1700-1900
Ch 25

Agricultural
Revolution
Period of dramatically improved farming methods in the 1700s
Began in England
Wealthy landowners bought out local farmers’ small plots of land + enclosed them to cultivate larger fields
Experimented w/ more productive seeding + harvesting methods

 crop yields
2 important results:
1. New agricultural methods
2. Many small farmers forced to become tenant farmers or to give up farming
+ move to cities
Jethro Tull was a scientific farmer who invented the seed drill
Process of crop rotation improved
Improvements in livestock breeding
This all leads to a population

Industrial
Revolution
Industrialization - the process of developing machine production of goods
Indust. Rev. - Refers to the greatly output of machine-made goods in the middle 1700s
Began in England

Why?
1. Large population of workers
2. Extensive natural resources
- need things like:
A. waterpower + coal – to fuel machines
B. iron ore - construct machines, tools
C. Rivers for transportation
3. Expanding economy
4. Highly developed banking system (loans)
5. Trade was growing quickly
6. Political stability
Britain had all the Factors of Production – (resources needed to produce goods + services)
Land, labor, + capital (wealth) + entrepreneurship

Textile
Industry is
1 st to be transformed
Clothing industry
Why?
population - people need clothes
Inventions are improved over + over
Become too big + expensive to use at home
 of clothing factories
 need of cotton from USA
Eli Whitney invents cotton gin (removes seeds from cotton –makes slavery extremely profitable)

Transportation
Improvements
Entrepreneur – person who organizes, manages, + takes on the risks of a business
Steamboat (in USA)
Canals – human made waterways
Better transportation of goods + people
Better roads

Railroads 1821 – beginning of 1 st railroad line

Effects:
1. Spurred Indus. Rev b/c of a cheap way to transport materials + goods
2. Created MANY jobs
3. England’s agricultural + fishing industries (could now transport goods)
4. People travelled more
End Section 1

25.2

Short Term
Effects of
Indus. Rev.
By the 1800s, people could earn wages in factories than on farms
1.
Plentiful jobs
2.
of cities
3.
Unhealthy working conditions
4.
Water + air pollution
5.
child labor abuses
6.
Wealth for middle class

Urbanization Europeans leave farms to look for jobs + wages
For the 1 st time, more
Europeans live in cities than in rural areas (urbanization is citybuilding + the movement of people to cities)
Factories were built in clusters b/c entrepreneurs built them near sources of energy like water + coal
Some cities became centers for a particular industry
Manchester + Leeds – textiles
Birmingham – iron smelting

Living
Conditions in Cities
B/c cities rapidly, there was no development plans, sanitary codes, or building codes
No adequate housing, education, or police protection
Many slums develop
Illnesses spread rapidly
Many wealthy merchants + factory owners move outside the city to suburbs + live in luxurious homes

Working
Conditions
To production, factory machines ran as many hours as possible
Average worker worked 14 hrs a day, 6 days a week
Factories were seldom clean or well lit
Dangerous – no gov.’t aid for those injured
Children as young as 6 worked in factories
Little hands were good for fixing small parts of machines
Workdays began 5-6am + ended 7-9pm many only had 1 break for lunch + MAYBE 1 for dinner
Coal mines were the most dangerous
Frequent accidents, damp conditions,
+ constantly breathing coal dust
On average, life span shorter by 10 yrs

Class
System
Indus. Rev. created enormous amounts of new wealth

Most belonged to factory owners, shippers, + merchants who were a part of the growing middle class (social class made up of skilled workers, professionals, business people, + wealthy farmers)
Working class saw little improvement in their conditions



In frustration, some would smash machines they thought were putting them out of work
One such group was the luddites - they attacked whole factories in North England
Mobs of workers would occasionally riot, mainly b/c of poor living + working conditions

Wealthy:
Middle Class:
1. Landowners + Aristocrats (looked down on merchants)
2. Factory owners, merchants, + bankers (wealthier than many aristocrats)
3. Gov.’t employees, doctors, lawyers, + managers of factories, mines, + shops
4. Factory overseers + skilled workers (like toolmakers + printers)
Working
Class:
Poor:
5. Laborers
6. No job, disabled, etc…

