The Spread of the Industrial
Revolution
A. Why does it spread?
B. IR in the United
States
C. IR in Continental
Europe
D. Worldwide Impact of
Industrialization
A. Why does it spread?
• England will try to stop industrialization from
spreading
• Why?
– because it made England the wealthiest nation in the
world
• England will ban people who have worked in the
factories from leaving the country
• Will not work – the IR will spread across the globe
• Advances in science and
technology will help the Industrial
Revolution spread
• Louis Pasteur – discovers that
bacteria causes diseases (will help
end the problem of cholera)
• Henry Bessemer – discovers a way
to produce steel a stronger metal
than iron
• Thomas Edison – discovers the
light bulb and works to improve
electricity
• The Railroad
will help the
IR spread
more than
any other
invention
B. IR in the United States
• IR begins in the
U.S. because of
Samuel Slater
immigrating from
England in 1791
• Problem: it is
expensive to
industrialize, so the
IR slowly develops
in the U.S.
• The War of 1812 between England & the U.S.
finally forced the U.S. to develop independent
industries
• Will follow England’s example of industrializing
– Copy Machines
– Start with the Textile Industry
• Resources include iron, oil, water, and coal
• The United States faced many of the same problems
that England did:
• Poor working conditions
• Poor living conditions
• Child Labor
C. IR in Continental Europe
• Continental
Europe was slow
to develop
industrially
because of the
Napoleonic wars
• Began in Belgium,
then spread to the
rest of the
continent
• Copied the British model by importing British
equipment and engineers.
• Germany was the next to industrialize
• Industrialization spread through the rest of Europe
by region rather than by country
• There were pockets of industrialization throughout
even when the majority of country was still rural and
agricultural
• Not all countries in Europe industrialized
D. Worldwide Impact of
Industrialization
• Rise of Global
Inequality – widened
the gap between
industrialized (rich)
and non-industrialized
(poor) nations
• Industrialized nations
began to compete to
gain colonies for
markets and resources