Mr. Kunkel’s
World History
Survival Packet
The Industrial Revolution
“One of my primary objects is to form the tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the
work and give to every part its just proportion.”-- Eli Whitney
Student Name _____________________________
Date _____________
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History of the Industrial Revolution
Introduction and Overview
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions
starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually
the world. The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human history; almost every
aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.
Starting in the later part of the 18th century there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual
labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the
mechanization of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of
refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The
introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider utilization of water wheels and powered machinery
(mainly in textile manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity. The development
of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more
production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and
North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world, a process that continues as
industrialization. The impact of this change on society was enormous.
The first Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution
around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steampowered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power
generation. Historians agree that the Industrial Revolution was one of the most important events in history.
Changes That Led to the Revolution
The most important of the changes that brought about the Industrial Revolution were (1) the invention of
machines to do the work of hand tools; (2) the use of steam, and later of other kinds of power, in place of the
muscles of human beings and of animals; and (3) the adoption of the factory system.
The children of the poor would have little or no schooling and would work from dawn to dark on the farm or in
the home. Before machines were invented, work by children as well as by adults was needed in order to provide
enough food, clothing, and shelter for all.
The Industrial Revolution came gradually. It happened in a short span of time, however, when measured against
the centuries people had worked entirely by hand. This relatively sudden change in the way people live deserves
to be called a revolution. The Industrial Revolution grew more powerful each year as new inventions and
manufacturing processes added to the efficiency of machines and increased productivity. Indeed, since World
War I the mechanization of industry has increased so enormously that another revolution in production is taking
place
Organizing Production
Several systems of making goods had grown up by the time of the Industrial Revolution. In country districts
families produced most of the food, clothing, and other articles they used, as they had done for centuries. In the
cities merchandise was made in shops much like those of the medieval craftsmen, and manufacturing was
strictly regulated by the guilds and by the government. The goods made in these shops, though of high quality,
were limited and costly.
The merchants needed cheaper items, as well as larger quantities, for their growing trade. As early as the 15th
century they already had begun to go outside the cities, beyond the reach of the hampering regulations, and to
establish another system of producing goods.
From Cottage Industry to Factory
Cloth merchants, for instance, would buy raw wool from the sheep owners, have it spun into yarn by farmers'
wives, and take it to country weavers to be made into textiles. The merchants would then collect the cloth and
give it out again to finishers and dyers. Thus they controlled clothmaking from start to finish. Similar methods
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of organizing and controlling the process of manufacture came to prevail in other industries, such as the nail,
cutlery, and leather goods.
This system of industry had several advantages over older systems. It gave the merchant a large supply of
manufactured articles at a low price. It also enabled him to order the particular kinds of items that he needed for
his markets. It provided employment for every member of a craft worker's family and gave jobs to skilled
workers who had no capital to start businesses for themselves. A few merchants who had enough capital had
gone a step further. They brought workers together under one roof and supplied them with spinning wheels and
looms or with the implements of other trades. These establishments were factories, though they bear slight
resemblance to the factories of today.
Why the Revolution Began in England
English merchants were leaders in developing a commerce which increased the demand for more goods. The
expansion in trade had made it possible to accumulate capital to use in industry. A cheaper system of production
had grown up which was largely free from regulation.
There also were new ideas in England which aided the movement. One of these was the growing interest in
scientific investigation and invention. Another was the doctrine of laissez-faire, or letting business alone.
The three most important machines that ushered in the Industrial Revolution were: the crude, slow-moving
steam engine built by Thomas Newcomen (1705) The second was John Kay's flying shuttle (1733). It enabled
one person to handle a wide loom more rapidly than two persons could operate it before. The third was a frame
for spinning cotton thread with rollers. This invention was not commercially practical, but it was the first step
toward solving the problem of machine spinning.
Inventions in Textile Industry
As the flying shuttle sped up weaving, the demand for cotton yarn increased. Many inventors set to work to
improve the spinning wheel. James Hargreaves, a weaver who was also a carpenter, patented his spinning jenny
in 1770. It enabled one worker to run eight spindles instead of one.
About the same time Richard Arkwright developed his water frame, a machine for spinning with rollers
operated by water power. In 1779 Samuel Crompton, a spinner, combined Hargreaves' jenny and Arkwright's
roller frame into a spinning machine, called a mule. It produced thread of greater fineness and strength than the
jenny or the roller frame. Since the roller frame and the mule were large and heavy, it became the practice to
install them in mills, where they could be run by water power. They were tended by women and children.
These improvements in spinning machinery called for further improvements in weaving. In 1785 Edmund
Cartwright patented a power loom.
In spite of the need for it, weaving machinery came into use very slowly. First, many improvements had to be
made before the loom was satisfactory. Second, the hand weavers violently opposed its adoption because it
threw many of them out of work. Those who got jobs in the factories were obliged to take the same pay as
unskilled workers. Thus they rioted, smashed the machines, and tried to prevent their use. The power loom was
only coming into wide operation in the cotton industry by 1813. It did not completely replace the hand loom in
weaving cotton until 1850
Many other machines contributed to the progress of the textile industry. In 1793 the available supply of cotton
was increased by Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin.
