Why the Industrial Revolution
Started in Great Britain
1760 AD – 1840 AD in England
1800s-1900s in France and Germany
1840s -1920s in United States
That Nation of Shopkeepers!
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
How did the world go from this?
Life in England Before the
Industrial Revolution?
• 8 out of 10 worked in countryside
• Subsistence farming
• Cottage industries - factories rarely
employed more than 50 people
• Handmade – buttons, needles, cloth,
bricks, pottery, bread etc.
• Developing towns – Liverpool,
Birmingham, Glasgow
How many objects do you
have about you or can you
see in the room that are
handmade?
Welsh
spinsters
Before the Industrial Revolution:
Cottage Industry
How did people get around before
the Industrial Revolution?
• ‘We set out at six in the morning and didn’t get out
of the carriages (except when we overturned or got
stuck in the mud) for 14 hours. We had nothing to
eat and passed through some of the worst roads I
ever saw in my life’
This is a description of a
journey by Queen Anne in
1704 from Windsor to
Petworth – a journey of 40
miles. What does it tell us
about transport at the
time?
To this?
Definitions of Industrial Revolution
and Industrialization
• Industrial Revolution: a period of increased
output of goods made by machines and new
inventions; a series of dramatic changes in the
way work was done
• Industrialization: the process of developing
machine production of goods that led to a
better quality of life for people and also
caused immense suffering
Two great economic “revolutions”
occurred in human development
• The Industrial Revolution, started in the
eighteenth century, is still taking place today
– Involves a series of inventions leading to the use
of machines and inanimate power in the
manufacturing process
– Suddenly whole societies could engage in
seemingly limitless multiplication of goods and
services
– Rapid bursts of human inventiveness followed
– Gigantic population increases
Industrial Revolution
• Began around 1750 in Great Britain
• New machines led to the Industrial
Revolution.
• They replaced hand labor and helped workers
produce more things faster.
• Moving water power in rivers replaced
worker’s muscle.
• One water wheel could turn hundreds of
machines.
A technological revolution
A series of inventions that built on principles of mass
production, mechanization and interchangeable parts
Josiah Wedgwood developed a
mold for pottery that replaced
the potters wheel, making
mass production possible
Industrial Revolution
• Machines also started the factory system.
• The new machines were too large and costly
to be put into a person’s home.
• Large buildings called factories were built to
hold many of the machines.
• The workers in one factory manufactured
more in a day than one person working in his
or her home could manufacture in a lifetime.
Industrial Revolution
• Steam engines began to appear in the 1700s.
• This important invention used wood or coal as
fuel to heat water in a boiler.
• Steam from the hot water powered the
engine, which ran the machines.
• Since a steam engine could be placed
anywhere, factories no longer had to be built
along rivers.
• They could be built near fuel, raw materials, or
labor.
Industrial Revolution Included:
• 1) the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and
steel
• (2) the use of new energy sources, including both
fuels and motive power, such as coal, the steam
engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internalcombustion engine
• (3) the invention of new machines, such as the
spinning jenny and the power loom that permitted
increased production with a smaller expenditure of
human energy
Industrial Revolution Included:
• (4) a new organization of work known as the
factory system, which entailed increased division
of labor and specialization of function-- the
worker acquired new and distinctive skills, and his
relation to his task shifted; instead of being a
craftsman working with hand tools, he became a
machine operator, subject to factory discipline
• (5) important developments in transportation
and communication, including the steam
locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane,
telegraph, and radio, and
• (6) the increasing application of science to
industry
Industrial Revolution
• As factories produced more, better
transportation was needed.
• More canals were dug and better roads were
built.
• Here again the steam engine was able to help.
• By 1830, steam locomotives began to pull
trains.
Man of Steel: Henry Bessemer
• Before 1850, railroads
and trains were made
of iron
• Iron is brittle
• Railroads were unsafe
• 1850 Henry Bessemer
(England) invents a way
to turn iron ore into
steel
The Role of the Railroads
• The railroads, built during the
1830s and 1840s:
– Enabled people to leave the
place of their birth and migrate
easily to the cities.
– Allowed cheaper and more
rapid transport of raw
materials and finished
products.
– Created an increased demand
for iron and steel and a skilled
labor force.
The Industrial Revolution
In the 18th century, English merchants were leaders in world commerce. It
created a demand for more goods and a cheaper system of production.
Besides, there were new ideas in England : an interest in scientific
investigation and invention, and the doctrine of “laissez-faire” : letting business
be regulated by supply and demand rather than by laws. Most important of all,
new machines and techniques were developed by British inventors (for
example : James Hargreaves, James Watt, John Blenkinsop…)
Stephenson's Rocket
Consequences on
society
The Spinning Mill
In your notebook ….
• Compare and contrast this Industrial
Revolution to the Technological Revolution of
the last twenty years.
• What are the similarities?
• What are the differences?
Origins---Why England?
• Agricultural Revolution
– Horse and steel plow
– Fertilizer use
– Yields improved 300% 1700-1850
• Growth of foreign trade for
manufactured goods
– Foreign colonies
– Increase in ships and size
• Successful wars and foreign conquest
Origins – Why England?
• Factors in England
– No civil strife
– Government favored
trade
– Laissez-faire capitalism
– Large middle class
– Island geography
– Mobile population
– Everyone lived within 20
miles of navigable river
– Tradition of experimental
science
– Weak guilds
The Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution
During the early 1700's, a great change in farming called the Agricultural
Revolution began in Great Britain.
