20th Century History
Unit 1—Chapter 1
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution changed the way the world worked on many levels. It changed
the social structure of the world. It changed where and how people worked, it led some
countries into world domination and other to be dominated. It changed economic policy
and the course for the world and brought rise to new economic ideas.
Goals of this lesson: To understand all of the effects of the Industrial Revolution good
and bad, and to analyze the economic changes it was a catalyst of.
VOCABULARY
Industrialization- the adoption of industrial methods of production and manufacturing by
a country or group, with all the associated changes in lifestyle, transport, and other
aspects of society
Textile- any cloth or goods produced by weaving, knitting, or felting
Enclosure movement- an agriculture movement in which land that had been previously
used by an entire village was now privately owned and farmed
Entrepreneur- a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business,
usually with considerable initiative and risk.
Domestic system- when the manufacturing of products was done in homes or cottages on
a small scale
Bessemer process- the process which allowed for steel to be made out of iron
LESSON:
The Industrial Revolution is thought to be made up of two different periods the First and
Second. The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain for various reasons. Britain had
many skilled workers and entrepreneurs who were willing to invest in new technology,
they had also a stable government that had a well-established economic system. Britain
had coal, iron ore, and tons of harbors to make trading very easy. It was a natural fit with
what was going on there at the time and establishes Great Britain as the leading world
power for quite some time. The Industrial Revolution itself is thought to begin in the
1700s. It is considered split into two different phases the first and second. The first
Industrial Revolution has a huge effect on things like agriculture, textiles, and
transportation. The second is marked with huge gains in science and technology.
The First Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution was led by Jethro Tull, he developed a drill that allowed for
planting seeds to be much more successful and a horse drawn hoe, that broke up the soil
for plants to grow. About the same time Charles Townshend was working on fertilization
of the soil. He also worked to teach farmers how to grow turnips that could be stored to
feed livestock all winter, so they wouldn’t have to be butchered immediately. Great
Britain also brought about the enclosure movement of farming. This method took lands
that all once shared and turned them into private farms owned by wealthy landowners.
Farming was much more successful on them, but it left many out of work and without
food, which caused a large influx of the population to cities looking for work.
Textiles
At the same time the textile industry was changing. Textiles had previously been spun at
home, it was an industry that had been called the domestic system, because workers,
simply worked from home, they spun when they wanted to. The invention of the flying
shuttle and the spinning jenny made textiles production soar, but it still could get better.
Soon inventors figured out water power and how it could be used to run a loom to make
fabric. Now the only problem was the raw materials couldn’t keep up. That was until Eli
Whitney came up with the cotton gin. Soon, cotton cloth became half of the exports of
Britain. With this new demand, began a new system, it was the factory system. Because
individual spinners could no longer compete with these machines, and because they
couldn’t afford to have them at their homes, the factory system is born. People who were
used to the domestic system and working from home now found themselves only
completing one type of work in the factory and working by a clock set by managers, not
themselves. The factory system was hated by its workers, they lived by the bell now
instead of their own schedule. It exploited the poor and orphaned, forcing them to work
only for food and shelter. Young children were working sometimes 18 hour days in
grueling conditions. So, although production was the best it had ever been, workers had
definitely lost many rights at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Iron and Steam
Because of the need for more and bigger machines, also came the demand for raw
materials. Iron was needed in great supply to keep up with the demands of the factories.
In the 1780s the figured out how to heat iron to make it of great quality and create sheets
for building 15 times faster than before in the 1850’s they also discovered the Bessemer
process, which allowed steel to be made from iron, which caused it to be used in making
all of the heavy equipment.
Then, one of the biggest inventions of the Industrial Revolution happened. James Watt
invented the steam engine that burned coal. Steam engines had been used before, but this
was the most efficient way ever discovered to use steam engines in factories. It also led to
the building of locomotives. The first one to rocket along was in 1830 going a whopping
16 miles an hour, this was huge for the Industrial Revolution to transport manufactured
goods out to sell and raw materials in to factories for production.
Second Industrial Revolution
The Second or New Industrial Revolution, brought about new ways of communication,
electricity, petroleum, gas, atomic energy, solar energy, and begins in the late 1800s and
is still considered to be going. The second Industrial Revolution is really defined with
some huge gains in science. For instance, during this time period, vaccinations are
discovered along with the process of pasteurization, which allowed for milk to be
sterilized. The quality of life of people living during this time skyrocketed. An extremely
influential discovery in the 1800s the atom is discovered by John Dalton, who discovered
how combinations of various elements create different substances. Mendeleev in 1868,
also worked out the table of elements. In physics, electromagnetic waves were discovered
and x-rays were found to be very useful in many different purposes. Marie Curie and her
husband Pierre, discovered that atoms do break down and give off radiation, which
further brought about the study of the atom. Einstein took the work of the atom even
farther with the theory of relativity. His simple equation of e=mc2 changed the world,
because it was used to help create the atomic bomb.
At the same time came new theories in evolution and genetics. Charles Darwin changed
the world with his work in evolution. His principle of natural selection had great effects
on the scientific world, but also on society, which we will look at more during
Imperialism.
With the invention of all this new technology, came huge impact on everyday life.
Besides impact on the every day person, it also affected the ability to produce and create
things that ad never been dreamed of. Conveniences that had never even been thought of
before, were now being turned out at an astonishing pace. Nations found themselves
trying to keep up with a new market, for some that turned out to be a difficult task, while
others flourished.
Problem set:
1) The Industrial Revolution naturally began in Great Britain, because they were
perfectly equipped with all of the following except
a. Skilled workers
b. entrepreneurs
c. harbors
d. high taxes
2) The Agricultural Revolution was led by the inventor
a. James Watt
b. Charles Darwin
c. Jethro Tull
d. Marie Curie
3) This invention allowed for cotton production to keep up with the demands of the
textile mills
a. plow
b. cotton gin
c. railroad
d. water mill
4) The Second Industrial Revolution is marked by large advances in what area?
a. Farming
b. science
c. art
d. philosophy
5) James Watt improved this invention to make it one of the most influential pieces
of technology during the Industrial Revolution?
a. Light bulb
c. steam engine
b. cotton gin
d. water mill
6) Which invention do you think was the most influential during the Industrial
Revolution, justify your answer.