CH. 24: THE EARLY INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

I. Causes of the Industrial Revolution

• A. Population i. 18th cen: reliable food supplies, earlier

marriage, high birthrates, & more resistance to disease contributed to Eur. population growth (esp. England & Wales).

ii. Children a relatively high proportion of the pop. Growth contributed to migration from country to cities, Ireland to England, & Eur to Americas.

• B. The agricultural rev i. Rev began pre-18th cen. New foods (many

American) & forage crops produced more food per acre & allowed farmers to raise more cattle for meat/milk.

ii. Only wealthy landowners could afford new crops & methods. They enclosed their own land & common land to apply scientific farming methods – forcing former tenants to become sharecroppers or to migrate to cities.

C. Trade & inventiveness i. In most of Eur, increasing demand for goods

was met w/ increasing production in traditional ways (adding craftsmen, putting-out system).

ii. Pop growth & ag productivity were accompanied by growth in trade & fascination w/ technology & innovation.

D. Britain & Continental Europe i. 18th-cen Britain had characteristics explaining

its peculiar role in the IR. Economic growth, pop growth, willingness to put new ideas into practice, strong mining & metal industries, world’s largest merchant marine, & relatively fluid social structure.

ii. Water transport system, unified market, highly developed commercial sector.

iii. Ecos of continental Eur experienced similar expansion in 18th cen, but lack of markets & management skills and constant war from 1789-1815 interrupted trade & weakened incentive to invest in new tech. Industrialization took hold in Eur after 1815, 1st in Belgium & France. Eur gov’ts helped foster industrialization.

II. The Technological Rev.

A. Mass production: pottery i. Pottery made/imported for aristocrats – poor

couldn’t afford it. Taste for tea, coffee, & cocoa created a demand for porcelain (no off flavor).

ii. 1759: Josiah Wedgwood opened pottery business w/ division of labor & molds to mass-produce high-quality porcelain at an affordable cost.

B. Mechanization: the cotton industry i. Strong market for cotton cloth, but plant did not

grow in Eur. Restrictions on imports led inventors/entrepreneurs to devise cheap mechanical methods for spinning thread & weaving cloth in England.

ii. Series of inventions: 1764, spinning jenny. 1769, Arkwright’s water frame. 1785, spinning mule. Increased supply of thread & demand for cloth led to power looms & other machinery/processes for textile production.

iii. Mechanization led to greater efficiency & lower prices. Cotton = America’s most valuable crop, both for export to England and, from 1820s, for American industry.

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C. The iron industry i. Iron used in Eurasia & Africa for 1000s of

years; production associated with deforestation that increased charcoal cost & reduced iron output. Limited wood & high cost of skilled labor made iron rare & valuable outside China pre-18th cen.

ii. 18th cen:series of inventions (coke, puddling) allowed Britain to produce large amts of cheap iron. Increased production + lower cost = iron for numerous applications, including bridges & Crystal Palace.

iii. 18th cen: interchangeable parts. Adopted for firearms, farm equipment, & sewing machines in 19th cen. Use of machinery to mass-produce consumer goods w/ identical parts known as “American system of manufactures.”

D. The steam engine i. Most revolutionary invention of IR. 1702-

1712, Newcomen developed basic model to pump water out of coal mines.

ii. 1769, Watt improved model & made engines for sale to manufacturers. Provided source of power allowing factories to locate where animal, water, or wind power were lacking.

iii. 1780s, used to power riverboats in France & America. 1830s, more efficient models allowed ocean-going steamships.

iv. After 1800, Trevithick & Stephenson built lighter, more powerful, high-pressure engines used for locomotives (replacing horses) on railways.

v. Railway building took off in Britain from 1825-1845; major cities, then small towns, linked. US: railway booms in 1840s & 50s linked country & opened Midwest to ag development.

vi. In Eur, railways triggered industrialization. Industrial areas concentrated in iron- and coal-rich areas of N. France, Belgium, Ruhr, & Silesia.

E. Communication over wires i. Railroads accompanied by development of

electric telegraph. 2 systems developed in 1837: 5-needle system in England, & Morse’s dot-dash system in the US.

ii. 1840s/50s, Americans & Europeans built the beginnings of a global communications network, regarding it as a clear measure of progress.

III. The Impact of the Industrial Rev.

A. The new industrial cities i. Ind. brought about rapid growth of towns &

development of megalopolises such as Greater London. Wealthy: fine homes, churches, public buildings. Poor: crowded, cheap, shoddy row houses.

ii. Pop growth, crowding, & lack of municipal services made urban problems more serious. Inadequate sewage disposal facilities, air/water pollution, & diseases made urban life unhealthy & contributed to high infant mortality/low life expectancy.

iii. Reports on horrors of slums led to municipal reforms after mid-19th cen.

