The Industrial Revolution

Caused by….

• Advancements in agriculture led to more food production, and thus a greater population

• Enclosure of common fields displaced farmers who moved to the cities to look for work

In the beginning…

• The revolution began in Great Britain in the 1780’s

• Changes in the textile industry and transportation lead to an end to Cottage Industry

• Why would these radical changes begin in Britain?

James Watt changes the world!

• Invents the steam engine circa 1774

• Running water no longer necessary to build a factory

• Leads to increased urbanization

Man and Nature

• More people are city dwellers

• Nature seen as something to conquer

• Urban problems of poverty, housing shortages, squalor, sanitation, clean water, and many more, increase

New Social Classes

• Industrial working class created (proletariat)

• Had to work 12-16 hour days, 6 days a week, with a ½ hour off for meals

• Taught to respond to the work whistle, not the ebb and flow of nature

Woes of the Proletariat

• No minimum wage• No job security• No compensation

for injury• No sick days• At odds with the

idea of Natural Rights and that laissez-faire improves society

The Government Intervenes

• When the Napoleonic Wars ended, large land owners feared renewed competition from Europe would decrease the price of their crops

• Parliament passed the Corn Laws, a tariff on imported grain, in 1815

The Impact of the Corn Laws

• As the price of grain products increased, people used all their money on food

• Without extra income, industry went into a recession and workers were laid off

The People Respond

• On August 16, 1819, 60,000 peaceful protesters met at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester

• A charging Calvary cleared the field in 10 minutes, killing 10 and wounding 400

• Peterloo Massacre

Do Hungry Citizens Matter?

• While the government hailed the actions at St. Peter’s as a victory for law and order, hungry citizens did make them nervous

• Workers continued their protests• Divisions within the ruling class

became more pronounced• Tory=Conservatives=House of Lords• Whig=Liberal=House of Commons

Reform Act of 1832

• The Commons won an “Enlightened” victory: redistricting, suffrage expanded to middle class, slavery outlawed, and child labor ends

Let’s Make More Reforms

• 1834—Poor Laws made creating work houses and separating families

• Chartest Movement—attempt to give all men over 21 the vote and a secret ballot

• Calls for general strikes and some riots

• 1846—A scared Parliament repeals the Corn Laws

A Second Revolution

• Industry was revolutionized again in the 1870’s

• Inventions include steel, electricity, petroleum and advances in chemistry

Woes of the Proletariat grow

• Factories can now run 24-hours a day

• Every advancement in industry often leads to a cut in the work force

• 1867—Second Reform Bill provides education, sanitation and doubles suffrage

England’s Era of Reform

• 1871—Trade Union Act gives workers the right to strike

• 1884—Third Reform Bill expands suffrage again

• 1918—Universal male suffrage

• Why does England escape revolution?