The revolution resulted from a series of discoveries and inventions that made
farming much more productive than ever before.
By the mid-1800's, the Agricultural Revolution had spread throughout much of
Europe and North America.
One of the revolution's chief effects was the rapid growth of towns and cities in
Europe and the United States during the 1800's.
Because fewer people were needed to produce food, farm families by the
thousands moved to the towns and cities.
Agricultural Revolution
 More food was available.
 Food production increased over 60% during the 1700s; twice
the rate between the 1500s and 1700s.
 Introduction of new crops, Columbian Exchange, from the New
World.
 English farmers began to raise potatoes which proved cheap
and nourishing.
 Other new crops indirectly benefitted humans as they
improved animal feed: corn, buckwheat, carrots and cabbage.
 This new animal feed produced larger quantities of better
tasting meat and milk.
Agricultural Revolution
• Enclosure Movement---allowed landowners to fence off land
through the use of hedges and resulted in the loss of common
lands used by many small farmers
• Development of More Effective Farming Methods
a)Townshend---crop rotation
b)Bakewell---animal breeding
c)Tull---seed drill
*These advances displaced smaller farmers who now needed
new employment
*Provided large land-owning farmers with more money to invest
•Cooperative plowing
•Conserved the quality of land
•Balanced distribution of good
land
•Farmers were part of a “team”
•Gleaning
OPEN FIELD SYSTEM---Old System
ADVANTAGES
• All villagers worked
together
• All the land was shared
out
• Everyone helped each
other
• Everyone had land to
grow food
• For centuries enough
food had been grown
OPEN FIELD SYSTEM---Old System
DISADVANTAGES
•Strips in
different fields
•Fallow land
•Waste of time
•Waste of land
•Common land
Disadvantages of the Open Field
System
People have to walk
over your strips to
reach theirs
No
hedges
or
fences
Field left fallow
Difficult to
take
advantage of
new farming
techniques
No proper
drainage
Because land in
different fields takes
time to get to each
field
Animals can
trample crops
and spread
disease
Why did the Open Field System
change?
population
8
7
6
5
millions 4
3
2
1
0
What was
happening to
population?
1700 1720 1740 1760 1780
year
Causes of the Industrial
Revolution
– A. Farming Changes: During
the 1700’s, farmers were
able to reclaim more land to
plant, made better use of
land, and used fertilizer to
improve the soil.
– B. Enclosure Movement: In
the 1700’s, rich landowners
and the English Parliament
began taking away land from
peasants and were able to
harvest more which made
farming profitable.
Enclosures?
• This meant enclosing the land with fences or hedges.
• The open fields were divided up and everyone who could
prove they owned some land would get a share.
• Dividing the open land into small fields and putting
hedges and fences around them.
• Everyone had their own fields and could use them how
they wished.
• Open land and common land would also be enclosed and
divided up.
Enclosure Movement
• By the late eighteenth century enclosures were becoming very
common in Great Britain.
• Enclosure simply meant joining the strips of the open fields to make
larger compact units of land.
• These units were then fenced or hedged off from the next person’s
land.
• This meant that a farmer had his land together in one farm rather
than in scattered strips.
• The farmer now had a greater amount of independence.
• This was not a new idea
• Enclosures had been around since Tudor times, but increased
dramatically in the 1700s because they made it easier for farmers to
try out new ideas.
Methods of Enclosure
• During the later 1770s, the number of enclosures in Britain increased
because they made it easier for farmers to try out new farming
techniques.
• Farmers could now invest in new machinery for use on their land,
work in one area and not waste time walking between strips of land.
• The enclosed land was also useful for farmers wanting to experiment
with selective breeding and new crops from abroad.
• There were two ways for villages to enclose land.
• One was by getting the whole village to agree among themselves,
which was more common during the early 18th century.
• The second was by an Act of Parliament. By 1770, landowners were
forcing enclosure on their local village by using an Act of Parliament.
“Enclosed” Lands Today
Ways to Enclose
• There were two ways to enclose a field.
• Before 1740 most villages were enclosed by agreement.
• This was when all of the major landowners in the village made a
private agreement to join their strips together.
• This possibly meant buying out smaller farmers.
• When a small number or farmers did not want to sell their land an
Act of Parliament had to be obtained.
• This became seen as perfectly acceptable after 1750 because it had
a number of really good points:
 1. Each piece of enclosed land had legal documentation.
 2. It provided a forum for opposition to be heard.
 3. It allowed the whole village to be enclosed at the same time.
Role of Parliament with Enclosure
Movement
• So how did Parliamentary enclosures take place?
• A village meeting was held and the owners of three quarters of the
village's land had to agree to enclosure. In many cases, the Lord of
the Manor and his friends owned three quarters of the land.
• A petition was drawn up by landowners asking Parliament to pass an
act enclosing local land.
• A notice about the petition was placed on the village church door.
• Parliament considered the petition and then passed an Enclosure Act
and sent three commissioners to supervise the enclosure and decide
who had the right to land in the village.
• The commissioners then drew up a new map of the enclosed fields.
So did people want to enclose their
land?
•Well, some did and some didn’t. If they did not
agree it was hard luck.
• If the owners of four-fifths of the land agreed,
they could force an Act of Parliament• There was a great increase in the number of
these in the eighteenth century, from 30 a year
to 60, then from 1801 to 1810 there were 906,
nearly 3 million hectares were enclosed.
