The Industrial Revolution

A number of significant changes occurred in Britain as a result of the Industrial Revolution:

Changes to AgricultureMassive growth of the economyDevelopment of a factory system

based on machines rather than people

Changes to modes of transportation

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Revolutionizing the English Countryside

Agricultural Revolution

Consolidate: to combine together two or more things into one

Cultivated: process of loosing up soil and mixing in nutrients to help plants grow

Terms to Define

Medieval times used strip farming – small scattered strips of land for farmingConsidered to be very inefficient

Landowners began to consolidate the small strips into large fieldsA movement called “enclosure”

Larger fields mean less time farming = more profits

Agricultural Revolution

At the same time as enclosures, laws changed to allow common land to be sold to wealthy landownersTook away land from village people who

depended on the land as grazing land for their sheep, as well as for wood, acorns and other loose food products for survival

Many small farmers were negatively effected by the enclosures and were forced to sell their farms to rich landowners for very little

Agricultural Revolution

Enclosures allowed farming to become a business rather than just a way to feed the family

Resulted in new farming techniques as well as new plants and animals

Success of these new farms was the basis of the agricultural revolution as they revolutionized the look of the English countryside

Farming Becomes a Business

Landowners believed better farm animals would bring higher profits

Landowners selectively bred new breeds of animals that were stronger than those of medieval timesCows produced better and

more meat and sheep produced more wool

These animals were expensive to breed and maintain and soon even more farmers were out of business

New Breeds of Farm Animals

As landowners focused even more on profits, they began to invest in better farming technologiesThey understood that making a profit was

dependent on taking some financial risks

Goal for these landowners was to make their land produce more crops for less money They wanted to find ways to lower their cost

of production

New Crops and Technologies

English inventor who tried to understand how soil helped plants to grow

Found that plants grew better when soil was cultivated and enriched with manure

Invented the “seed drill” – device pulled from horses that turned the soil and planted neat rows of seeds

Cut down on seeds lost to birds

Jethro Tull – “Seed Drill”

English lord and politician; also a wealthy landowner

When he retired he focused on making his farms more profitable

Found that by rotating what crops he grew each year, he could produce more of each cropBetter use of the soil; allowed nutrients in the soil

to replenishLeft-over’s could be used as inexpensive food for

animals in the winter

“Turnip” Townshed

As larger landowners became even more wealthy, many small farmers were forced to sell their land to survive but the money ran out quickly

As a result, many families moved to the cities looking for work – led to overcrowded poor sections in many of the main cities

On the other hand, the success of the larger farms meant these larger city populations could be fed

Small Farmers Driven Out

Growing the Economy of England

Economic Revolution

Entrepreneurs: refers to business people who organize, run or operate a business

Regulations: rules put in place about how something can be done

Abundant: lots of something.

Loom: machine used to make strings of yarn into cloth

Terms to Define

After the Glorious Revolution (think back to the English Civil War!), Parliament now included many entrepreneurs from the middle classOrdinary people, including women, were still

not a part of Parliament and could not vote

Two main groups in Parliament:Tories: rich landownersWhigs: represented the middle class

English Parliament

Growing number of middle class in Parliament led the government to follow a laissez-faire economic policyBusiness and industry should function free of

government interference and regulationsCompetition and self-interest would motivate

people to make their industries better which would create a wealthier and more productive economy = benefit society in general

Allowed business owners to keep costs low – allowed them to pay workers as little as possible to increase their profits

English Economics

Britain had a large textile industry – wool from sheep was used throughout the worldBritish wool was considered the highest quality

and was in demand around the worldEnclosures made it possible and profitable to

maintain enormous herds of sheepAllowed cheap and efficient harvesting of

sheep’s woolMassive growth in the textile industry helped

improve the British economy overall A variety of improvements in the textile

industries occurred during the Industrial Revolution…

Changes to the Textile Industries

“Flying Shuttle” Invented by John Kay in 1733Used springs and levers to weave yarn faster on

large looms - yarn could be produced fasterPut one of the original shuttle throwers out of

work

“Spinning Jenny”Built by James Hargreaves in 1764Allowed spinners to do the work of multiple

spinners at the same timeBuilt to reduce the yarn shortage that resulted

after weaving techniques improved - soon used all over England

Changes to the Textile Industry

“Flying Shuttle”

“Spinning Jenny”

“Water Frame”Improved the way yarn was spun – even faster

than the Spinning Jenny

“The Mule”Combined the best features of the Spinning

Jenny and the Water Frame

Once an abundant amount of yarn was spun, improvements to the processes of spinning and weaving yarn continued Led to enormous looms in factories that

required a new kind of power to run…Steam!

