Pre-Industrial Society
Pre-Industrial Society
• 1700’s- people worked the land &
were subsistent
• They grew their own food, made
their own clothes, etc.
• One of three fields left fallow to regain
fertility
• Animals grazed in common
pastures
Disadvantages and Change
Disadvantages
• Land use inefficient
• Farmers didn’t experiment with new
methods
Forces for Change
• Population growth- more food needed
• French blockade meant no corn- more
food needed
Agricultural Revolution:
•new mixtures of soil  increased
crop production
•seed drill  plant seeds more
efficiently (= more food)
•breeding stronger animals for labor
The Enclosure Movement
• After buying up the land of village
farmers, wealthy landowners fenced
off land to produce more food &
make more $$$
As a result of the enclosure
movement
• Large landowners forced small
farmers to become tenant farmers
or move to the cities
“Enclosed” Lands Today
Crop Rotation
Crop Rotation:
•Crop rotation allows land to rejuvenate,
producing more food
•Moved from a two-field system to a
three field system. This allows one field
to recover its
fertility.
Results of Agricultural
Revolution
• More food available
• Population increased
Cottage Industry and Early
Capitalism
Cottage Industry
Merchants’ Role
• They supplied materials (wool and
cotton) to cottages to be carded and
spun
• They sold the finished product for
profit
Capitalism
• Economic system based on private
ownership, free competition, and
profit
Effects of Cottage Industry
• Big profits for new class of merchants
• Alternative source of income for
peasants
The Textile Industry
Major Inventions of the Textile Industry
• 1733 – John Kay invents flying shuttle
• 1764 – James Hargreaves invents
spinning jenny
• 1794- Eli Whitney invents cotton gin
• These new textile machines are too big for
homes  so factories are built 1st along
rivers & powered by water, but eventually
steam engine powers machines 
factories can be located anywhere
Textile Factory
Workers in England
1813
2400 looms
150, 000 workers
1833
85, 000 looms
200, 000 workers
1850
224, 000 looms
>1 million workers
Textile Factory
Workers in England
John Kay’s “Flying Shuttle”
The Power Loom
Effects of Textile Industry
• Prices of mass-produced textiles
were lower than hand-made items
• Britain’s textile industry increased
• Majority of villagers forced to leave
home to find work in urban factories
James Watt’s Steam Engine
Steam Tractor
Steam Engine: Energy for the
Revolution
The Need for Energy
• Early factories used horses and water mills
for energy so steam evolved as a
response to growing need
How does it work?
• Steam forced from high to low pressure
produces power
Effect of Steam Engine
• Steam power increases textile production
• Improved mining fuels other industries
Iron and Coal: Energy for the
Industrial Revolution
Iron and Coal
Need for Iron
• Farming tools, new factor machinery,
railways
• Smelting makes iron more pure but
requires carbon
Need for Coal
• Carbon needed for smelting
• Steam engines powered by coal
Effect of Iron and Coal
• Britain produced most iron in world
• Coal powers Britain’s enormous navy
Transportation Changes
Transportation Advances:
•As textiles and other goods
increase in production there
becomes a need for better & faster
transportation to get goods to
markets for sale  improvements
to roads, canals, railroads,
steamboats
Early Canals
Britain’s Earliest
Transportation
Infrastructure
Steam Ship
The Railroads:
A steam engine on wheels (the railroad
locomotive) drove English industry after
1820
Railroads were a cheap way to transport
goods and people
They also boosted agricultural & fishing
industry- b/c goods could be transported
before spoiling
An Early Steam Locomotive
The Impact of the Railroad
Why Britain Led the Industrial
Revolution
Britain’s Advantages &
Economic Strength:
• Natural resources are plentiful (coal – burn to fuel
engines; iron – used to build machines)
• Human resources people needed work (&
religious morals encourage strong work ethic)
• Technology new ideas spurred by scientific
revolution & enlightenment – skilled mechanics,
practical inventors, etc.
• Economics trade from overseas colonies
strengthens economy & business merchants
(middle class) have $ to invest; population growth
also results in a greater demand for more products
(more people want more stuff)
• Stable government
Industrialization
The Factory System
 Rigid schedule.
 12-14 hour day.
 Dangerous conditions.
 Mind-numbing monotony.
Growth of Cities
• Growth of factory system brought
many to cities and towns
• This movement and growth of
cities is known as- urbanization
• Cities in Britain doubled and
tripled in size
• London became Europe’s largest
city
Factory Workers at Home
Living/Working Conditions
• No plans, no sanitary codes, no
building codes planned for growth
• Lack of adequate housing,
education, and police protection
• No drainage/sewage systems- led
to widespread disease and
cholera epidemics
• Average life span of factory
worker was 17 years
• Work- 14 hours a day, 6 days a
week
Child Labor
Class Tensions
• Factory owners and merchants grew more
wealthy than landowners/aristocrats
• A large middle class developed (upper/lower)
– upper middle class (government
employees, doctors, lawyers, and
managers of factories, coal mines, and
shops
– Lower middle class (factory overseers,
toolmakers, and printers)
• Lower class saw little improvement in their
economic conditions
Positive/Negative Effects of
Industrialization
• Created jobs
• Contributed to wealth of
the nation
• Cheaper, mass
produced clothing
• More efficient to ship
goods
• Prosperity of middle and
upper classes
• Laborers eventually won
higher wages, shorter
hours, and better
working conditions
• Child labor
• Air pollution
• Unemployment & loss
of jobs
• Loss of family farms
• Cramped living
conditions
• People often sick
• Divorces increased
Industrial Staffordshire
Factory Workers at Home
k Working class became more involved in
politics- needed reform (long hours,
dirty and dangerous working
conditions)
k Workers joined associations known as
unions
k Unions would engage in collective
bargaining- negotiations between
workers and their employers.
k They bargained for better working
conditions and higher pay. If demands
were not met, they would strike- refuse
to work