Benefits to the Enclosure Movement
• Some agricultural improvers enclosed their land so as to reduce
wastage.
• It also meant it was easier for them to make decisions about
changing the use of the land.
• Because enclosure brought a farmer’s lands together, it was worth
investing in machinery, lime, manure or seed from one strip to
another.
• Enclosures would also help farmers interested in selective breeding.
• It also made it worthwhile to dig drainage ditches around their
fields.
• Historians generally agree that farmers enclosed land in order to
produce a greater tonnage, thereby earning bigger profits.
• In addition, where land was enclosed, landlords could charge
tenants higher rents.
So what’s wrong with that?
Nothing - if you could
prove you owned the land,
if you had the money for
fences and hedges and if you
could afford to pay the
commissioners to come
and map the land,
not to mention the cost of an Act
of Parliament.
Groups That Supported The
Enclosure Movement
• Landowners: They made
large profits from the
enclosures because the
new fields were more
efficient, and they could
charge their tenants higher
rents.
• Tenant Farmers: They did
not mind the higher rents,
because they were making
so much profit that they
could afford new
machinery and the best
fertilizer.
• Labourers: They were
given more work
digging ditches, planting
hedges, and building
roads. Many of them
even gained new homes
on their master’s
estates.
Groups That Were Against The
Enclosure Movement
• Smallholders: Many
villagers lost land and
were forced to become
labourers, either
because they could not
prove their right to the
enclosed land or
because they could not
afford to enclose the
land.
• Landless Labourers:
People like squatters
really suffered, because
the common land was
turned into enclose
land. Many of them
were left hungry.
Were there winners and losers?
•Yes, the better off farmers and landowners gained the
most - the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
• People who had no written proof of ownership lost
their land altogether.
•Some couldn’t afford to pay for fences and had to sell
their land.
•These people either became labourers on other
peoples land or headed for the towns to try and get a
job.
•One farm labourer said: ‘All I know is that I had a cow
and an Act of Parliament has taken it from me.’
•There were riots in some villages.
Invention of the Plow
Better food production methods are developed.
Nitrogen was recognized as an important fertilizer.
Turnips and clover replaced lost nutrients. Science
and Agriculture merged.
The appliance of organic chemistry
solved the old problem of keeping soil
fertile.
A scientist, Justus von Leibig,
discovered that chemicals known as
nitrates and phosphates were the
most important nutrients needed by
plants and crops.
The best source for this was crushed
animal bones which could be spread on
the fields.
•Another important development came in
1843.
•A landowner, called J.B. Lawes set up a
scientific research station on his fields at
Rothamstead.
•He experimented and noted the effects of
different fertilisers on different plots of land.
•His greatest success was the production of
superphosphates which he made by using
sulphuric acid on bones.
•Britain had discovered artificial fertilisers.
Selective Breeding?
Some farmers such as Robert Bakewell and the Culley brothers
•This meant only allowing the fittest and strongest of their
•cattle, sheep, pigs and horses to mate.
•You can tell how successful they were:
•In 1710 the average weight for cattle was
•168 Kg by 1795 - it was 363 Kg
Robert Bakewell
Selective Breeding
• Robert Bakewell
• He was a pioneering selective breeder. His new methods were
simple:
• He only chose the best farm animals and bred from them. His most
successful animals were the New Leicester Sheep and the Dishley
Longhorn cattle.
• They were bigger animals, but they did not have better meat.
• Bakewell kept detailed records about his livestock, made sure they
were very healthy and their stables and pens were always clean.
• He was so successful that other farmers often hired his animals to
breed from.
• Bakewell also wrote articles and pamphlets describing his new
breeding techniques and their advantages.
Robert Bakewell and Selective
Breeding of Sheep
The Colling or Culley Brothers
• They were also selective breeders, but
not as well known as Robert Bakewell.
• They improved on Robert Bakewell's
methods and their main success was
breeding the Durham Shorthorn cattle,
which were able to produce large
amounts of milk and high quality lean
meat for sale at market.
Charles Townshend-Crop Rotation
• Charles 'Turnip' Townshend
• He popularised new techniques and proved that they were more profitable.
• He introduced the Norfolk Four-Course Crop Rotation (wheat, turnips, barley,
clover) to Britain.
• Turnips were used as a cleansing crop to allow the land to be hoed to kill the
weeds, and clover was grown to replace the nutrients in the soil that the crops
had depleted.
• This rotation prevented land from lying fallow and both turnips and clover were
fodder crops, which could be fed to animals to allow more of them to survive cold
winters.
• Used a method called marling, which mixed rich subsoil with a poorer sandy soil
to produce better quality crops and increasingly more profit.
• Gave his tenant farmers longer leases to encourage them to invest more money
to experiment with new ideas and improving their land.
Norfolk Crop Rotations
• This system meant that no land had to remain fallow. The
system worked like this:
• Each area of land would be split into four sections.
• The crop that was grown on each field would be rotated so
that different nutrients would be taken from the land.
• In the first year turnips or another root crop would be
grown;
• In the second year barley was grown in the field (barley
could be sold at a profit);
• In the third year clover or a grass crop was grown and in
the fourth year wheat was grown in the field (wheat could
also be sold for a profit).
Planting Crops Before The Seed
Drill
Tull and Seed Drill
• Up until this period, farmers planted
the seeds for cereal crops by carrying
the seeds in a bag and walking up
and down the field throwing or
broadcasting the seed.
• They broadcast the seed by hand on
to the ploughed and harrowed
ground.
