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Class Notes 11.1
1. The Industrial Revolution
2. The factory system
3. The War of 1812
4. The first U.S. factories were built in New England
because
5. Samuel Slater
6. Workers in the Lowell mills were
7. Eli Whitney
Lesson 11.1a –Industrialization
Begins in New England
Today we will explain how
industrialization began in
the New England states.
Vocabulary
• revolution – a sudden and dramatic
change
• factory system – manufacturing
process using many workers and
machines in one building
Check for Understanding
• What are we going to do today?
• Describe a revolution that is going on
in our lives today.
• Give an example of a product that is
made using the factory system.
What We Already Know
Farming in New
England was
difficult, so New
Englanders turned
to other ways to
make their living,
such as
commerce and
shipbuilding.
What We Already Know
Before the Revolutionary War, little
manufacturing was permitted in the
colonies by the British government.
What We Already Know
Because the British blockade kept imported goods
from reaching U.S. shores during the War of 1812,
Americans started manufacturing their own goods.
The Industrial Revolution began in
Britain during the late 1700s.
The Industrial
Revolution was a
time when factory
machines replaced
hand tools and largescale manufacturing
replaced farming as
the main form of
work.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What was the Industrial
Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution was a time when
factory machines replaced hand tools and largescale manufacturing replaced farming as the
main form of work.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Before the
Industrial
Revolution,
women spun
thread and wove
cloth at home in
cottage industries.
The spinning jenny and the power loom allowed
unskilled workers , who were often children, to
produce more cloth, more quickly.
Power looms spin raw cotton into
yarn and weave it into cloth.
The factory
system brought
many workers
and machines
together under
one roof.
Most factories were
built near a source of
water to power the
machines.
Check for Understanding
B ask A – What was the factory
system?
The factory system brought many workers
and machines together under one roof.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Occupations changed during the
Industrial Revolution.
Large-scale manufacturing
replaced farming as the main
form of work.
People left their farms and crowded
into cities where the factories were.
They worked for wages, on a set
schedule.
Their lives changed,
and not always for
the better.
Investors began to invest in
new American industries
instead of spending money
on shipping and trade.
Americans took advantage of the
free enterprise system to start
manufacturing their own goods.
The free enterprise system allows individuals to
start businesses and compete for profits, enabling
American businessmen to build their own factories
and grow wealthier.
Factories Come to New England
• New England was a good
place to set up factories
for several reasons.
• New England had many
fast-moving rivers to
supply power.
New England had ships and access to
the ocean for transporting goods.
New England had a willing labor force in
the families who were tired of scraping
a living from their stony fields.
Samuel Slater brought the textile
industry to the United States.
• Samuel Slater smuggled
plans for a textile mill
into the country from
England.
• He built his first
spinning mill in Rhode
Island in 1790 and a
larger mill later.
• He employed whole
families, paying
them a low wage.
• His family system
spread through
Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and
southern
Massachusetts.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: Where were the first
American factories built?
The first American factories
were built in New England.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Check for Understanding
Who was Samuel
Slater?
Samuel Slater built
the first spinning mill
in Rhode Island.
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
4. Why were the first U.S. factories
located in New England?
A. New England had good shipping and
transportation.
B. New England had many slaves to work.
C. New England had a tradition of
manufacturing.
D. New England had streams for water power.
E. New England had many wealthy farmers
willing to invest.
F. New England had a willing labor force.
Choose all that are true!
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell built a factory in
Waltham, Massachusetts.
• This factory spun cotton into yarn and wove it
into cloth on power looms.
• Lowell had seen power looms in English mills
and copied their design for his Waltham factory.
The factory was so successful that
Lowell built a new factory town in
Massachusetts and named it for himself.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What product did the
Lowell mills manufacture?
The Lowell mills manufactured textiles.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• Instead of families, the
Lowell textile mills
employed farm girls who
lived in company-owned
boardinghouses.
• The “Lowell girls”
worked 12-hour days in
deafening noise.
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• At first, wages were
high – between two
and four dollars a
week.
• The girls received a
basic education and
were strictly
supervised until they
married and left the
mill.
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• By the 1830s, falling profits meant that
wages dropped and working
conditions worsened.
Factories began to be powered by more
powerful steam engines.
Steam engines began using coal and
wood, meaning factories could be built
away from rivers and beyond New
England.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What replaced water as the
power source in later factories?
Steam replaced water as the power
source in later factories.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
5. Who worked in the Lowell mills?
A.
B.
C.
D.
New England farm girls
Lowell’s friends and relatives
Skilled craftsmen
The mill owners themselves
A New Way to Manufacture
• In 1798, the U.S.
government hired
the inventor Eli
Whitney to make
10,000 muskets for
the army.
• At that time, guns
were made one at a
time by gunsmiths,
from start to finish.
A New Way to Manufacture
• Whitney introduced the
use of interchangeable
parts – parts that were
exactly alike – to make
production faster and to
make repairs easy.
• Interchangeable parts
also allowed the use of
lower-paid and lessskilled workers.
Check for Understanding
Interchangeable parts changed
manufacturing by speeding up production,
making repairs easier, and allowing
the use
How did
of lower-paid, less-skilled
workers.
interchangeable
parts change
manufacturing?
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
6. How did Eli Whitney change
manufacturing?
A. He smuggled plans for a mechanized
factory out of England.
B. He developed an industrial assembly
process using interchangeable parts.
C. He convinced poor Irish workers to
immigrate to the United States.
D. He persuaded New England farmers
to allow their daughters to work in his
mills.