Watt's Steam Engine
While textile machinery was developing, progress was being made in other directions. In 1763 James Watt, a
Scottish mechanic, was asked to repair a model of a Newcomen steam engine. He saw how crude and inefficient
it was and by a series of improvements made it a practical device for running machinery.
Wheels turned by running water had been the chief source of power for the early factories. These were
necessarily situated on swift-running streams. When the steam engine became efficient, it was possible to locate
factories in more convenient places.
Coal and Iron
The first users of steam engines were the coal and iron industries. They were destined to be basic industries in
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the new age of machinery. As early as 1720 many steam engines were in operation. In coal mines they pumped
out the water which usually flooded the deep shafts. In the iron industry they pumped water to create the draft in
blast furnaces.
The iron industry benefited also from other early inventions of the 18th century. Iron was scarce and costly, and
production was falling off because England's forests could not supply enough charcoal for smelting the ore.
Changing Conditions in England
The new methods increased the amount of goods produced and decreased the cost. The worker at a machine
with 100 spindles on it could spin 100 threads of cotton more rapidly than 100 workers could on the old
spinning wheels. Southern planters in the United States were able to meet the increased demand for raw cotton
because they were using the cotton gin. This machine could do the job of 50 men in cleaning cotton. Similar
improvements were being made in other lines of industry
With English factories calling for supplies, such as American cotton, and sending goods to all parts of the
world, better transportation was needed. The roads of England were wretchedly poor and often impassable.
Packhorses and wagons crawled along them, carrying small loads. Such slow and inadequate transportation kept
the cost of goods high.
Building Canals and Railways
Many canals were dug. They connected the main rivers and so furnished a network of waterways for
transporting coal and other heavy goods. A canal boat held much more than a wagon. It moved smoothly if
slowly over the water, with a single horse hitched to the towline. In some places, where it was impossible to dig
canals and where heavy loads of coal had to be hauled, mine owners laid down wooden or iron rails. Early in
the 19th century came George Stephenson's locomotive and Robert Fulton's steamboat, an American invention.
They marked the beginning of modern transportation on land and sea. Railroads called for the production of
more goods, for they put factory-made products within reach of many more people at prices they could afford to
pay.
The Condition of Labor
As conditions in industry changed, social and political conditions changed with them. Farm laborers and
artisans flocked to the manufacturing centers and became industrial workers. Cities grew rapidly, and the
percentage of farmers in the total population declined.
The population of England as a whole began to increase rapidly after the middle of the 18th century. Because of
progress in medical knowledge and sanitation, fewer people died in infancy or childhood and the average length
of life increased.
Machines took a great burden of hard work from the muscles of human beings. Some of the other changes,
however, were not so welcome. The change from domestic industry to the factory system meant a loss of
independence to the worker. The home laborer could work whenever he pleased. Although the need for money
often drove him to toil long hours, he could vary the monotony of his task by digging or planting his garden
patch. When he became a factory employee, he not only had to work long hours, but he had to leave his little
farm. He lived near the factory, often in a crowded slum district. He was forced to work continuously at the
pace set by the machine. The long hours and the monotonous toil were an especially great hardship for the
women and children.
Problems of Capital and Labor
A person had to have a lot of capital to buy machines and open a factory. Laissez-faire was the rule in England.
This meant that the government had accepted the doctrine that it should keep hands off business. Factory
owners could therefore arrange working conditions in whatever way they pleased. Grave problems arose for the
workers--problems of working hours, wages, unemployment, accidents, employment of women and children,
and housing conditions. Children could tend most of the machines as well as older persons could, and they
could be hired for less pay. Great numbers of them were worked form 12 to 14 hours a day under terrible
conditions.
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Child Labor
The Industrial Revolution led to a population increase, but the chance of surviving childhood did not improve
throughout the industrial revolution (although infant mortality rates were reduced markedly). There was still
limited opportunity for education, and children were expected to work. Employers could pay a child less than an
adult even though their productivity was comparable; there was no need for strength to operate an industrial
machine, and since the industrial system was completely new there were no experienced adult laborers. This
made child labour the labour of choice for manufacturing in the early phases of the Industrial Revolution
between the 18th and 19th centuries
In 1833 and 1844, the first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in England:
Children younger than nine were not allowed to work, children were not permitted to work at night, and the
work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. Factory inspectors supervised the execution
of the law. About ten years later, the employment of children and women in mining was forbidden. These laws
decreased the number of child laborers; however, child labour remained in Europe and the United States up to
the 20th century. By 1900, there were 1.7 million child laborers reported in American industry under the age of
fifteen.
Women During the Industrial Revolution
Women faced different demands during the industrial age to those that they face today. Women of the working
classes would usually be expected to go out to work, often in the mills or mines. As with the children and men
the hours were long and conditions were hard. Some examples of work specifically done by Women can be
found amongst the links at the foot of this page.