• The problem with this method was
that it did not give a very even
distribution.
• It was not, therefore, an efficient use
of the seed and much of it was
wasted.
• Jethro Tull invented a Seed
Drill which could be pulled
behind a horse.
• It consisted of a wheeled
vehicle containing a box
filled with grain.
• There was a wheel-driven
ratchet that sprayed the
seed out evenly as the
Seed Drill was pulled across
the field.
The First Seed Drill
Jethro Tull
• He is important because he introduced ideas that
others went on to develop.
• In 1701, he invented a horse-powered seed drill that
planted seeds at the same depth in straight lines.
• This wasted less seeds and allowed farmers to
manage their crops more easily.
• In 1714, he invented a horse-drawn hoe that made it
easier for farmers to weed between their seed rows.
• In 1731, he wrote a book called "Horse Hoeing
Husbandry", which promoted new farming ideas.
Tull’s Seed Drill
Jethro Tull and the Seed Drill
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Since earliest times seeds had always been sown by hand
People who worked on the land would walk over the fields
randomly scattering handfuls of grain
.Jethro Tull invented a machine which greatly helped to
increase the harvest yield by planting seeds in straight lines.
Tull was far more interested in the farming methods employed
on his land, which he called Prosperous Farm.
Tull travelled throughout Europe to study new farming
techniques.
On his return to Prosperous Farm in 1701, he developed a
horse-drawn mechanical Seed Drill.
The Seed Drill not only planted seeds at regular intervals but
also planted them at the right depth and covered them with
earth.
Because the seed drill planted seeds in straight lines, a
mechanical horse-drawn hoe, which Tull also invented, could be
used to remove weeds from between the lines of crop plants.
Tull’s Seed Drill
Jethro Tull
• Tull advocated the importance of pulverising (crumbling) the soil so that
air and moisture could reach the roots of the crop plants. His horsedrawn hoe was able to do this.
• He also emphasised the importance of manure and of tilling the soil
during the growing season.
• At the time, Tull's ideas came under attack, mainly because they were
new.
• His Seed Drill was not immediately popular in England, although it was
quickly adopted by the New England colonists across the Atlantic.
• In 1731, Tull wrote a book called "Horse-houghing (hoeing) Husbandry"
which he revised in 1733.
• Although his Seed Drill was improved in 1782 by adding gears to the
distribution mechanism, the rotary mechanism of the drill provided the
foundation for all future sowing technology.
Seed Drill
Feedstuffs
• Animal feedstuffs, made from linseed, rapeseed and cotton seed,
were also being produced.
• Firms such as Thornley’s of Hull and Paul’s of Ipswich specialised in
this.
• Over £5 million worth of artificial feed was being sold per year by the
1870s.
• Up to the 1850s most farmers used mixed farming.
• They needed animal dung as manure, and needed to grow grain to
feed the animals.
• With artificial fertilisers and feedstuffs farmers could now specialise
in livestock or cereals.
• They used their land in which ever way was best.
• As a result, wheat yields rose from about 22 bushels per acre in the
1820s to about 35 bushels per acre in the 1850s.
Steam Powered Machines
• Steam power had brought such great changes to the other industries
of Britain that it is not surprising it was also applied to agriculture.
Some of the results were successful, such as the steam-powered
threshing machine.
• These were usually owned by contractors and hired by farmers on a
daily basis.
• A steam engine, called a traction engine, provided the power;
unthreshed corn was fed in at the top of the threshing machine, grain
poured into sacks at the back, and straw was stacked at the far left.
• It is estimated that about two thirds of the corn harvest was threshed
by machine by 1880.
• Steam ploughing was more complicated. The traction engine stood
at one side of the field and round a wheel on the other side.
• A special balance plough was then hauled from side to side of the
field.
Additional Machines
 Horse-drawn cultivator – Jethro Tull
 Cast-iron plow (1797) – American Charles Newbold
 Reaper – Englishman Joseph Boyce (1799) and American
Cyrus McCormic (1834)
 Self-cleaning steel plow – John Deere(1837)
 Thresher – separated grain from stalk
 Harvester – cut and bind grain
 Combine - cut, thresh, and sack grain
 Tractor – pulled equipment through the field
 Corn planter
 Potato digger
 Electric milker
 Cotton picker
A New Agricultural Revolution
Improved
Methods of
Farming
•Dikes for land
reclamation
•Fertilizer
•Seed Drill –
Jethro Tull
•Crop rotation
Enclosure
Movement
Population
Explosion
•Rich landowners
fenced in land
formerly shared by
peasant farmers.
•Output rose with
fewer workers
•Tenants displaced
•Moved to cities
•Britain’s
population rose
from 5 million in
1700 to 9 million in
1800.
•Declining death
rates
•Reduced risk of
famine.
In your Notebook…
• Which of the new inventions and techniques
developed during the Agricultural Revolution
do you think had the greatest impact?
• Explain why.
Publicity to Encourage the
Agricultural Revolution?!
•Yeah, books were written on farming, there were
model farms set up - George III set up one at
Windsor.
•The Board of Agriculture was set up and Arthur
Young, the new secretary, went round the country
recording the progress of the revolution and others
could read his report to find out more.
•Agricultural shows with competitions were held
and people could exchange ideas and see the
latest things.
The Propagandists of the
Agricultural Revolution
•
• Arthur Young
• He was a propagandist for agricultural •
improvement who was convinced that
Britain needed a strong agricultural •
community.
