market with their manufactured goods.
9. What were the variations in the timing and extent of industrialization in the US, Belgium, Germany and
France? New technologies from Britain were slowly adopted in continental continent and by the end of the
19th century several European countries as well as the US had also industrialized to a considerable but
variable degree.
- All countries were close together industrially in 1750, but by 1800 Britain had moved way head
- Belgium, with rich iron and coal, led the way in adopting Britain’s new technology
- France was more gradually, Germany and the US after 1860 boomed
10. What disadvantages and advantages were felt by countries that industrialized after Great Britain?
disadvantages
advantages
lacked know-how
- could “borrow” ideas, not invent the wheel
lagged behind Britain
- most had putting-out tradition with rich merchant
shortage of investment capital
- strong, independent governments
labor shortage
Thomas Malthus
Essay on the
Principle of
Population
11. What do the careers of Cockerill, Harkort, and List tell us about the problems and methods of
industrialization on the continent?
- Duplicating the British accomplishment was a difficult task
12. What was the purpose of the:
a. Zollverein – customs union to eliminate tariffs between the separate German states
b. Credit Mobilier – a limited liability corporation established by Isaac and Emile Pereire to finance
railroads all over France and Europe, and supported growing companies in industry.
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13. Describe the way in which Britain’s new industrial middle class’ treated their workers.
“no time for niceities;” workers were expected to work long hours for low pay under dangerous conditions
14. What was effect of the factory system in Britain on the family?
- Families often approached factory work as they had the putting-out system – as a family. As a result,
entire families were hired to work in factories as a single economic unit, which helped keep families
together.
15. What was the subcontract system, how did it work, and did it have a negative or positive impact on workingclass life?
- A system where a manufacturer would hire workers through a subcontractor, who would be paid on the basis
of what he and his crews produced. This personal relationship was more acceptable to many workers than
impersonal factory discipline and provided people with an easy way to find a job. It had a positive effect on
working class life.
16. What is meant by the term sexual division of labor and what are the various theories about its emergence?
sexual division of labor – some jobs were relegated to men only, low paying, dead-end jobs were for women.
Why? 1. patriarchal tradition – male-dominated craft unions denied women access
2. biological factors
3. desire of males to dominate women
4. an effort of older people to help control the sexuality of working-class youth
17. What were the goals and accomplishments of the Chartists?
Goals
Accomplishments
goal was political democracy – that all men be
given the right to vote
their goal became the great hope of millions and aroused
people to become active in campaigns to limit the
workday in factories
Define and explain the significance of the following
1. cottage workers – Peasant workers who worked in their homes to produce goods for a capitalist merchant
2. domestic system – The process of making goods at home and by hand – unable to keep up with the demand –
led to the factory system.
Chartist movement - England – political democracy – the right to vote for all – supported by working people,
particularly after the collapse of Owen’s national union – encouraged political involvement
3. Thomas Newcomen – early innovator of the steam engine, but one that used much coal and was unstable
4. James Watt – perfected the steam engine
5. Crystal Palace – the London site of the Great Exposition industrial fair in 1851 – an architectural
masterpiece made entirely of glass and iron.
6. protective tariff – - tariffs imposed by a country on goods that are imported and compete with their homegrown/produced products. England, as a stable, unified nation, had not protective tariffs within the country as
others, such as France and the German states did.
6. Luddites – early opponents of the industrialization of England who attacked factories in northern England in
1812
8. Chartist Movement – British organization whose goal was political democracy – demanded that all men be
given to the right to vote
9. real wages –
10. Andrew Ure – wrote in a 1835 study of the cotton industry that working conditions in most factories were
not harsh and were even quite good, which was a matter of great controversy at the time.
11. Factory Act of 1833 – limited the working hours for children between 9-13 to 8 hours a day, 14-18 to twelve
hours; prohibited kids below 9 to work in factories and required education for them. It broke the pattern of
families working together in the factory.
12. Mines Act of 1842 – prohibited underground work for all women as well as boys under 10
13. Combination Acts – 1799 – England – outlawed unions and strikes, ignored by most people, repealed in 1824
14. craft union – union based on a specific skill
15. Grand National Consolidated Trades Union – formed by Robert Owen in 1834, one of the largest and most
visionary national unions - was unsuccessful.
parish “apprentices” in cotton mills – Children who were abandoned by their parents and left in the care of
local parishes were often farmed out to factories to be used as a workers, giving the factory owner almost
slaveowner control over the children.
Robert Owen – A Utopian Socialist, he supported fair wages and safety for his workers, established an
experimental cooperative and socialist communities, including one in New Harmony, Indiana, and formed one of
the largest and most visionary national unions, the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union.
George Stephenson - built an effective locomotive in 1825
Friedrich Engels – The Condition of the Working Class in England 1844 – charged English middle class with
murder, wholesale robbery, etc. The poverty of the workers was worse than that of cottage and agricultural
workers, he said, and was the result of capitalist.