Those who were fortunate may have become maids for wealthier families, others may have worked as
governesses for rich children. The less fortunate may have been forced to work in shocking conditions during
the day and then have to return home to conduct the households’ domestic needs (Washing, Cooking and
looking after children etc.)
Women also faced the added burden of societies demand for children. The industrial age led to a rapid increase
in birth rates which clearly has an impact upon the physical strength of the mothers. It was not uncommon for
families to have more than 10 children as a result of this demand: and the woman would often have to work
right up to and straight after the day of the child’s birth for financial reasons, leaving the care of the new born
child to older relatives.
Migration
Millions of people moved during the industrial revolution. Some simply moved from a village to a town in the
hope of finding work while others moved from one country to another in search of a better way of life. Some
migrants had no choice in the matter, they were 'transported'. Transportation was a punishment. Britain had for
a long time sent convicts to her colonies, a practice that had appeared to be in turmoil after the Americans won
their independence (The British used the American Colonies as a place to send criminals).
Migration was not just people moving out of the country, it also involved a lot of people moving into Britain. In
the 1840's Ireland suffered a terrible famine. Faced with a massive cost of feeding the starving population many
local landowners paid for laborers to emigrate (it was cheaper than paying them poor relief for a long period of
time). About a million of these laborers migrated to Britain, many others moved to North America.
Disease and Deprivation
Disease was a constant threat during the Industrial Revolution. Changes in the way that people lived and the
conditions in which they worked led to disease being able to spread much more rapidly, and new forms of
disease emerged that were as deadly as any killer that had been before.
As the demand for housing increased so rapidly the quality of homes constructed was low. Housing for the
worker was cramped in, built quickly and built with little regard for hygiene. In many cities the result was that
large slums appeared. These slums were areas where houses were small, roads narrow and services such as
rubbish collection, sewage works and basic washing facilities nonexistent. In this type of climate bacteria’s
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grow quickly, the water supply is likely to become infected and weaker people are likely to fall ill much more
rapidly. Water was often the problem. Factories would dump waste into streams and rivers. The same streams
and rivers were used to supply homes with water for washing and cooking. Soon people’s health was
endangered. In many slums the same water supply was infected with human sewage as toilet facilities were
often inadequate.
Cholera was a deadly disease was water borne and spread through filthy cities with ease, killing thousands.
Typhoid also took a hold in some areas and again made great use of the poor sewage provisions to take a hold
of many areas. In an age where the ordinary man had no political say however, and no money or even education
to support a claim for improved conditions, the issue was often overlooked. These diseases rarely concerned the
wealthy, there was always another worker available to replace those who died, so why should they concern
themselves with issues such as the health of the poor? The Industrial age also saw the advent of new forms of
science and medical advances, these too aided the fight against killers such as Cholera and Typhoid.
Rise of Labor Unions
Workers sought to win improved conditions and wages through labor unions. These unions often started as
"friendly societies" that collected dues from workers and extended aid during illness or unemployment. Soon,
however, they became organizations for winning improvements by collective bargaining and strikes.
Industrial workers also sought to benefit themselves by political action. They fought such legislation as the
English laws of 1799 and 1800 forbidding labor organizations. They campaigned to secure laws which would
help them. The struggle by workers to win the right to vote and to extend their political power was one of the
major factors in the spread of democracy during the 19th century.
Revolution Spreads to the United States.
Farming and trading were its chief interests until the Civil War. Labor was scarce because men continued to
push westward, clearing the forests and establishing themselves on the land.
A start in manufacturing was made in New England in 1790 by Samuel Slater. He was hired by Moses Brown
of Providence, R. I., to build a mill on the Pawtucket, River. English laws forbade export of either the new
machinery or plans for making it. Slater designed the machine from memory and built a mill which started
operation in 1790.
Pioneer Industries and Inventions
New England soon developed an important textile industry. It had swift streams for power and a humid climate,
which kept cotton and wool fibers in condition for spinning and weaving. In Pennsylvania iron for machines,
tools, and guns was smelted in stone furnaces. They burned charcoal, plentiful in this forested land. Spinning
machines driven by steam were operating in New York by 1810. The first practical power loom was installed at
Waltham, Mass., by Francis Cabot Lowell in 1814. Shoemaking was organized into a factory system of
production in Massachusetts in the early 19th century. New England was the first area in the United States to
industrialize.
American inventors produced many new machines that could be applied to industry as well as to agriculture.
Cyrus McCormick invented several machines used to mechanize farming. His mechanical reaper revolutionized
harvesting, making it quicker and easier. Elias Howe's sewing machine eased the life of the housewife and made
the manufacture of clothing less expensive. Techniques of factory production were refined in American
workshops. Eli Whitney led the movement to standardize parts used in manufacture. They became
interchangeable, enabling unskilled workers to assemble products from boxes of parts quickly. American
factories used machine tools to make parts. These machines were arranged in lines for more efficient
production. This was called the "American system of manufacturing," and it was admired by all other industrial
nations. It was first applied to the manufacture of firearms and later spread to other industries like clock and
lock making.
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