•
• Young traveled around the country
and some parts of Europe, writing
articles about agricultural change and •
also edited an agricultural journal
called "The Annals of Agriculture".
•
• In 1793, he became secretary of the
new Board of Agriculture and
•
encouraged the spread of new
agricultural techniques and ideas.
•
Thomas Coke
He was a Norfolk landowner who adopted and
spread new agricultural methods on his farm in
Norfolk.
He gave his tenant farmers leases of 20 to 40 years
to encourage them to try out new methods.
He believed that if his tenant farmers felt they
owned the land for a significant period of time,
they would be more willing to invest in it.
Coke encouraged farmers to use the new
techniques by organising annual events
on his estate that demonstrated the newest
methods. One such event was called Coke's
Clipping.
This was a competition to see how quickly a sheep
could be sheared.
He was important for sharing and spreading new
farming ideas.
But it wasn’t all good news
New machines meant less people were needed
to work the land - so there was unemployment,
enclosure meant people lost land - this meant
losing their homes as they had nowhere to grow
food and there was little work- so they moved to
towns.
In addition there were change in the
way the land looked from
open fields to a sort of patchwork quilt.
Changes in the shape of a village
as people could build on their own land
Effects in the Countryside
• The only successful farmers
were those with large
landholdings who could afford
agricultural innovations.
• Most peasants:
– Didn’t have enough land to
support themselves
– Were devastated by poor harvests
(e.g., the Irish Potato Famine of
1845-47)
– Were forced to move to the cities
to find work in the factories.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Agricultural production
increased
Cost of foodstuffs
dropped
Increased production of
food resulted in part, in a
rapid growth of
population
Large farms, using
machines and scientific
methods, began to
dominate agriculture
Number of small farms
began to decline
6.
The number of farmers,
in proportion to total
population, decreased
sharply
7. Many farmers moved to
the cities
8. The population of cities
increased rapidly
9. Farmers found their work
less difficult because
machines performed the
back breaking labor
10. Farming changed from a
self-sufficient way of life
to big business
Banking and Capital
 Aristocracy and middle class had grown wealthy from
overseas trading and large-scale farming.
 Now people had capital, or money, to invest in new
industries.
 Parliament encouraged investments in new businesses by
passing laws to help growing businesses.
 Had a strong banking system set up to make loans
available
 Made numerous loans at fair rates that encouraged new
businesses and inventions
Banking and Capital
• Britain had a ready
supply of capital for
investment
– Britain excelled at
banking
– Had flexible credit
facilities because they
used paper money for
transactions
England’s Resources: Geography
England is the political center of Great Britain, an
island
Great Britain (as the entire island was called
beginning in 1707) did not suffer fighting on its
land during the wars of the 18th century
Island has excellent harbors and ports
Damp climate benefited the textile industry (thread
did not dry out)
A country with many
rivers and
streams…so water
power can be
harnessed.
Natural Resources/Geography
 Rich in natural resources
 Large number of harbors and rivers that could be used year-round
for shipping
 Water also could be used as a power source
 Huge supplies of iron and coal---raw materials for the building of
machines and fueling the new machines
 The damp climate was good for textile production, because it helped
to keep the fibers in the material soft and easy to work with.
 Separated from the continent, Britain was able to remain apart from
the wars plaguing Europe during the 1600 and 1700s and thus
conserve their resources.
Natural Resources/Geography
• England substituted coal for charcoal in the
manufacturing of iron because by the 1700s,
most of the forests were gone.
• In 1708, the Darby family of Coalbrookdale
started smelting iron using coke that was
processed from coal. It made the highest
quality of iron.
• Since England had a large supply of coal, it
was able to dominate the iron industry.
Early Canals
Britain’s Earliest
Transportation
Infrastructure
Metals, Woolens, & Canals
Coalfields & Industrial Areas
Mine & Forge [1840-1880]
• More powerful than water is coal.
• More powerful than wood is iron.
• Innovations make steel feasible.
 “Puddling” [1820] – “pig iron.”
 “Hot blast” [1829] – cheaper, purer
steel.
 Bessemer process [1856] – strong,
flexible steel.
Coal Mining in Britain:
1800-1914
1800
1 ton of coal
50, 000 miners
1850
30 tons
200, 000 miners
1880
300 million tons
500, 000 miners
1914
250 million tons
1, 200, 000 miners
British Pig Iron
Production
Large Labor Supply of Workers
Serfdom and guilds ended earlier in England
than other countries
English people could freely travel from the
countryside to the cities
Enclosure Acts – caused many small farmers
to lose their lands, and these former farmers
increased the labor supply
Large Labor Supply
 Growing population of workers due to the improvements in
farming---more food available leads to better diet and longer
life expectancy
 1700---less than 7 million, 1800---11 million
 Rapid population growth increased demand for goods
 Displaced farmers due to the enclosure movement took over
jobs in factories and mining
 Birth rates rose in the 1700s, while death rates dropped.
 In 1700 in London, there was a half-million more deaths than
births.
 By 1800 in London, the deaths only outnumbered births by
20,000.
Large Labor Supply
 The death rate dropped because more babies were surviving
childbirth due to the better training of midwives and
formation of maternity hospitals.
 Both children and adults were dying less from disease.
 The major health epidemics like the Bubonic Plague had
vanished in Britain after 1660 and the Great Fire of London.
 Other major diseases followed a similar pattern like Syphilis
which stopped being an epidemic in the 1700s.
