history

The Industrial Revolution, Part 1

Reading, Textbook, Chapter 23, pp. 662-667

“Dark Satanic Mills”

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain in the late 18th century,

represents perhaps the most important development in modern history.

What is industrialization?

My definition:

Industrialization, strictly speaking, refers to a significant change in economic

organization, characterized by tremendously increased productivity, based on

capital investment, factories, machinery, and wage labor; but it is also a

social process insofar as it has a profound impact on human relationships, social

institutions and values, patterns of behavior, living standards—affecting the

quality and quantity of life—and even political systems; one of its most

distinctive features is its capacity for sustained growth; i.e., production keeps

expanding; unlike a pre-industrial economy, which experiences spurts of growth

followed by stabilization, an industrial economy keeps growing.

Industrial take-offs (when the industrial revolution began)

in select countries:

Great Britain: 1760s or 1780s (there is a longstanding debate

over when it actually began in Britain)—early 1800s

France: 1830—1860

Belgium: 1830—1860

United States: 1840—1860

Germany: 1850—1875

Sweden: 1870—1890

Japan: 1870s

Russia: 1890s—1914

There have been different “waves” of industrialization. The key

elements of the first wave were iron for building, steam for

power, coal for fuel, and textiles—especially the mass production

of inexpensive cotton garments. The important elements of the

second wave, from approximately 1850, included steel for

building, electricity for power, oil for fuel, and chemicals for

various types of synthetics.

What about today?

Some ideas: nuclear power, solar power, computers, cyberoptics,

cell phones….

Anything else?

Industrialization occurred most dramatically in the cotton industry,

but also simultaneously in the pottery industry, brewing, and

engineering—especially shipbuilding.

Causes of the industrial revolution in Great Britain:

1.Technological innovation (inventions):

Perhaps the most important invention was the steam engine

patented in 1769 by James Watt, an improvement over the steam

engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712.

Early steam engines yielded up to 20 horsepower, much more than

traditional sources of power (see the following slides).

James Watt’s Steam Engine, 6-20 hp

Traditional Sources of Power

Human muscle: one-tenth horsepower (hp)

One-half horsepower (not a printing error)

Water wheel: 2-5 hp Windmill: 5-7 hp

To be sure, inventions in the early industrial revolution tended to

be rather primitive, the application of relatively simple ideas to

create helpful devices. The novelty was the willingness to apply

science and knowledge to solve specific industrial problems.

The best example of this can be seen in the textile industry.

The production of cotton garments consists of two activities:

spinning thread and weaving the thread into cloth. Initially,

spinning and weaving were done in the homes or “cottages” of

craftsmen: spinners and weavers. This was called cottage industry.

In 1733, John Kay patented his flying shuttle (1733), a device for

hand looms that made weaving faster and enabled wider fabrics to

be produced. There was a problem, however, spinners could not

spin enough thread to keep up with the weavers.

This imbalance between spinning and weaving led to several

inventions in ensuing decades, notably James Hargreaves’

spinning jenny—a mechanical spinning wheel (1764);

Richard Arkwright’s water frame (1769); and Samuel

Crompton’s mule (1779).

The new spinning devices were too large to be used in

cottages, necessitating factories. Thus, the first factories of

the Industrial revolution were spinning mills.

Spinning Jenny Water Frame

Spinning Mule

We can also see the rise in technological innovation from the

number of patents issued in Great Britain during the course of

the 18th century.

Patents:

1700-1709: 22 (2.2/year)

1760-1769: 205

1790-1799: 699

1800: 96 (1 year)

2. A ready supply of natural resources. The crucial basic ones were

coal (for fuel) and iron (building), and Great Britain had ample

supplies of both and in close proximity to each other.

3. Developments in transportation, especially canals and, eventually,

black-top roads.

Coal Miners An Iron Foundry

3. Developments in transportation, especially canals and

black-top roads.

Britain is an island nation (nearly 90,00 square miles, about 1.7

times the area of Louisiana), with a long coastline, which, one

thinks would have facilitated internal trade. But the waters

around it are prone to storms, which made sea travel uncertain

and more than slightly hazardous.

From 1750, Britain modernized its road system and around 1760

began developing an extensive canal system. Improved roads

(eventually blacktops) and canals made inland trade safe,

efficient, and more profitable.

What about railroads? Vital during the second wave of

industrialization, they were actually a product of technological

innovation, important from the 1820s onward.

British Canal Blacktop Road

Early Locomotive Modern Train

4. New financial institutions: provided technical means for the

development and availability of capital.

The development of an insurance (marine, life, and fire) industry

reduced the hazards of investments in trade and industry.

The greater use of paper money and checks, the establishment of a

modern stock exchange (from 1773), and the growth of the banking

system, particularly outside of London—all facilitated financial

transactions and, once again, investments in trade and industry.

Paper Money Stock Exchange

5. Population growth leading to growth of domestic demand for

goods.

Britain’s population stood at an estimated 5.8 million in 1700.

From 1750 to 1800, it shot up from 6 to 9 million, an increase that

coincided with Britain’s industrial take off. The rise in population

meant a larger labor force and a larger market for manufactured

goods.

It has been estimated that the demand for consumer goods

increased 7% from 1700-1750, and another 7% from 1750 to 1770.

A large domestic demand for goods could come to the rescue when

overseas trade tapered off, such as happened to Britain during the

American Revolution, and thus prevent stagnation in industry.

6. Agricultural revolution: Britain experienced an agricultural

revolution before its industrial revolution began.

Innovations in British agriculture that began in the late 17th century,

such as enclosures and advanced methods of crop rotation,

particularly the widespread use of forage crops, notably clover and

turnips, which were found to restore nutrients to the soil,

contributed to larger areas under cultivation and greater yields.

That meant more food for both people and farm animals (with the

added bonus of more manure), and greater profits for British

farmers, especially the gentry. And some of those profits ended up

invested in industry.

An important related fact: the average size of an English/British

cow was about 370 lbs. in 1700 and 800 in 1800. Other farm

animals also become much larger.

7. Availability of capital: the two most important sources were

profits from agriculture and overseas trade (to foreign markets).

British export industries increased production by 76% from 1700

to 1750, and another 80% from 1750 to 1770, coinciding, once

again, with the industrial takeoff.

8. Changes in attitude toward the future and toward profit:

The upbeat Enlightenment idea of progress became increasingly

influential as well as the notion that the future is shaped by human

activity in the present, not fate. In other words, people make

things happen.

And contrary to the older moral economy, which finally expired,

the individual pursuit of profit became socially acceptable and

even considered morally beneficial.

Conversely the influence of traditions that emphasized

collectivism, communalism, and community interests waned.

9. An aggressive foreign policy to capture markets and resources:

The British now dominated world trade as well as banking and

Industry and had the will to make the most of their advantages.

10. Political stability: Britain remained free of internal strife and

continued to develop economically during the late 18th and early

19th century when continental Europe was absorbed in the wars of

the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era. The result was about

a fifty-year head start in industrializing.

Attendance question: Who invented the steam engine used during

the early industrial revolution in Great Britain?