Industrial Revolution

10.30.14

Dawn of the Industrial Age

• A turning point in history– The Industrial Revolution began

in Britain in the mid 1700s• A New Agricultural Revolution

– Several Factors triggered the Industrial Revolution:

• Improved methods of farming resulted in an increased food supply

• The enclosure movement– Taking over and fencing in land– Larger fields needed fewer workers

Dawn of the Industrial Age

• The increased food supply contributed to a rapid growth of population– The population boom provided a

growing labor force• New Technology

– People harnessed new sources of energy, like water and steam• Steam engines, powered by coal,

become the vital power source of the Industrial rev.

– Improved iron• Smelting process separates iron from

ore

Britain Leads the Way• Britain took an early lead in

industrialization because it had favorable:– Resources

• Large supply of coal and iron• A sufficient work force

– New technology

Britain Leads the way

• Economic conditions– Business class accumulated

capital

• Political and social conditions– Stable government– Strong Navy to protect

trade

Britain Leads the way

• Industrialization began in the textile industry– Remarkable inventions needed

power• Flying shuttle• Spinning Jenny• Water Frame

• The first factories– New machines were too large

and expensive to have at home– Built long sheds by rapid moving

streams

Britain Leads the way

• Revolution in transportation– New sources of energy– Combined with the need to

transport the growing supply of factory goods quickly and cheaply

– Including invention of• The steam locomotive• The steamboat

Hardships of Early Industrial life• The New Industrial City

– The Industrial Revolution brought rapid urbanization• Movement of people to cities

– Resulted in explosive growth of once quiet market towns• Into overcrowded tenements• Polluted industrial cities

– No sewage or sanitation system

Hardships of Early Industrial life• The Factory System

– Rigid discipline– Workers labored long hours– Backbreaking jobs– Unsafe conditions– Low pay– Child labor

Hardships of Early Industrial life• The working class

– Endured overcrowded, filthy living conditions

• Benefits & Problems– Created material benefits

• Including more jobs• Higher wages• Expanded opportunities

New Ways of Thinking

• Groups offered economic and social philosophies to deal with the problems of the industrial age

• Laissez-fair economists– Adam Smith– Malthus– Ricardo

New Ways of Thinking• Adam Smith- Wealth of Nations

– Free market economy– No government intervention– Supply & demand control economy

• Malthus- On Population– When economy is good people have more

kids creating an increase in population– Economy gets bad so people have fewer

children• Ricardo- On Wages

– Wages are high and families can afford to have more children

– Leads to a larger workforce– Larger workforce leads to lower wages

New Ways of Thinking

• Utilitarian– Goal of society should be

“the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers”

New Ways of Thinking• Emergence of socialism

– People as a whole rather than private individuals own and operate the means of production• Farms• Factories• Produce & distribute goods

– The Utopians• Self-sufficient communities• Work was shared & property owned in

common– Robert Owen

• Set up a Utopian community in New Lanark, Scotland

Scientific Socialism- of Karl Marx • Condemned the evils of industrial

capitalism• Urges radical changes in the way

the economy operated• Communism is a form of

socialism• Karl Marx promoted communism

– Wrote Communist Manifesto• A radical form of socialism that would

have a worldwide influence• Proletariat (working class)would rise up

and overthrow the government– History was a struggle between the

“Haves” and “Have Nots”