 Inoculations started in 1760 with Jenner’s Smallpox vaccine.
 Other reasons for the reduction of the epidemics are
unknown.
Social Factors
• British society was organized in a less rigid and
hierarchical manner than France or Germany
who held on to feudalism.
• British society was fairly egalitarian.
• The most significant social class in Britain was
the middle class that was comprised of
merchants and artisans. Where in Germany
and France, it was the nobility.
Social Factors
• Most people moved to the cities
instead of living in rural areas.
• This was only seen in Britain and
Germany.
• By the mid 1800s, 70% to 80% of
Britain’s population lived in urban
areas.
• Society During the Industrial
Revolution
– Urbanization-The movement
of people from the country to
the city.
– Social Classes during the
Industrial Revolution
• Upper class elite, 5%
(owned most of the country’s
wealth)
• Middle classes, 15% (women
worked at home raising kids)
• Lower classes, 80% (lived mostly
in tenement housing-tightly
packed apartment like housing)
Openness to New Ideas
 Ambitious upper and middle class people willing to invest in new
inventions and industries---ENTREPRENEURS
 British people were interested in science and technology due to the
Scientific Revolution
 Not afraid to take risks to make a profit
 Most of the early inventors were British or Scottish
a)John Kay---flying shuttle
b)James Hargreaves---spinning jenny
c)Richard Arkwright---waterframe
d)Samuel Crompton---spinning mule
e)Edmund Cartwright---power loom
(all of these led to the development of textile factories)
f)James Watt---steam engine
g)Henry Bessemer---inexpensive way to make steel
h)Thomas Telford & John McAdam---paving roads
i)Richard Trevithick---steam locomotive
Openness to New Ideas
• Due to the increase in wealth and the
middle class due to exploration and
colonization of the New World, the
middle class was willing to invest in the
new industries.
• By the end of the 1700s, the investments
earned them 50% returns.
The first inventions are in the textile industry. With
the increased population, the demand for cloth was
great.
Flying Shuttle
• John Kay
• 1733
• Hand-operated
machine which
increased the
speed of
weaving
John Kay’s “Flying Shuttle”
Spinning Jenny
• James Hargreaves---1765
• Home-based machine that spun thread 8 times
faster than when spun by hand
Water Frame
• Richard Arkwright
• 1769
• Water-powered
spinning machine that
was too large for use in
a home – led to the
creation of factories
• Samuel
Crompton
• 1779
• Combined the
spinning
jenny and the
water frame
into a single
device,
increasing the
production of
fine thread
Spinning Mule
Edmund Cartwright---Power Loom
• 1785
• Water-powered device
that automatically and
quickly wove thread
into cloth
The Power Loom
James Watt’s Steam Engine
James Watt (1736-1819) and
Steam Engine
• Improved Atmospheric Engine of Savery and
Newcomen by adding separate condenser for
steam.
• Perfected flywheel
• Made double reciprocating engine: steam
drives piston in both directions
• 1000 steam engines in England in 1800
Watt’s Steam Engine
Openness to New Ideas:
Inventions
•
Steam Engine– Provided a new source
of power in factories.
– Eventually redesigned
by James Watt
– Led to all factories
being run by steam
and not water.
• The location of
factories was now
unlimited
Openness to New Ideas:
Inventions
•
Steam Locomotive
– Started in 1820’s to
improve transportation
– Led to a boom in railroadswhich helped business and
increased jobs
– Eventually was a major
cause for westward
expansion in the United
States
– Why is the development of
the Railroad so important
to history?
First class and
mail
Second
class
Manchester-Liverpool Trains (1830)
Openness to New Ideas:
Inventions
• Steamboat
– Invented to improve
transportation of
people and goods
– Some ships were also
used as party ships up
and down rivers in the
19th and early 20th
centuries
Great Britain is an island nation with a
relatively stable constitutional monarchy.
Political Stability/Government
 Britain fought many wars during the 1700s, but never on
British soil.
 So they never had to rebuild farms or towns due to war
damages.
 British citizens did not have to worry about the threat of
war destroying their property and had more time to
consider ways to improve the quality of their lives.
 The British government favored economic growth by
passing laws that encouraged investment in new
inventions and industries.
 There were no internal trade barriers within Britain
unlike most European countries.
Political Stability/Government
 Britain had unified much earlier in terms of government and
culture than Germany, Italy, France, and Spain.
 This encouraged internal British trade and circulation of
goods that helped strengthen the domestic economy.
 Industrialization was also encouraged by the ability of the
population to relocate relatively freely.
 In most European countries, it was difficult for people to
transfer citizenship from one town to another.
 England allowed its population geographical mobility.
 Travel and trade were also made easier by the early
development of canals and rivers due to private and
government investment.
Government: Parliament
• Parliament helped by
providing a favorable
business climate
– Provided a stable
government
– Passed laws to protect
private property
– Very few restrictions
on private enterprises
Government: Turnpikes & Canals
• Turnpike trusts created new
roads and networks of canals
– Soon overtaken by railroads
• Railroads were the most
important single factor in
promoting European
economic progress
• Railroad construction created
jobs that many farm laborers
and peasants filled
British Government Supporting The
Growth
• From 1760 – 1774, Parliament passed over 500 laws
related to building more and better roads
• Between 1790 and 1794, the British Parliament
passed 89 laws concerning the building of new
canals.
• The government pursued Laissez-Faire Capitalism
and did not regulate working hours, pay, conditions,
child labor, environmental issues, etc…that allowed
for fast and cheap growth.