Changes to the textile industry

As factories began to grow, so did the need for a more secure power source

First breakthrough – Thomas Newcombe invented an engine that harnessed the power of compressed steam

Second, and real, breakthrough came from James Watts – he found a way to better use the compressed steam from Newcombe’s engineWatts adapted the engine so that it could

power larger machinesWatts effectively solved the problem of how to

power the Industrial Revolution

The Triumph of Steam

Grew with the other changes of the revolution

Development of cast iron – easier and cheaper to makeBecame a massive industry

Led to growth of the coal industry which was used in the production of cast ironCoal was also vital because it was needed to

fuel the steam engineCoal mines were a dark and dangerous place

and workers were paid meagerlyEven so, without coal, the revolution would not

have worked

Iron and Coal Industries

Moving the Industrial Revolution Forward

Transportation

Raw materials: an unprocessed, natural product used in creating items ex. wool right off the sheep or cocoa beans

Manufactured goods: a finished product; usually created in a factory or on a production line

Terms to Define

The massive amounts of goods being produced during the Industrial Revolution needed to be transported around Great BritainFactories also required resources and raw materials

such as coal

Prior to the revolution, transportation systems in England were terribleUneven and muddy roads; no long straight roads

from one place to anotherUse of pack horses and mules limited how much

could be carried in each load; horses also needed water, rest and food (expensive and time consuming)

Growth of Transportation

Turnpike system – way of getting roads built at no cost to the governmentPrivate companies were allowed to build a section

of road and charge tolls (taxes) to anyone who used their roads

Best builder: James Macadam – built roads that were three layers of stone and were sloped from the middle to allow proper drainage

Growth of Transportation

Investors also began to build new canals and waterways to transport goods and peopleCanals were also built to connect larger

waterways

By the early 19th century, there was

over 4000 km of canals across England

Growth of Transportation

New and better roads meant better transportation of goods, people and mail

Improved transportation methods also made it possible to ship raw materials and manufactured goods relatively quickly and cheaperHelped to improve the overall profits of the

country and its people

Benefits of Growth

Transportation continued to improve as inventors began to use the steam engine to build locomotives and larger railway systems

1829: George and Robert Stephenson built a locomotive called “The Rocket”Travelled at the “unheard of

speed” of 39km/hr!

By the mid 1800’s, countries all across Europe and North America had built railway lines to transport goods and people

Development of railways

“The Rocket”

From Farms to Factories

Mechanization and the Factory System

Obsolete: does not exist anymore

Deteriorated: to get worse

Appalled: be filled with shock or horror about something

Terms to Define

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people produced items in their home and then items were picked up and the people were paid a fixed price for each complete item, such as a spool of yarn – known as the cottage systemAllowed people to work from home and to pick up extra

work such as spinning yarn if they needed moneyUnfortunately, the pay was not very good and prices

were often lowered when there was more supply than demand

With the growth of large factories and large machines that could not operate in houses, the cottage system became obsolete

Cottage System vs. Factory System

Large machines required more space and a secure source of power – something that couldn’t be done in a home

Growth of factories changed the lives of thousands of people in BritainMany moved from the

farms to cities as the growth of factories led to the development of massive cities

Factory Age

Factory system also centralized production – all parts of an item were produced under one roof Allowed owners to lower their costs and to

control every step in production

Factory Age Cont’d

While life improved for the wealthy who benefited from the growth of factories, the lives of factory workers deteriorated rapidly

Many people labored long hours in noisy, dirty and unsafe buildings for very little pay Factory age produced some of the worst

conditions for everyday workers

Lives of Factory Workers

Many of the people suffering these horrendous conditions were children

Many young children were sent to work as families were poor and needed the money and education was not compulsoryMany started as young as 5 years old

Children were particularly useful because of their small size – worked in coal mines digging tunnels or as chimney sweepers

Children were paid even less , worked longer hours and were often beaten by the factory owners

Child Labor in Factories

Working conditions became so bad that during the 18th and 19th centuries, social reformers tried to improve these conditions for workers

Workers also tried to band together to improve their conditions by creating guilds (modern-day unions) but these groups were declared illegal by the governmentRich factory owners in Parliament did want to have

to pay their workers more or hurt their profitsEventually though, the government became

appalled at the working conditions and created new laws called the Factory Acts to improve working conditions

Factory Acts

Children were the first to benefit from these ActsLimited the working hours for children to 12;

reduced even further later onMade it illegal to hire a child under 9 years oldUnfortunately, there were no government inspectors

to ensure the rules were followed and many people worked despite the conditions simply because they needed the money

Attitudes of middle and upper class also made it difficult – believed working class should continue to work as much as possible or else they would be “lazy”

Factory Acts Cont’d

The People of the Industrial Revolution

Society and Culture

Rigid: very stiff or unchanging

Menial jobs: refers to work that was considered servant work; was often very hard physical labor

Terms to Define

Britain had a rigid and complex social structure during the 18th and 19th centuries

Upper Class – known as “Society” – best education, lots of money, considered the “right people to know”

Upper Middle Class – had their own culture and amusements; people worked as professionals (ex. lawyer)

Lower Middle Class – “white collar workers” (ex. store owners or office workers)

Lower Class – people who worked in trades or in a factoryHad their own ranking system: 1)skilled labor, 2)

unskilled labor, 3) casual labor

Social Structure of Britain

Disappearance of the cottage system meant fewer jobs for women Those who stayed in the countryside became servants

for rich land owning families or worked as day laborers on farms

Many women were forced to work in factories in the cities – did many of the same dirty and dangerous jobs as men and were often paid even less

For some women, the Industrial Revolution gave them access to cash which meant independence – did help to improve the lives of some working and middle class women

Women During the Industrial Age

Rapid and massive growth of the Industrial Revolution led to poorly planned cities with large slum areas with no water or sewer systems

Buildings were poorly built and often cramped – one large family per single room

Crime and disease was widespread in these slums

Britain’s Industrial Poor

Britain’s Poor Laws, in existence since the 16th century, remained unchanged and were ineffective

Many families were forced into workhouses – in exchange for shelter and little food they worked menial jobs

Britain’s Industrial Poor Cont’d

Llanfyllin Dolydd Poorhouse – Oliver Twist