Introduction to the Industrial Revolution
In the early 1700’s, life in the European countries was slow, quiet and simple. Mostly everyone lived in
the country, farmed and made almost everything that they needed themselves. This included food, furniture,
clothes and much, much more. Most of these farmers did not own their land/property; but they were poor
peasants who paid rent to landowners. Everything around them was natural, including power sources. The only
power sources available were carts pulled by horses, mules or oxen. When one had to seed or harvest crops;
they did it themselves, by hand. However, many did use mills powered by water and wind. Everyday objects
were made by hand or craftsmen, as industries were still few and far between. Some examples of everyday
objects used were sickles used to cut grasses and harvesting crops, and hand-crafted tools used for everyday
farm life.
Then around the 1750’s, Great Britain started to change. The population grew by three times. More
staples of life were needed for survival including food, clothing, etc. Many new inventions were beginning to
take the place of hand-done craftsmanship. And farming was very closely scrutinized i.e. better soil, better
systems of planting and harvesting, and irrigation processes. For the most part, this change was positive and
accepted by the people of the land. A few of the major negative changes were that the smaller farmers could
no longer survive in a world expanding so fast and factories becoming so powerful. This in turn forced many
workers out of their homes and from the jobs they enjoyed. Workers, including women and children, were now
expected and often forced to work hard, long hours in unsafe and unbearable environments. However, the
Industrial Revolution brought on many positive changes that stimulated the growth in our country. A few of
these changes included the flourishment of factories and industries, more efficient farming techniques and
better power sources. Good or bad, all changes lead to the change of our world from rural to urban America.
19th Century
The19th century included the years from 1800-1899. During those years, improvements in transportation,
communication, and technology were so rapid and great that we call them a revolution. A revolution is a noteworthy or
important change. The era, or period of years, in the mid to late 19th century became known as the Industrial
Revolution, and the changes were remarkable! Not all changes were good changes, however. The revolution also
brought many problems. There was a new demand for sources of energy and fuel. Factories and new forms of
transportation brought pollution and some new dangers.
Questions
What is the Industrial Revolution?
What started the Industrial Revolution?
What were some of the positive effects during the Industrial Revolution?
Where did the Industrial Revolution begin?
Inventions and Technology
There were two eras of industrial revolution in the 19th century. The first began in the 1840's when steam power came
into use. Factories used steam to power the machines that made the goods they produced. Factories were generally
small and employed small numbers of workers.
The second Industrial Revolution began in the early 1870's, when electricity came in to use. During this era many new
factories were built. They were large and hired many employees. They produced large quantities of goods quickly and
more cheaply with machines powered by electricity. Many people who had been living on farms, or in small towns came
to work in factories in large cities. The Industrial Revolution helped change the American way of life. The once rural nation
of farmers became an urban nation of industry.
Transportation
Electricity also contributed to the growth of transportation. Electric powered streetcars made it possible for people to move
to the outer cities to live and commute to work by streetcar.
A revolution in transportation took place during the 19th century on land and waterways. The building of the Erie Canal
had improved transportation and growth in New York State. It was not long however, before the canal barges were
replaced.
Steamboats
In 1807, Robert Fulton launched the world's first steamboat. It could move a boat against the current in a river by a large
paddle wheel that turned in the water. The paddle wheel attached to the back of the boat was powered by a steam engine
aboard the boat. Fulton's first steamboat, the Clermont, traveled at a speed of 5 miles an hour. Soon Fulton was
providing regular passenger service on the Hudson River, from New York City to Albany.
As steamboats became faster and more powerful they became more and more popular. Soon they were replacing the
horse and mule-powered barges on the canals. Steamboat businesses sprang up all along the waterways of New York
State. By 1830, steamboats were the most popular way to travel on the rivers and waterways throughout the United
States.
Railroads
The invention of the steam locomotive again changed the way goods and people traveled. Products could be moved more
cheaply and much faster by this new method of transportation. Train cars could also haul heavier loads than boats or
wagons.
Railroads for steam powered trains were introduced in the United States in the 1830's. Within five years many small local
railroads were operating, most only going a short distance of only a few miles. By 1840, railroads crisscrossed the state of
New York. Many small railroads joined together to connect their tracks and form larger companies.
In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad, a railroad that crossed the entire country, was completed. By the end of the
19th century, several more transcontinental railroads had been built. Trips that once took months, now took less than a
week. People could travel, ship goods, or send mail quickly. Railroads tied the country together and sped the growth of
the United States.
