The Industrial Revolution...
The shift from an agrarian, hand-made, labor-intensive economy
to a machine-made, labor-specialization economy.
Industrial Revolution in perspective:
• Transformation of every facet of society;
• Accelerated the pace of modernization
• Increased the size and importance of the middle
class
• Created a new-”working” class
• Became a force for democracy
• Hastened the secularization of European life
• Changed the geography of global interaction
• Made possible the highest standard of living in
human history
Early Inventions in the British Textile Industry
Charles “Turnip”
Townshend –
started an
Agricultural Revolution
Robert Bakewell, Selective Breeding
1710- 370 lbs
1800- 769 lbs
30 lbs
80 lbs
England's population
growth:
1700: 5 million
1780: 9 million
1850: 21 million
“May Morning,” John Collet, 1760
A traditional spinning wheel
John Kay’s Flying Shuttle, 1733- doubled the
speed of weaving thread, resulting in
“the Yarn Famine”
• 1764...James
Hargreaves’
Spinning Jenny,
- 8 spools of
thread from one
wheel!
Richard Awkright’s Water Frame, 1769
A system of rollers
driven by water which
spun firmer and finer
thread on 100 spools
Awkright is known as
“the Father of the
Factory System.”
James Watt’s Steam Engine, 1781
Edmund Cartwright’s Power Loom, 1785
Adapted the
spinning mule to
steam power
allowing 200
spools of thread
to be spun
automatically,
with little human
interaction
Robert Fulton’s Clermont, 1807
George Stephenson’s Rocket, 1825
One small boy could watch over 2 power looms whose
output was 15x greater than a skilled handloom weaver
Luddites – displaced weavers rebelled in 1811- angry over their loss
of jobs, they attacked and destroyed textile machines throughout
England
Factory towns spread all over England: Manchester
became the cotton capital of the world, eventually to
France, Germany and the rest of Europe.
In summary…
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Technological advances in textiles
Steam power
The new iron age- steel
Transportation and communication
Incorporation
Urbanization
The working class
Relief and reform
Any Questions?