Importance of Railroads
• Most important thing about railroads is that
they provided a faster and cheaper means of
transportation
• Reduced the price of goods
– Which increased sales
– Which created more factories and machines
– And the process started over again
Colonies and Navy
 British took advantage of their access to international markets.
 A British law requiring merchants to use British ships for foreign trade
promoted the British fleet.
 The heavy use of the British fleet for trade increased the volume of
imports and exports.
 This gave Britain more purchasing power and increased the
importance of the British fleet.
 It became a self-perpetuating cycle.
 To preserve a monopoly on the industrial technology, the British
government prohibited industrial workers, inventors, or anyone
familiar with industrial technology to leave the country.
England’s Resources: Colonies and
Markets
Wealth from the Commercial Revolution spread
beyond the merchant class
England had more colonies than any other nation
Its colonies gave England access to enormous
markets and vast amounts of raw materials
Colonies had rich textile industries for centuries
 Many of the natural cloths popular today, such as calico
and gingham, were originally created in India
 China had a silk industry
Colonial Empire
• Britain’s colonial empire encouraged industrialization.
• Because Britain had a lot of control over its colonies, it created and
enforced the economic system of Mercantilism.
• Britain purchased and imported raw materials from her colonies.
• From these raw materials, British companies produced
manufactured goods which they sold back to the colonies and to
Europe.
• British controlled colonies provided a ready-made, steady market
for British goods.
• The war ravaged European continent also imported British goods
which increased the demand on British industries and pushed the
industries to produce more.
How ‘Great’ was Britain?
• British empire growing – Canada, West Indies,
Africa, India & America
• Imported goods from plantations, e.g. cotton,
tobacco & sugar
• Exported – cloth, pottery, metal goods
Colonial Markets
• Had a large supply of
markets for their
manufactured goods
– Included Europe, the
Americas, Africa & the
East
• Efficient merchant
marine system to
transport goods
anywhere in the world
Colonies and Merchant Marine
• World’s largest merchant fleet
• Merchant marine built up from the
Commercial Revolution
• Vast numbers of ships could bring raw
materials and finished goods to and from
England’s colonies and possessions, as well as
to and from other countries
Britain’s Colonial Empire By End of
1800s
In your Notebook:
• Which of the factors for why the Industrial
Revolution began in Great Britain first do you think
had the most impact?
• Explain why.
• Is there a country today who shares similarities with
Industrial Revolution Great Britain?
• Who and how?
The Industrial Revolution
• Benefits of Industrialization
– Better clothes, better heat, better food
– Increased goods
– More jobs
– More opportunities
Advantages of Industrializing First
 Growth of early British factories was impressive.
 As early as 1820, only 30% of the British labor remained in
agriculture, while 80 to 100% of the continental labor was still
devoted to agriculture.
 Britain was able to specialize in industry and import agricultural
products from the continental Europe.
 Due to the effects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars, the Industrial Revolution was delayed in continental Europe.
It would not arrive until 1830.
 The French only began industrializing in the period 1830 – 1871, and
only with a focus on luxury items and small-scale manufacturing.
 German industrialization happened even later in the 1870s and
1880s after the German unification process.
Continental Know How
• The continent lacked the
technical knowledge of
the British
– They “borrowed” ideas
• The British forbade
artisans from leaving the
country and prohibited
the export of machinery
• Didn’t work because of
the black market
Continental Skills
• Gradually they
obtained the skills and
machines they needed
• Established technical
schools to train
engineers and
mechanics
Thank Napoleon
• One factor that kept the
continent behind Great
Britain was the French
Revolution and the
Napoleonic Era
– Wars caused destruction,
disrupted trade, death,
economic crisis and social
& political instability
– Napoleon only widened
the gap between British
and Europe
Advantages of Industrializing First
• Belgium started in 1807.
• Holland, northern Italy, and
Switzerland would not industrialize
until the start of the 20th century.
• Spain and Portugal were largely
removed from the industrialization
process.
Continental Industrial Centers
• Belgium, France and the German states
• The cotton industry was different on the
continent in two ways
– It was dispersed through many regions as opposed
to being centered in a couple of cities like
Lancashire and Glasgow
– Industry was built on iron and coal as opposed to
being built on the cotton industry
Continental Governments
• Government played an important role in
industrialization
– Took on the cost of building canals, roads & railways
– Created tariffs against British goods
– Necessary because they were cheaper and it protected
their industry as well
• Continental investment banks used their saving as
capital to develop industry
Continental Governments and IR
• Record is mixed.
• Government often sided with owners—
Pullman Strike in U. S. (1894).
• Influenced by evolving liberalism (J. S. Mill),
Government sought to create safety nets.
• Bismarck’s Germany—accident, disability, and
old age insurance.
England vs. Continental Europe
• Produced 20% of
industrial goods
• Gross national
product rose 4x
• Population increase
• Inventors took
inventions abroad
• Belgium’s coal and
iron resources
• Germany iron and
wool factories
• France slow to
industrialize
• Mechanization
came but late
The Industrial Revolution
Other Countries soon followed the example of
Great Britain’s industrialization
– 1. The United States- many natural resources and
many workers good combination for industrialization
• Industry started in the Northeast many people moved into
factory towns
– 2. Belgium, Germany, and France were also
affected by the Industrial Revolution
Industrialization Spreads
Industrialization soon spread to western Europe and the United States. Other
regions did not industrialize in the 1800s. What was it about Western
countries that encouraged them to embrace industry?