B. Rural environments i. Almost all Eur land transformed by humans

pre-IR; deforestation ongoing problem. Americans transformed environment fast, clearing land, depleting it, & moving on.

ii. Industrialization relieved pressure on English environment in some ways: ag raw materials replaced by industrial materials or imports; coke & cheap iron reduced demand for wood.

iii. New transportation systems changed rural life. Toll roads, canals, & railroads linked isolated districts to centers of commerce, industry, & population.

C. Working conditions i. New, highly-paid opportunities for small # of

skilled carpenters, metalworkers, & machinists; most industrial jobs were unskilled, repetitive, boring, badly paid, & had poor working conditions.

ii. Separation of work from home impacted women & family life.

iii. Women workers concentrated in textile mills; earned less than men. Husbands & wives worked in separate places. Most of female work force was young women working as domestic servants.

iv. Poverty & employers’ preference for child workers led to high rates of child labor. Mid-19th cen, Britain restricted child labor; Irish immigrants recruited.

v. America: @ 1st, good wages/conditions to women; harsh conditions, long hours, & low pay became standard. Protests led factory owners to replace American women w/ Irish (accepted lower pay/worse conditions).

vi. IR increased demand for cotton, sugar, & coffee. This helped prolong slavery in US & Caribbean and to extend it into coffee regions of Brazil.

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D. Changes in society i. Increased disparities in income. Wages &

standards of living fluctuated w/ the business cycle; little overall improvement until 1850s.

ii. Real beneficiaries of IR: middle class. Rising incomes allowed them to build own businesses, keep women @ home, @ develop moral code in contrast to squalor/drunkenness of working class.

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IV. Ideological & Political Responses to Industrialization

A. Laissez faire and its critics i. Adam Smith most famous proponent of

laissez-faire (gov’t should stay out of business). Malthus & Ricardo argued that working-class poverty was a result of overpopulation & should be addressed not by gov’t but by later marriage & sexual restraint. Business people liked laissez-faire.

ii. Critics like Bentham (Eng) [Utilitarianism] & List (Ger) argued that state should manage eco & address social problems.

B. Positivists & utopian socialists i. Fr: Count of St. Simon developed positivism

(scientific method to solve social problems). ii. Utopian Socialists: Fourier (ideal society

w/out capitalists) & Owen (industry can provide prosperity for all). Owen carried out reforms in own textile mill & encouraged Parliament to pass child labor laws & establish gov’t inspection of working conditions.

C. Protests & reforms i. Workers initially responded to bad conditions

by changing jobs frequently, not going to work, doing poor work, & striking/rioting. Eventually moved beyond individual, unorganized resistance to create organizations for collective action (benevolent societies, trade unions).

ii. Mass movements persuaded Brit. gov’t to investigate abuses & pass legislation like Factory Act of 1833, Mines Act of 1842, & repeal of Corn Laws in 1846. European revs of 1848 revealed widespread discontent, but gov’ts did not seek reform through accommodation.

V. Industrialization & the Non-industrial World

A. Russia i. Industrialization carried out by state W/

assistance of foreign engineers (almost no Russian middle class).

ii. Until late 19th cen, limited interest in industry & fear of Western liberalism & working/middle classes led gov’t to import most industrial goods & pay by exporting grain & timber. Russia fell further behind Eur economically & technologically.

B. Egypt i. Early 19th cen, ruler Muhammad Ali began

industrialization funded by export of wheat & cotton and protected by high tariff on imports.

ii. Prospect of powerful modern Egypt threatened British; 1839, Britain forced Muhammad Ali to eliminate import duties. W/out tariff protection, Egyptian industry could not compete w/ cheap British products; Egypt became economic dependency of Britain.

C. India i. Cheap machine-made British textiles forced

Indian spinners & hand-weavers out of work. Most became landless peasants; India exported raw materials & imported British industrial goods.

ii. Railroads, coal mining, & telegraph lines introduced in mid-19th cen. Some Indian entrepreneurs established own textile mills; overall, industrialization slow because Brit admin did not encourage Indian industry.

VI. Conclusion

A. Between 1760 & 1851 new technologies increased humans’ control over nature & transformed the environment.

B. This power increased disparities between individuals & societies and brought changes in work & family life. Social results sparked intellectual debates; society was slow to control abuses.

C. By 1850s, the IR had spread to W. Eur & the US and was contributing to a shift in the balance of power between Eur & China.