THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
The shift, beginning in England in the 18th century, from making
goods by hand to making them by machine.
England before the Industrial Revolution
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1. The Agricultural Revolution
Population Explosion
• England - huge increase in population in the
late 1760s.
• More people need more food.
• The French blockade meant that the British
had to produce more food.
• Large landowners chase small tenant farmers
(renters) off their lands to try to make the
most profit from the increased price of food.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1. The Agricultural Revolution
A. Enclosure Movement
i. landlords fenced in common land and used new
farming technology
ii. peasants became poorer
Britain’s Agricultural Revolution
• The large landowners consolidate
their property into enclosures –
land that is walled off.
• Increased technology and new inventions make the
British farmers the most productive in the world. Fewer
farmers can now produce more food than ever before.
• This allows the rural population to feed a growing urban
population.
The landlords started crop
rotation. They would change the
crops that they would plant in
The changes in the way the
different fields to make sure that
people in Britain farmed
the fields retained their nutrients.
resulted in huge increases in
the amount of food that the
land produced.
New crops such as corn and
potatoes were introduced
that increased the amount of
food that Britain produced.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1. The Agricultural Revolution
A. Enclosure Movement
i. landlords fenced in common land and used new
farming technology
ii. peasants became poorer
B. Crop Rotation
i. fields regained nutrients by planting different crops
C. Other Discoveries
i. seed drill planted seeds quickly
ii. new crops: corn and potato
D. Results in more food and population increase
Enclosure results in Urbanization
The former tenant farmers that were chased off the lands
during the period of enclosure were forced to move into
villages and towns.
Many found work at home making textile products
(making wool, flax, and cotton into cloth).
Capitalists (businessmen) started businesses by taking wool and
flax to the cottages (homes) of peasant spinners. After the wool
and flax were spun carded, the capitalists would then take it to
the weavers.
2. Cottage Industry and Early Capitalism
A. Merchants Role
i. supplied materials – wool and cotton
ii. transported supplies
iii. merchants make profits
B. Capitalism
i. private ownership, free competition, and profit
ii. cottage industry early example of capitalism
C. Effects of the Cottage Industry
i. big profits for new class of merchants
ii. alternative source of income for peasants
The Factory System
What do you see
here?
What are the
machines doing?
What are the
workers doing?
What is the boy in the machine doing?
What might be the advantages of factory spinning
over cottage-industry spinning?
The Factory System
Entrepreneurs decided to combine all of
the factors of production into one place
workers + raw materials + machines + building
= factory system
The Factory System
3. Textile Industry and Factory System
A. Textile Industry Invented
i. cottages couldn’t keep up with demand for textiles
ii. new machines make textiles quicker
iii. cotton gin separated seeds from cotton
B. Rise of the Factory
i. new machines, often too big for homes, were put in
factories
ii. located near power source: coal, iron, water
C. Effects of Textile Factories in Britain
i. Amount of textiles increased and prices lowered
ii. most villagers leave home to find work in urban
factories
Steam
power
Steam power works
by forcing steam
from low pressure
to high pressure.
The Steam Engine
4. Steam Engine: Energy for the Industrial
Revolution
A. Steam Engine built for increasing need for power
B. Steam forced from low to high pressure produces
power
C. Steam Engine improved mining which increased
metals
Iron and Coal: Energy of the
Industrial Revolution
The British used iron to
build the world’s most
powerful navy.
Coal could also
be used to
produce steam
This navy controlled the
power.
world’s oceans using coal
for energy.
The use of iron was
essential in the industrial
revolution. Iron was a very
hard metal that could be
used to make strong
machines.
The problem was that iron
needed carbon added to it
to be flexible and durable.
many workers die because of
British engineers learned dangerous
that coal could
be used for
machinery
energy and carbon. It burned slowly and had the
carbon needed to make iron.
Coal and Iron
5. Iron and Coal: Energy for the Industrial Revolution
A. The Need for Iron
i. farming tools, new factory machinery, railways
B. The Need for Coal
i. steam engines powered by coal
C. Effect of Iron and Coal
i. Britain produced more iron than rest of the world
ii. coal powered Britain’s enormous navy
Transportation
Before the industrial revolution merchants used to transport goods by
horse or mule cart over poor roads.
Merchants had to wait for good weather to travel.
The industrial revolution needed quicker, cheaper, and more reliable
forms of transportation.
In 1829 Stephenson invented
the steam locomotive.
Soon railroads
covered
Britain.
Goods and people could travel quickly and
cheaply across the country.
In addition to railroads, the British also constructed
canals and better roads to meet the demands of the
new businesses.
Improved Transportation
6. Transportation
A. Need for Better Transportation
i. increased production needed quick and cheap
transportation
B. Inventions
i. roads, canals, railroad
C. Effects of Railroads
i. cheaper transportation increased production and
profits
ii. helped other industries
Britain starts the Industrial Revolution
Natural Resources
• System of navigable
rivers and canals.
• surrounded by harbors
• coal, iron, and other fuel
• food sources
Population
• A population
explosion gave England
plenty of workers
• Large population also
meant a large market
Technology
• Inventors that changed
working life
• Roads and railroads were
Money
• England had a bank that
loaned entrepreneurs
invented in England and
money to start
helped transportation
companies.
7. Why Britain Led the Industrial Revolution
A. Geography
i. natural resources - iron and coal
ii. separation from the European continent kept them out of
wars
B. Government
i. trade encouraged and population allowed to relocate
ii. helped build canals and roads
C. Social Factors
i. British society less rigid than other European countries
Industrialization and the World
The problem with industrialization was that it demanded a lot
of natural resources.
England could not continue to provide all of the natural
resources the growing factories demanded.
The people of England could not continue to keep buying
all of the goods that the factories produced.
The answer was to
take over the world
and bring in natural
resources from
other countries and
sell them factorymade goods.
7. Why Britain Led the Industrial Revolution
A. Geography
i. natural resources - iron and coal
ii. separation from the European continent kept them out of
wars
B. Government
i. trade encouraged and population allowed to relocate
ii. helped build canals and roads
C. Social Factors
i. British society less rigid than other European countries
D. Colonial Empire
i. supplied raw material and provided market for goods
E. Advantages of Industrializing First
i. no other competition for manufactured goods monopoly on
technology
Development of New Cities
Effects of the Industrial Revolution
rapid urbanization led to
crowded and dirty cities that
were unhealthy
Effects of the Industrial Revolution
destroyed social order
whole families
are forced to
work in
factories
parents have to work two jobs and can not feed and
raise children – many live on the streets and join gangs
Effects of the Industrial Revolution
many poor families need their
children to work long and dangerous
hours at jobs that pay very little
Effects of the Industrial Revolution
workers eventually
join unions to fight
for better wages,
shorter working days,
and safer working
conditions
Effects of the Industrial Revolution
Positive Effects
• a new middle class developed to
serve the interests of the owners
• shopping – more goods were made for
much cheaper and many people could
afford goods that they would never
have been able to before
• medical care and city planning improved
• new inventions improved the quality of life