The Industrial Revolution

An Overview

Introduction

The Industrial Revolution (IR) impacted agriculture, production, transportation and communicationGoods were produced faster, became cheaper and could be shipped from place to place quicker than ever before

Changes in AgricultureMiddle Ages practice of common lands for livestock continued into the 17th centuryEnclosure movement- combining large tracks of land and fencing them off; often included the common landsThis movement made farming more efficient and lowered the price of food throughout Europe

Agriculture Revolution

Small Landowners Cannot Compete

The enclosure movement made it difficult to impossible for small landowners/farmers to competeThey could not afford the new farming machinery, charge such low prices, or have enough land to use crop rotation

Roots in England

Why England?Great factors of production: land (natural resources), capital and laborAlso had great waterways for both power and transportationPossession of overseas colonies –great marketsGovernment (Parliament) supported the economy and trade

Textile Production

Cotton textile major industry in Great Britain1st industry to mechanizeBefore machines, people worked out of their homesMachines too expensive and big to use in homesFactory system is createdFactories allowed more cloth to be produced, like food, now cheaper1st factories used water power

Telegraph

Water Wheel

Textile Mills

Danger in the Mills

Transportation

Transportation

Before the IR travel was similar to how it had been during the Middle Ages; bad, unpaved roadsMore good roads needed to get to market– also needed better transportation to get raw materials to the factoriesRoads became smoother and more resistant to weatherCanals helped connect waterways; faster than roads, but will be replaced by railroadsRailroads- can get places where there is no water

Steamboats

With the steam engine developed by James Watt, boats could now go both downstream and upstreamPopular method not only for shipping goods, but for travel as well, especially in America

Changes to Work

Before IR, work was personable; your boss knew you and the relationship was more like familyProduced the whole item, not just one part of it- gave prideFactories were large places and the boss made no attempt to know the workers; became facelessMachines required little skill or training; children and women can do this work

Work, cont.

Wages set by the employer- he wants to make most profit possible, so wages often lowMore workers than demand, so this drove down wagesMen earned more than womenFew opportunities for advancement

Rules & RegulationsStrict times for eating, breaks, arriving and leaving factoriesLong days- 14 hours, six days a weekLoud, dirty, and little ventilationDangerous machinesGet hurt? Can’t Work? Lose your job!Child labor –even as young as fiveWorst places: Mines – used children and women because they were small

Working in the Mines

Just Want to be a Kid!

Clean Air?

Living Conditions of Workers

Lived in tenements (apartment buildings)Small; crampedMany lived in one room unitsYet, even thought they lived in cramped quarters and worked long hours, workers standard of living increasedGoods were cheaper and easier to afford

Tenements

Life in an Industrial Town

Middle Class

Grew during the Industrial AgeBankers, manufacturers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, engineers and professorsLived and dressed differently than the working classGained power and influenceAble to pay for educationWomen stay home with their children; nurturing now important

Women

IR took working class women out of the home and placed them into factoriesPaid less than menSome remained domestic servants; usually paid less than factoriesMiddle Class women often had servants and stayed homeLater 1800s- acceptable for women to work as nurses, telegraph/telephone operators and as social workers

Education

1870s-1880s- public education spreadsCollege courses become open for women and a few women universities were establishedNeed for teachers increasedWomen began teaching

Patents of Inventions 1660-1780

Population Shifts

Great Exhibition 1851- Crystal Palace, London

The Great Exhibition of 1851, planned to promote Britain's industrial and imperial pre-eminence Designed to promote peace, free trade and class harmonyThis was the first world’s fair

Metropolitan Police Form

Established in 1829 by the Metropolitan Police ActBegan in London by the English Home Secretary, Robert Peel- overpopulated cities full of crime – fear of these “masses”Nicknamed “Peelers” and “Bobbies”Headquarter in Scotland yard until 1890, many feared a loss of rights

“Bobbies”

First Bobbies were often drunksOnly weapon was a truncheon (night stick)By the end of the 19th century, they became an effective, if not popular force

Conclusion

The IR was a true revolutionFactories increased the speed and quantity of goods producedPeople moved from the countryside to cities; over crowed and polluted – need for policeStandard of living increased, but only the Middle Classes had access to better jobs and education