+ Effects of
Indus. Rev.
(Long Term)
Created jobs + wealth
Encouraged technological progress + invention
Production of goods + standard of living
Better housing + cheaper, mass-produced clothing
Demand of educated professionals (ex.
Engineers)
Eventually, workers received wages, hours, + better working conditions after they formed unions
Most people would eventually be able to afford goods that decades before would have been luxuries
Profits produced tax revenues, which allowed gov.’ts to invest in developments to improve standard of living
End Section 2

25.3

Spread of the
Indus. Rev.
The US
Spreads 1 st to the US + continental
Europe
Had conditions similar to England
Like Britain, it started w/ textiles
Britain wanted to keep its secrets of indus. + forbade engineers, mechanics, + toolmakers from leaving the country
But one mill worker, Samuel Slater, went to US + built a spinning machine mostly from memory
Factories opened in the northeast US + young, single girls from rural areas were eager for some indep.
Cities had similar conditions + problems as in Britain

Railroads in the US
RR were important - cities grew around them

RR were big business to $ to build them, entrepreneurs sold shares of stock (certain rights + percentages of ownership)

A corporation is a business owned by stockholders who share in its profits but are not responsible for its debts

Continental
Europe
Slower to start there b/c of troubles left behind after Napoleon
Started in Belgium after a British carpenter smuggled plans for building a spinning machine out of
England
Germany would import British technology + workers. They also sent children there to be educated
They built RRs + became a military power
Some countries were held back from indus. due to geography – poor transportation

Global
Consequences of the Indus. Rev.
Shifted world balance of power competition b/w rich + poor countries
Widened the gap b/w rich + poor countries - but strengthened economic ties
Rich countries needed poor countries’ raw materials + poor countries would buy rich countries’ finished goods
Europe’s + USA’s economic power
Africa + Asia’s economic power of middle class led to education + democratic participation
Fueled movement for social reform
End Section 3

25.4

:
Gap between the rich + poor widens
Capitalism:
An economic system in which the factors of production are privately owned + $ is invested in business ventures to make a profit
Laissez-faire – economic policy in which the gov.’t does not interfere w/ or regulate industries or businesses
Some economic philosophers believed that gov.’t regulations
(such as tariffs) only interfered w/ the production of wealth
Believed in free trade

Adam
Smith
Economist
Wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776)
Defended laissez-faire
Came up w/ 3 natural laws of economics
1. Law of Self-interest
- people work for their own good
2. Law of Competition
- competition forces people to make better products
3. Law of Supply + Demand
- enough goods would be produced at the lowest possible price to meet the demand in a market economy

Socialism: An economic system in which the factors of production are owned by the public + operate for the welfare of all
Believe that the gov.’t should intervene in the economy
Sought to offset the bad effects of industrialization (ex. poverty + poor working conditions)
Gov.’t should control major industries
(RRs, mines, factories, etc)

Communism: Economic system in which all the means of production – all land, mines, factories, RRs, + businesses
– are owned by the people, private property does not exist, + all goods/services are shared equally
(RADICAL socialism)
Idea originated w/ Karl Marx
He + Friedrich Engels outlined their ideas in the Communist
Manifesto

The
Communist
Manifesto
Stated that throughout history, societies have always been divided into warring classes:
Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
(haves, middle-class) (have-nots, poor)
The Indus. Rev. widened the gap b/w the classes. He believed the Proletariat would rise up + overthrow the
Bourgeoisie + work for economic equality for all. This would lead to the gov.’t dissolving + a classless society
Believed communism would start in
England
Instead influenced USSR, China, Cuba

Workers become more politically active
Unions Associations of workers, formed to bargain for better working conditions + fair wages
Speak for all the workers in a particular trade
Have collective bargaining power
(negotiations b/w workers + employers)
If employers refuse their demands, union members might strike (refuse to work)

Reforms: Reformers + union workers forced gov.’ts to look into abuses caused by industrialization
1.
New laws protecting children + women
- women made $ in factories than at home, but only 1/3 of what men made
2.
Abolished slavery
(Britain -1833 / US – 1865)
3.
Better public education
4.
Prison reform
End Section 4