Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain
in the 1780’s and took several decades to spread
to the other Western nations
Contributing factors to
industrialization
 Increased food supply
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Expansion of farmland
Good weather
Improved transportation
New crops (potato)
Contributing factors to
industrialization
 Increase in population
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Parliament passed laws allowing people to
fence off land- enclosure movement
Forced many peasants to move to cities to
work in factories
Contributing factors to
industrialization
 Capital
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Invest in factories and machines
Wealthy citizens- entrepreneurs
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Interested in finding business opportunities to
make money
Contributing factors to
industrialization
 Natural resources
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Rivers provided water power and a way to
transport raw materials
Supply of coal and iron ore
Large supply of markets
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Could sell products almost anywhere in the world
Contributing factors to
industrialization
 Cotton production
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Two step method
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Spinning cotton to thread
Weaving thread on a loom
 Cottage industry- done at home by individual
 Flying shuttle- made weaving faster
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Spinners could not produce thread fast enough
 Spinning Jenny (James Hargreaves) - spin
cotton to thread faster
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Now thread was produced faster than weavers
could weave the thread
 Edmund Cartwright- water powered loom to
weave faster
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Needed workers in factories near rivers and
streams
 James Watt- improved the steam engine in 1782
 Fired by coal
 Now a steam powered factories could be placed
anywhere
 1760- 2.5 million pounds of cotton was imported
 1787- 22 million pounds of cotton was imported
 1840- 360 million pounds of cotton was imported
Coal and Iron industry
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Steam engine depended on coal
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Production of coal increase
Aided transformation of the iron industry
 1780’s better production of iron
 Use of puddling- burned away impurities in crud
iron to produce a higher quality
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1740- 17,000 tons
1780- 70,000 tons
1852- 3 million tons
Railroads
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1804- first steam powered locomotive
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1830 the rocket first public railway line 16mph
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Could carry 10 tons of ore and 70 people at 5mph
Liverpool to Manchester
20 years later could go 50mph
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Created jobs
Lowered the price of goods
Larger markets
New factories
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Created a new work environment
Factory owners wanted work done around the
clock
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Workers worked in shifts to make this possible
Workers were fined if they were late and
dismissed for misconduct
Child workers were beaten
Industrialization spread throughout
Europe
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Belgium, France, and Germany
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Governments spent money on industrialization
Railroads were built across Europe
United states
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In 1800 6 of 7 workers were farmers
By 1860 population grew from 5 million to 30
million
9 cities had population above 100,000
 Only 50% of workers were farmers
Social Impact of Industrialization
 Social life drastically changed with industrialization
 Between 1750 and 1850 population almost doubled.
 Decline in death rates, wars, and disease (small pox
and plague)
 Increase in food supply
 Famine almost disappeared
 Cities population grew
 Left farm land to work in the city
 Living conditions in the cities were bad
 Industrial Capitalism- an economic system basked on
industrial production
Brought a new middle class
 Before middle class were merchant, official,
artisan, professionals, bankers
 New middle class included people who built
factories, bought and sold machines, and
found markets to sell products
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Often greedy
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“getting of money…is the main business of the
life of men”
Working class
 12-16 hour days, 6 days a week, ½ hour
lunch
 No job security
 No minimum wage
 Unhealthy working conditions
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Sometimes 80-84 degrees
Dirty, dusty
Dangerous- cave-ins, explosions, gas fumes
 Factory Act 1833- had to be 9 to work in a
factory
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9-13 year olds could only work 8 hour days
13-18 years could only work 12 hour days
Women made 50% of work force
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Paid half as much as men
 During the cottage industry the whole family
worked together
 Now men had to bring in the most money and
women did the house work
 Industrialization led to socialism
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Society owns and controls the means of
production
 Robert Owen was a utopian socialist- humans
would show their natural goodness if they lived
in a cooperative environment
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Created a town in Scotland that flourished
Tried in the United States but failed