Why Western
Countries?
• Political liberty
• Freedom to compete
• Rewards reaped
• Exploitation and
improvements
America
Europe
• British restrictions
• Belgium, 1807
• Hamilton, 1791
• France, 1815
• Samuel Slater
• Germany, 1850
– Water frame
– Railroads
– Slater’s Mill
– Treaties
• Lowell’s Mill
Results of the Industrial Revolution
Economic
Changes
• Expansion of world trade
• Factory system
• Mass production of goods
• Industrial capitalism
• Increased standard of living
• Unemployment
Political
Changes
• Decline of landed aristocracy
• Growth and expansion of democracy
• Increased government involvement in society
• Increased power of industrialized nations
• Nationalism and imperialism stimulated
• Rise to power of businesspeople
Social
Changes
• Development and growth of cities
• Improved status and earning power of women
• Increase in leisure time
• Population increases
• Problems – economic insecurity, increased deadliness of war, urban slums, etc.
• Science and research stimulated
The Industrial Revolution
Economic Effects
Social Effects
• New inventions and
development of
factories
• Long hours worked by
children in factories
• Increase in population
of cities
• Poor city planning
• Loss of family stability
• Expansion of middle
class
• Harsh conditions for
laborers
• Workers’ progress vs.
laissez-faire economic
attitudes
• Improved standard of
living
• Creation of new jobs
• Encouragement of
technological progress
• Rapidly growing
industry in the 1800s
• Increased production
and higher demand for
raw materials
• Growth of worldwide
trade
• Population explosion
and a large labor force
• Exploitation of mineral
resources
• Highly developed
banking and investment
system
• Advances in
transportation,
agriculture, and
communication
Political Effects
• Child labor laws to
end abuses
• Reformers urging
equal distribution of
wealth
(i.e.
Karl Marx)
• Trade unions
• Social reform
movements, such
as utilitarianism,
utopianism,
socialism, and
Marxism
• Reform bills in
Parliament
Industrial Revolution’s Impact
• Growth of large factory towns like
Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool
• Division of Labor, both according to task and
increasingly of gender
• Efficiency—F. W. Taylor
• Material quality of life increased among
workers as did alienation
The Industrial Revolution
• Effects--- Working Conditions
– Men, women, and children worked 12-16 hours a
day
– Working conditions were very dangerous & made
little money
Social Implications
• Urbanization
• New demands on city services
• Separation of work from home—home
becomes a place to produce children, not
goods.
• Clock/calendar regimented life styles
• Child labor
The Industrial Revolution
•
Changes as a result of
the Industrial Revolution
– 1. More people moved to
the enlarged cities
– 2. New cities- poor housing,
few schools, and little
police protection
– Newcastle in England
became a large steel
producer
The Industrial Revolution
•
Cities became filled
with garbage and
highly polluted
– Average lifespan in the
city was 17 while in the
countryside it was 38
(over double)
The Industrial Revolution
Huge cities like Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool
grew rapidly out of obscure village, and Lancashire,
London, Clyde, and the black country” engulfed old rural
beauty. Village life crumbled, and the population massively
migrated to new centres of manufacture.
With the progress of medicine, the population increased and
more people needed to be fed. Fields were fertilised and closed
with thick stone walls to be easier to cultivate.
Canals were opened all over Britain, the first
one in 1757. They enabled the transportation of
industrial goods at a low cost.
The use of machines meant that workers had to be gathered in
one single place, the factory. Many people left their villages in the
hope of finding work in the cities. In big industrial cities, houses
were built very fast to house the numerous workers arriving from
the country. These districts were invaded by disease and revolt.
Population
United Kingdom
England/Wales
Urbanisation rate (UK)
1750
1815
7,4 billions 15 billions
10 billions
19 %
1850
23 billions
18 billions
37%
Railways developed : in 1825 a line
opened between Stockton and
Darlington and another one was
inaugurated in 1830 between
Liverpool and Manchester.
Back
Child Labour
The brickyards of England - Children carrying clay
Young girl pulling a corve
A Day in the life of a Yorkshire girl
This testimony was gathered by Lord Ashley when
he conducted an investigation into the conditions of
labour in mines. His report led to the mines Act of
1842 that prohibited the employment in the mines of
children under thirteen.
Patiente Kershaw, 17-May 15, 1842
“My father has been dead about a year ; my mother
is living and has ten children, five lads and five
lasses ; the oldest is about thirty, the youngest is
four ; three lasses go to mill ; all the lads work at the
pit ; mother does nothing but look after home.
I never went to day-school ; I go to Sunday-school
but I cannot read or write ; I go to pit at five o’clock
in the morning and come out at five in the evening ; I
get my breakfast of porridge and milk first ; I take my
dinner with me, a cake, and eat it as I go ; I do not
stop or rest any time ;I get nothing else until I get
home, and then I have potatoes and meat - not meat
every day.
At the pit, I hurry the corves about a mile under
ground and back ; I wear a belt and chain to get the
corves out ; the getters that I work for are naked
except their caps ; they pull off all their clothes ;
sometimes they beat me, if I am not quick enough ;
the boys take liberties with me sometimes they pull
me about ; I am the only girl. I would rather work in
mill than in coal-pit.”
The girl is an ignorant, fithy, deplorable-looking
object, one that the uncivilized natives of the prairies
would be shocked to look upon.
Parliamentary Papers, 1842.
Back