1780-1850

Overview• Machines began to replace

human & animal power in the production & manufacturing of goods

• Europe transitioned from an agricultural society to a modern industrial society

• The economic changes of the Industrial Revolution did more than any other movement to revolutionize life in Europe & western society

Roots of the Industrial Rev

• Commercial Revolution (1500-1700)– Price Revolution

(produced more)– Rise of Capitalism

(increased use of surplus money for investment)

– Scientific Revolution– Population increase

• Proto-Industrialization– “putting-out” system– Cottage industry

Proto-Industrialism technology

• Prior to steam engine• 1733 – Flying Shuttle

(John Kay)• 1764 – Spinning Jenny

(James Hargreaves)• 1769 – Water Frame

(Richard Arkwright)• 1779 – Spinning Mule

(Samuel Compton)

England is first

• Began in 1780’s (Continental Europe was not until after the Napoleonic Wars (1815)

• Land & Geography: – England is isolated– Good supply of coal & iron– Waterways

• Agricultural Revolution was vital– Cheap abundant labor

(enclosure movement forced people to towns & cities)

– Fewer farmers needed to feed larger numbers of people

Other factors

• Capital– Large supplies available– Bank of England established

by gov’t in 1694• Entrepreneurs– Class of inventive highly

motivated people– Middle class could rise into

nobility from the wealth created in business

• Colonial Empire– Gave Britain access to raw

materials– Growing market for English

goods in its colonies

Role of Government

• Sympathetic to industrial development

• Financial institutions were ready to make loans

• Stable government– Wars did not leave England devastated– Rise of the House of Commons helped

the middle class gain gov’t cooperation & secured middle class loyalty

– Parliamentary legislation was favorable towards industry• Bubble Act repealed which allowed for

joint stock companies• Lowes Act: allowed for limited liability for

business owners

Textiles• Growing demand for textiles led to the creation

of the world’s first large factories– Inventions of proto-industrialization facilitated

increased production• The steam engine’s application to textile

production was a key event of the industrial revolution– 1780’s Richard Arkwright used the steam engine to

power looms• Metallurgical industries flourished (they

provided the machinery)• Results of the new technology

– By 1790 machines produced 10X as much cotton yarn as in 1770

– By 1800 cotton thread was England’s most important industry (1850 they produced more than ½ the worlds cloth)

– Cotton goods became cheaper

Steam Engine & Coal

• Use of coal to power steam engines was one of the hallmarks of the industrial revolution– Transition from wood-burning to

coal-burning– By 1850 England produced 2/3 of

world’s coal• Steam Engine

– James Watt (1769) invented the first efficient steam engine

– Most fundamental advance in technology

• Iron industry transformed– Gave rise to heavy industry– By 1850 England produced more

than ½ of world’s iron

Transportation Revolution

• Made possible by steam power

• Necessary to transport finished goods & raw materials to factories

• New canal systems• Hard-surfaced roads• Steamboat, 1807 (Robert

Fulton) – made 2-way river travel

possible– 1838 – first steamship

crossed the Atlantic Ocean

Railroads• 1803 – first steam wagon used on

streets• 1812 – steam wagon adapted for rails• 1825 – George Stephenson made

railway locomotive commercially successsful– By 1829 widely used in England– In 1830 his locomotive, The Rocket,

traveled the Liverpool-Manchester Railway at 16mph

• Private companies quickly organized to build more rail lines

• Impact of Railroad– Greatly reduced cost of shipping freight

on land– Resulted in growing regional & national

markets spurring larger demand– Facilitated the growth

Great Britain 1850

• Produced 2/3 of world’s coal• Produced more than ½ or

world’s iron• Produced more than ½ of

world’s cotton cloth• GNP rose 350% between

1801-1850– Population increased from 9

million in 1780 to 21 million in 1851

• Per capita income increased almost 100% between 1801-1851

Continental Europe

• Began to industrialize after 1815

• Hindered by the Napoleonic Wars– Disrupted trade, reduced

consumer demand– Britain dominated world

markets during the wars– British technology too

advanced for most to understand

– Technology expensive– Shortage of workers

Europe begins catching up

• Avoided Britain’s mistakes• Industrialization differed in each

country after 1815– Belgium, Holland, France, & US began

to industrialize in 1820’s– Germany, Austria, & Italy in mid-19th

century• Britain unsuccessful in maintaining a

monopoly in technology– Until 1825 it was illegal for skilled

mechanics to leave– Until 1843 export of textile machinery

& equipment forbidden• Tariffs used to protect native

industries on the continent– 1834, the Zollverein was a German

tariff established to encourage investment in German industry

Social Implications of the Indust. Rev.

• Replaced the traditional social hierarchy with a new social order

• 19th century became the golden age of the middle class– Factory owners = the new

bourgeoisie• Proletariat wage earners– Factory workers = the

“proletariat”– Poor conditions for workers– Friederich Engels (1820-1895)

lashed out at the middle class • Middle class ruthlessly exploited the

proletariat• his ideas influence Karl Marx & later

socialists

Struggles between labor & capital

• For workers & ordinary families, the long-term impact of the Ind. Rev. was more positive than negative

• Until 1850, workers as a whole did not share in the general wealth

• Luddites – violent group of irate workers who blamed industrialism for threatening their jobs– Attacked factories &

destroyed machines

Union Movement

• Organized groups of workers to resist exploitation of the proletariat

• Robert Owen– in 1834, organized the Grand National

Consolidated Trades Union• Chartists

– Organized after Owen’s union collapse– Sought political democracy– Demanded all men have the right to vote– Sought to change what they saw as an

oppressive economic system• Unions campaigned for 10 hour days &

to permit duty-free imports of wheat into Britain (in response to the Corn Laws passed in 1815)

• Led to improved working conditions, better wages, and reduced work hours

Social Effects

• Urbanization– Largest population transfer

in history– Cities grew into industrial

centers• Reformers sought to

improve life in cities

• Working class injustices, gender exploitation & standard of living issues become the 19th century dilemmas

• Family structure & gender roles were altered

Population Catastrophes

• The I.R. may have stemmed human catastrophes resulting from population growth

• Overpopulation & rural poverty most severe in Ireland– Irish Potato Famine– No improvement in agriculture– Potato crop failures in 1845, 1846,

1848, & 1851– 1 million fled Ireland between 1845 &

1851– 1.5 million died

• Rapid population growth (as in Ireland) without industrialization may have led to similar results in other parts of Europe