Section 2 - Britain Leads the Way
Setting the Scene
Visitors crowded into London's Crystal Palace in
1851. The immense structure housed the Great
Exhibition, a display of the "Works of Industry of
All Nations” The palace itself was specially built
for the occasion. A vast cavern of glass and iron,
it symbolized the triumph of the industrial age.
In the century before the exhibition, Britain had
been the first nation to industrialize. Its success
became the model for other countries, in Europe
and around the world.
I. Why Britain?
A. Resources - Britain had coal to power
steam engines, iron to build machines, and a
large labor force
The Crystal Palace, built in 1856, was a remarkable building with 293,655
panes of glass, 330 huge iron columns, and 24 miles of gutters.
I. Why Britain?
B. New Technology - Skilled mechanics and
technology paved the way for industrialization
I. Why Britain?
C. Economic Conditions - Economic
prosperity made consumer goods affordable
to members of every social class
I. Why Britain?
D. Political and Social Conditions - Britain
had a stable government that supported
economic growth
Changes in the Textile
Industry
The Industrial Revolution first took hold
in Britain's largest industry - textiles
Changes in the
Textile Industry
Cotton cloth imported from India
had become popular and British
merchants organized a cloth
industry at home
II. Changes in the Textile Industry
They developed the “putting-out” system cotton was distributed to peasants who spun
it into thread and wove the thread into cloth
Major Inventions
New inventions included John Kay's flying
shuttle, James Hargreaves’ spinning jenny
and Richard Arkwright’s waterframe
The flying shuttle
a single weaver, using one hand, could operate the shuttle on the loom
The "spinning jenny"
a device which allowed one person to spin up to 80 threads at once
Richard Arkwright created the "water frame" to produce yarn faster
The First Factories
The machines couldn’t be operated at home
so manufacturers built the first factories
Revolution in Transportation
As production increased, faster and cheaper
methods of moving goods was needed
Turnpikes, canals, stronger bridges
and upgraded harbors helped expand
domestic and overseas trade
A. On Land
The great revolution in transportation was
the steam locomotive.
By 1870, rail lines crisscrossed Britain,
Europe, and North America
The Rocket
B. On Sea
In 1807, American Robert Fulton
used Watt's steam engine
to improve shipping
B. On Sea
By the late 1800s,
steam-powered freighters were carrying
10 to 20 times the cargo
of older wooden ships
An Early Steamship, the Great Britain, 1845
Looking Ahead
As the Industrial Revolution got under way, it
triggered a chain reaction.
In response to growing demand, inventors
developed machines that could produce large
quantities of goods more efficiently.
As the supply of goods increased, prices fell.
Lower prices made goods more affordable and
thus created more consumers who further fed the
demand for goods.
The Industrial Revolution affected not only how
goods were made but also how people lived.
It brought a tidal wave of economic & social changes
that swept the industrializing nations of the world.