Industrial Revolution: Causes and Effects
I. Causes of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began
in Great Britain in the 1780s for
several reasons:
1. Agricultural improvements –
expansion of farmland, good
weather, improved transportation,
new crops such as potatoes
increased food supply led to
increased population
2. Enclosure movement – landowners fenced off common
lands, forcing peasants to move to cities and towns to find
work; meant there was a large supply of available workers in
cities; remaining farms were larger, more efficient than before
3. Laissez-faire economics – large amounts of
money available for investment
4. Natural resources –
rivers, coal, iron ore
5. Markets – colonies would purchase goods
created in Great Britain
New technologies led to better cotton cloth production,
more efficient use of coal, and the invention of the steam
engine which was used to power railroads, steamships,
and factory production.
Population of Europe doubled between 1750 and 1850
Thomas Malthus proposed that increased food supplies lead to
population growth, but if the population grows too quickly it can
lead to famine, disease, and war
The potato famine in Ireland killed 1 million Irish
and caused 1 million more to move to America
II. Effects on the Physical Environment
With workers moving from the country to the cities, urban areas
grew and become overcrowded.
Population of London, 1800 = 960,000
Population of London, 1900 = 6,500,000
Cholera and other diseases spread rapidly in crowded cities,
killing thousands.
People thought cholera was spread by “bad air,” but they finally
realized it spread through water contaminated by waste.
Citizens began to ask their governments to do something
about housing, public health, and sanitation.
Governments organized inspectors
to monitor public health and housing.
New buildings had to have running water and drainage systems.
Systems were put in place to store clean water and carry it into
cities, then to drain wastewater to disposal sites far from cities.
III. Effects on the Social Environment
The old system of commercial capitalism had been based on
trade, but this new industrial capitalism was based on production
This led to the evolution of both
an industrial middle class (managers and owners)
and an industrial working class (factory workers).
The jobs performed by the working class were often
demanding and dangerous
People worked long hours in bad conditions
and lived in crowded slums.
Some reformers wanted to work from within the system
to get shorter hours, better benefits, and safer working conditions.
Workers formed unions
then tried to get their
employers to negotiate
with union representatives
(collective bargaining).
To pressure employers into negotiating, workers could stop
working until their demands were met (called a “strike.”)
Other reformers wanted to replace industrial capitalism with
socialism, based on the ideas of Karl Marx.
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
in 1848 published
The Communist Manifesto.
Marx believed human history
was one long struggle between
the oppressors (bourgeoisie)
and the oppressed (proletariat).
In the capitalist system,
the bourgeoisie owned
the means of production.
Marx thought the
proletariat would rebel
and form a dictatorship,
taking control of the
means of production.
This would create a society
without social classes.
Women had few rights in the early 1800s;
they were defined by their family roles
and were legally and economically dependent on men.
Feminism (movement for women’s rights)
began during the Enlightenment.
Women fought for the right to own property, attend universities,
and enter occupations dominated by men.
Some women began to demand suffrage (right to vote),
but few nation allowed women to vote before 1914.