Communication
In the early 1800's communication, the sending and receiving of messages or information, was difficult and very
slow. People depended on hearing news from each other. Many adults did not know how to read or write well. People
who could read and write wrote letters or messages that were delivered by messengers, usually on horseback. Mail was
sometimes lost or stolen. A revolution in communication came during the middle of the 1800's. The inventions of the
telegraph and telephone made communication easier and faster.
Telegraph
The telegraph was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1844. With this new method of communication messages could
travel over telegraph lines and be received in seconds. Telegraphs made sending and receiving messages much quicker,
but there were also problems. Telegraphs needed to be sent and received by trained people in telegraph offices. Not
every town had its own office, and sending messages was expensive. Telegraphs improved communication, but it was
not easy for everyone to use.
Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell
The invention of the telephone greatly changed the daily lives of ordinary people. In 1876 this new faster form of
communication was patented by Alexander Graham Bell, a teacher at a school for the hearing impaired. His invention
allowed people to talk to each other over telegraph wires. The first phone call made over wires was carried just eight
miles. Within a year calls were placed over one hundred miles away and the Bell Telephone Company was
established. By the end of 1880, almost 50,000 telephones were in use in the United States.
Communication Improvements in the 19th Century
Inventions also helped to promote industrial growth in the late nineteenth century. The telegraph was invented in the preCivil War period by Samuel Morse in order to help the railroads communicate, stay on schedule, and prevent accidents. It
was soon used to place orders for goods by means of Morse code and to ensure that both raw materials and finished
products were delivered to the right place at the right time. The telegraph promoted economic growth and the industrial
revolution. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and improved communication previously
accomplished by the telegraph. Businesses could communicate by telephone more quickly and easily. Soon homes of
wealthy people had telephones and eventually almost every home had a telephone. The telephone was easier to use
because it did not require people to learn a new system of communication required by the Morse code. The invention of
the telephone provided new jobs for telephone operators, a job most often performed by women.
Electric Lighting
Thomas Edison c.1879
In the mid 1800's, homes, buildings and streets in cities and towns across America were lit by gas. Gas lights were an
improvement over the oil lamps and candlelight of earlier years, but they were smelly and sometimes dangerous. In 1879,
Thomas Edison developed a light bulb that was safe and inexpensive. Although he did not invent the light bulb, his
improvement made electric lighting reliable. The 1879 lamp could only burn for a few hours, but by 1880, he had
produced a bulb that lasted for months. By the end of the 19th century, electric lights were replacing gas lights in homes.
Electricity
The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison; however, he made improvements to the light bulb and made it practical
for use. Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in 1876. It promoted economic growth because it made it possible to
light factories as well as homes more safely than gas lamps. The light bulb made the use of electricity popular and
therefore electric generators were built in 1881 and electric lines were strung in cities and towns.
Electricity provided a new way of powering the manufacturing plants that had been relying on water power from rivers or
steam power produced by burning coal. The light bulb contributed to the economic growth of the United States by
encouraging the development of factories that could be located wherever electric lines could be strung. Electricity also
contributed to the growth of transportation. Electric powered streetcars made it possible for people to move to the outer
cities to live and commute to work by streetcar. The availability of electricity also led to the invention of many labor saving
devices for the home that were run by electricity, such as the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. There inventions
made life easier for families who could afford to buy them. The invention of the sewing machine and the operator also
provided women with new job opportunities in clothing factories and offices.
Cotton Gin
The invention of the cotton gin ("gin" is short for engine) in the early 1800's by Eli Whitney, had a great effect on life in the
United States. By 1850, most of the world's cotton was grown in the southern United States. It was a huge money
crop, most of it being sold to factories in the north where it was made into cloth. Large plantations owners in the south,
and factory owners in the north became wealthy, while the factory workers and field laborers made very little
money. Enslaved Africans and African Americans labored in the cotton fields of the south, growing and harvesting the
cotton. Conditions were also harsh in many of the textile factories in the northern states where workers turned the cotton
into cloth. Children worked long hours, along side men and women on dangerous machines for low wages.
Definitions
revolution: a noteworthy or important change
patent: a right to ownership of an invention
era: a period of years
employed: hired
employee: a worker
rural: in the country, away from cities
urban: cities and suburbs around the cities
industry: a business, factory or trade
money crop: crops grown to sell for profit
plantation: large farms, especially in the southern states
textile: cloth or fabric
wages: money paid for doing a job