Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

A period of greatly increased output of machine-made goods that began in England in the mid-1700s.

Enclosure

The process of wealthy landowners buying and fencing off village farms, leading to agricultural innovation and displacement of small farmers.

Crop Rotation

A farming method of alternating crops to maintain soil fertility.

Industrialization

The development of machine production of goods.

Factors of Production

Resources needed to produce goods and services, including land, labor, and capital.

Factory

A large building where machinery is used to manufacture goods.

Entrepreneur

A person who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business.

Urbanization

The growth of cities and the migration of people to urban areas.

Middle Class

A social class consisting of skilled workers, professionals, businesspeople, and wealthy farmers.

Stock

Shares of ownership in a company.

Corporation

A business owned by stockholders who share profits but are not personally liable for debts.

Laissez-Faire

The economic policy of allowing industry and business owners to set working conditions without government interference.

Capitalism

An economic system where the factors of production are privately owned, and profits are generated through investments.

Utilitarianism

A philosophy that evaluates ideas, institutions, and actions based on their utility, aiming for the greatest good for the greatest number.

Socialism

An economic system where the factors of production are owned by the public and operate for the welfare of all.

Communism

A form of complete socialism where all means of production are owned by the people, and private property does not exist.

Union

A voluntary labor association formed to advocate for worker reforms.

Strike

A refusal to work by union members as a form of protest.

Jethro Tull

Inventor of the seed drill, which revolutionized agriculture.

Robert Bakewell

Livestock breeder who improved methods to increase mutton output.

John Kay

Inventor of the flying shuttle, which sped up weaving.

James Hargreaves

Inventor of the spinning jenny.

Richard Arkwright

Inventor of the water frame.

Samuel Crompton

Inventor of the spinning mule.

Edmund Cartwright

Inventor of the power loom.

Eli Whitney

American inventor of the cotton gin, which revolutionized cotton processing.

James Watt

Improved the steam engine, making it more efficient.

Matthew Boulton

Entrepreneur who partnered with Watt to market the steam engine.

Robert Fulton

American inventor of the first successful steamboat.

John McAdam

Scottish engineer who improved road construction methods.

Richard Trevithick

English engineer who built a steam-driven locomotive.

George Stephenson

British engineer who built the first railroad line and the locomotive 'The Rocket.'

Samuel Slater

British mill worker who brought industrial technology to the U.S.

Francis Cabot Lowell

American industrialist who mechanized all stages of cloth production.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil, a major corporation.

Andrew Carnegie

Founder of Carnegie Steel Company, a leading industrial corporation.

William Cockerill

Lancashire carpenter who brought spinning machinery designs to Belgium.

Adam Smith

Economist and author of The Wealth of Nations, advocating for laissez-faire economics.

Thomas Malthus

Economist who argued that population growth would outpace food supply.

David Ricardo

Economist who theorized that wages would decrease with population growth.

Jeremy Bentham

Philosopher who introduced utilitarianism.

John Stuart Mill

Philosopher and economist who advocated for social reforms and more equitable wealth distribution.

Robert Owen

Factory owner and utopian reformer who improved working conditions and founded New Harmony.

Karl Marx

German philosopher and co-author of The Communist Manifesto, who introduced Marxism.

Friedrich Engels

Co-author of The Communist Manifesto and supporter of Marx.

William Wilberforce

British politician who led efforts to abolish slavery in the British Empire.

Jane Addams

American reformer who established settlement houses to assist the poor.

Horace Mann

American education reformer who advocated for free public schooling.