Chapter
11 Section 1
Objectives
• Explain the changes that the Industrial
Revolution brought to American life.
• Discuss the importance of Samuel Slater’s
cotton mill.
• Describe the growth of industry in the United
States after 1812.
• Identify important developments in factories and
the problems that factory life caused.
The Industrial Revolution
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Terms and People
• Industrial Revolution – a time period during
which machines gradually took the place of
many hand tools
• factory system – brought workers and
machinery together in one place
• capitalist – a person who invests capital, or
money, in a business to earn a profit
• Francis Cabot Lowell – an American who, with
other capitalists, built a factory where spinning
and weaving were done in the same building
The Industrial Revolution
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Terms and People (continued)
• mass production – the rapid manufacture of
large numbers of identical objects
• interchangeable parts – identical pieces that
could be assembled quickly by unskilled workers
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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How did the new technology of the
Industrial Revolution change the
way Americans lived?
In early America, most people worked as
farmers and made the goods they needed
at home.
With the advent of the Industrial
Revolution, many people began working in
factories and buying manufactured goods.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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Prior to the Industrial Revolution, women spun
thread and wove cloth at home.
These processes
were very timeconsuming.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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The Industrial Revolution began in the British
textile industry in the 1700s.
A series of innovations changed the way fabric was made.
In the 1760s,
the spinning
jenny sped up
the threadmaking
process.
In 1764, Richard
Arkwright invented
the water frame, a
spinning machine
powered by running
water rather than
human energy.
The Industrial Revolution
To house the
large machines,
manufacturers
built textile mills
on the banks of
rivers.
Chapter
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There were
disadvantages to
building factories on
riverbanks:
• In a dry season, the
machines had no
power.
• Most factories were
far from cities, and
labor was hard to
find in rural areas.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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In 1790, Arkwright built the first steam-powered
textile plant.
The Industrial Revolution
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The steam-powered plant had advantages over
water-powered plants.
The steam
engine was a
reliable
source of
power.
The Industrial Revolution
Factories could
now be built in
cities, where
young women
and children
provided cheap
labor.
Chapter
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The new mills created a new way of working,
known as the factory system.
Instead of spinning at home as time permitted,
textile workers had to begin and end work at
specific hours at the factories.
Workers now had to keep up with the machines
instead of working at their own pace.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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British mill owners
turned to capitalists
to get the money
they needed to build
spinning factories
and machines.
1765
By 1784, British
workers were
producing 24 times
as much thread as
they had in 1765.
The Industrial Revolution
1784
Chapter
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Britain forbade skilled workers to leave the
country in order to keep their technology a secret.
But in 1789, an apprentice in one Arkwright’s
factories did just that.
Samuel Slater memorized the
plans of Arkwright’s machines
and then sailed to New York.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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Slater joined forces with a wealthy merchant,
Moses Brown, who had rented a textile mill in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
There, Slater built a spinning machine based on
his memory of Arkwright’s machines.
Slater’s successful mill marked the
beginning of American industrialization.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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In the U.S., industrialization began in the
Northeast, where there were merchants who had
the capital to build factories.
But U.S. industry
did not grow
significantly
until the War of
1812, when
Americans could
no longer rely on
imported goods.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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Before the 1800s, skilled craftsworkers
made goods by hand, and when a part broke,
they had to make a unique piece to fix the
product.
But American inventor Eli Whitney devised a
system of interchangeable parts in the 1790s.
This was one of the most important developments
in American industry, called mass production.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
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Manufacturing became more efficient, and
the prices of many goods dropped.
People bought more goods, and U.S. industry
expanded to satisfy their needs.
U.S.
Industry
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
11 Section 1
The Lowell Mills
Beginnings
• Before the War of 1812, Francis Cabot
Lowell saw the latest weaving machines
in England.
• Back in the U.S., Lowell built an improved
version of the English machines.
A New Kind
of Mill
• Lowell opened a mill in Waltham,
Massachusetts, where spinning and
weaving were done in the same building.
The Town of
Lowell
• After Lowell’s death in 1817, his partners
built more factories.
• They also built a new town to improve
the lives of their workers.
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The new factories were staffed with “Lowell girls”
from nearby farms, who received an education
during their off-duty hours.
The Industrial Revolution
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Unlike the Lowell girls, most factory workers had
to tolerate harsh conditions.
• American textile mills, coal mines, and
steel foundries hired children as young as
7 to work long hours in unsafe conditions.
• By 1880, more than a million children
between the ages of 10 and 15 worked
for pay.
The Industrial Revolution
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Factory Conditions
Environment
• Conditions in factories were appalling.
• Factories were poorly lit with little fresh
air.
Injuries
• Many workers were injured by machines
not designed to protect them.
• Business owners provided no payments
to disabled workers.
Length of
Workdays
• Factory workdays lasted 12 or 14 hours.
• By 1844, workers were demanding
shorter days, but they did not get them
until many years later.
The Industrial Revolution
Chapter
11 Section 1
Section Review
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