Industrial Revolution1750s to ...

Historical Backdrop• The political revolutions of the late 1700s that created

governmental and social upheavals were not the only “revolutions” bringing significant changes to Western culture (Europe and the Americas).

• In the mid-1700s agricultural and technological changes would begin to alter every aspect of life for people around the globe.

• These changes would first effect European nations that continued to build upon the wealth and power gained through the control of trade routes, and through the colonization of the Americas.

• Soon this new “Industrial Revolution” would spread across the Atlantic, and elsewhere around the globe.

Agriculture and Population

• The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain as a partial consequence to population increases.

• Agricultural (farming) output had increased substantially in the 1700s as numerous small fields were combined, and technological improvements eased labor demands.

• The results of having more food were significant population increases.

• Higher populations increased the demand for basic goods, which in turn prompted technological innovations tomeet demand.

Technological Changes

• To meet increased demand industrial innovators (inventors, machinist, engineers, etc.) devised increasingly complex machines to speed up production.

• The “revolution” is characterized by a shift away from muscle power (human or animal) to energy driven machines (first water and then steam).

• The first major industry to be impacted was cotton and textiles (clothing) as it is a basic need for all people.

Improved

Farming

Population

Growth

More Food

Increase in

Demand for

Goods

Machines to

Speed Up

Production

Cities and Factories

• The industrial revolution would lead to rapid growth in old cities, and the building of entirely new ones.

• The rapid growth of these cities is called Urbanization

• Driving urban growth was the necessity to build Factories. Machines were large so buildings were needed to house them.

• The first factories were located on rivers to utilize the power of flowing water to push paddle wheels that in turn powered the machines.

Social Reordering• The Industrial Revolution led to a shift in the social classes in

Western society. Wealth was previously based around land ownership (Nobles) or built through merchant trading.

• The I.R. created a new wealthy class of Industrial owners, investors, and innovators who rivaled or surpassed the “old money” rich.

• A new middle class was created from the educated who managed these factories.

• It also led the new working- class poor who packed the factory floors working for very low wages in terrible conditions.

New Urban Areas

Factory Life• Workers experienced a new kind of work that was both

repetitive and dangerous.

• Hours were long (12-16) and 6 days a week were normal (Sunday was for Church).

• Factories were notoriously dangerous and injuries (loss of limbs, fingers, etc.) and death were common.

• Wages were so low that children joined their parents in the factory (or in the mines) for a fraction of the wage just to survive.

Child Labor During the Industrial Revolution

Child Labor During the Industrial Revolution

Transportation Revolution

• To move the mass quantities of goods new ways of transportationwere created.

• Canals (manmade rivers) that connected to rivers were dug all over industrial societies.

• Rails were laid to allow the new steam locomotives (Trains) to move more easily over land and transport goods, and eventually people.

• People and goods were now moving faster and more easily than ever before.

Competing Ideologies• The Industrial Revolution created

two new social and economic ideologies – Capitalism vs. Socialism

• Capitalism centered around investing money (capital) into new industrial businesses to earn profit, and it advocated individual freedoms and no interference by the government in the economy (Adam Smith – Laissez Faire).

• Socialism (Karl Marx –Communism) advocated a more equal distribution of the wealth created by the workers and pushed for safer work places.

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

• New technologies, as well as sciences (Chemistry, Medicine, Electricity, etc.) completely changed the world and ushers in the modern era.

• Europe increased its wealth and power but would soon be rivaled by the new industrial United States.

• Industrial nations would eventually seek out and compete for new sources of raw materials to fuel industrial production (cotton = clothing; coal = steam).

• A new age of colonization and empire building (New Imperialism) would soon follow, as well as global warfare (WWI and WWII)