Patterns of
Industrialization
1750-1914
Foundations of Industrialization

Coal critical to early indust. of Britain
– Shift from wood to coal in 18th C; deforestation
– Abundant, accessible coal reserves

Overseas colonies = raw materials
– Plantations in Americas: sugar & cotton
– Colonies= British manufactured goods market
– After 1830, grain, timber, & beef shipped to Britain
from US
Foundations of Industrialization,
con’d

Demand for cheap cotton spurred
mechanization
– John Kay, 1733 (flying shuttle)
– Samuel Crompton, 1779 (spinning mule)
– Edmund Cartwright, 1785 (power loom)

James Wattsteam engine, 1765
– Burned coal, which turned a piston, which turned a
wheel
– Widespread use by 1800=increased productivity,
cheaper prices
Yet more industrial foundations

Iron & steel important industries
– Coke (purified coal) replaced charcoal
– Bessemer converter (1856) made cheaper,
stronger steel

Improved transportation
– 1st steam-powered locomotive, 1815
– Steamships replace sailing ships, mid-19th C
– Railroads & steamships lowered transportation
costs
The Factory System

Replaced the putting-out system
– Required division of labor; everyone did single
task
– High degree of coordination, work discipline, close
supervision

Work conditions = harsh
– Workers lost status: not skilled, just wage-earners
– Harsh work discipline, fast pace, frequent
accidents

Industrial protest
– Luddites struck against mills & destroyed
machines, 1811-1816
More factory system

The early spread of industrialization
– Industrialization in western Europe
• British industrial monopoly, 1750-1800, forbade
immigration of skilled workers
• Napoleon abolished internal trade barriers in
W. Europe/dismantled trade guilds
• Belgium & France moved toward
industrialization, mid-19th C
• After unification, Bismark sponsored heavy
industry, arms, shipping
More factory system

The early spread of industrialization
– In North America, slow to start; few
laborers; little capital
• British craftsmen started cotton textile industry
in New England, 1820s
• Heavy iron & steel industries, 1870s
• Rail network developed in 1860s
More factory systems

Industrial capitalism
– Mass production promoted cheaper goods
• Eli Whitney: interchangeable parts for firearms
• Henry Ford (1913): assembly line to car production
– Industrialization expensive; large-capital
investment
• Encouraged large-scale corporations w/ hundreds of
investors
• New laws protected investors from liability
– Monopolies, trusts, cartels
• Competitive associations
Industrial Society

The fruits of industry
– Population growth
• Raised material standards for living
• Populations of Europe & America sharply rose, 17001900
• Better diets & sanitation reduced death rates
– Demographic transition
• Declining birthrate in response to declining mortality
• Voluntary birth control through contraception
Industrial Society

Urbanization and migration
– Drew migrants from country to urban centers
• By 1900, 50% of population of industrialized countries
lived in towns
• By 1900, more than 150 cities with over 100,000 people
in Europe & N. America
• Urban problems: shoddy houses, etc.
• By late 19th C., gov’t passed building codes, sewers
– Transcontinental migration
• 1800-1920, 50 million Europeans migrated to N & S
America
• Fled: famine in Ireland, anti-Semitism in Russia, etc.
Industrial Society

Industry & society
– New social classes
• Captains of industry: new aristocracy of wealth
• Middle class: managers, etc.
• Working class
– Changes to industrial family
• Long hours outside home
• Increasingly separate lives
Industrial society

Industry & society
– Men gained increased stature &
responsibility
• Middle & upper-class sole providers
• Valued self-improvement, discipline, & work
ethic
• Values on working-class men
– Workers resisted work discipline
– Working-class culture
Industrial society

Industry & society
– Opportunities for women narrowed
• Can’t bring children to mines or factories
• Middle-class women need to stay home & care for
children
• Increased opportunities in domestic service
– Many children forced to work to support family
• 1840s Parliament begins regulating child labor
• 1881, mandatory primary education in England
Industrial society

The Socialist Challenge
– Utopian socialists: Charles Fourier, Robert
Owen, & their followers
• Established model communities based on
principle of equality
• Stressed cooperative control of industry,
education of children
Industrial society

Socialist challenge
– Marx (1818-1883) and Engels (1820-1895)
• Scorned the utopian socialists as unrealistic &
unproductive
• Critique industrial capitalism
– Unrestrained competition led to ruthless exploitation of
working class
– State, court, police: all tools of the capitalist ruling class
– The Communist Manifesto, 1848
•
•
•
•
Excesses of capitalism would lead communist revolution
“dictatorship of the proletariat”
Socialism would follow: fair, just, egalitarian society
Ideas dominated European and international socialism
Industrial Society

Socialist challenge:
– Social reform came gradually
• Regulated hours & restricted work for women &
children
• Under Bismark, Germany provided medical
insurance & social security
– Trade unions formed to represent workers
• Stiff opposition from employers & governments
• Forced employers to be more responsive to
needs
Global effects of industrialization

Continuing spread beyond Europe & N.
America
– Industrialization of Russia by tsarist gov’t
• Between 1860-1900, built 35,000 miles of RR
• Finance minister, Sergei Witte, promoted industry
– Oversaw construction of tran-Siberian RR
– Reformed commercial law to protect industries &
steamship companies
– Promoted nautical & engineering schools
– Encouraged foreign investors
• By 1900, Russia produced ½ the world’s oil, also iron &
armaments
Global effects of industrialization

Continuing spread beyond Europe & N.
America
– Industrialization in Japan also promoted by gov’t
• Hired thousands of foreign experts to establish modern
industries
• Created new industries; opened technical institutes &
universities
• Government-owned businesses then sold to private
entrepreneurs (zaibatsu)
• Japan most industrialized in Asia by 1900
Global effects of industrialization

International division of labor
– Increased demand for raw materials
• Non-industrial societies became suppliers of
raw goods
• Cotton from India; rubber from Brazil, Malay, &
Congo River basin
– Economic development better in lands
colonized by Europe
• High-wages encouraged labor-saving tech
Global effects of industrialization

International division of labor
– Economic dependency more common in
other countries
• Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, S. Asia, SE
Asia
• Foreign investors owned & controlled
plantations & production
• Free-trade policy favored foreign products over
domestic
• World divided into producers & consumers