Industrial Revolution

Agricultural Revolution

The Agricultural Revolution (mid-1600s–1700s) was a period of major farming innovation in Britain that increased food production and efficiency, reducing rural labor needs and allowing population growth and urban migration.

Four Crop Field Rotation

A farming method that replaced the medieval three-field system using wheat, turnips, barley, and clover. It restored soil nutrients, eliminated fallow fields, and increased productivity; popularized by Charles “Turnip” Townshend.

Cottage Industry

Also known as the putting-out system; small-scale production of goods in homes before factories. Merchants provided raw materials, and families produced textiles or goods by hand.

Shift from and impact on family

As factories replaced home production, families lost control over work hours, moved to cities, and faced harsh factory conditions. Traditional family roles changed as men, women, and children all worked outside the home.

Population Growth - Causes

Increased food supply from the Agricultural Revolution, better hygiene, improved medicine, fewer famines, and earlier marriages caused Europe’s population to rise dramatically.

Population Growth - Consequences

Larger labor force, urbanization, crowded cities, increased demand for goods and housing, and strain on sanitation and health systems.

Capital

Wealth or assets used to produce more wealth. Britain’s capital from trade, banking, and colonies funded new inventions and industrial expansion.

Importance of Colonies

Britain’s colonies supplied cheap raw materials and served as markets for manufactured goods, fueling profits and industrial growth.

Natural Resources - Coal

The key fuel of the Industrial Revolution; powered steam engines, heated iron, and drove trains and ships. Britain’s abundant coal deposits near waterways lowered costs and encouraged growth.

Natural Resources - Iron

Essential for machines, railways, and tools. Innovations in smelting with coke made iron stronger and cheaper to produce.

Markets

Growing domestic and overseas markets created high demand for goods, encouraging mass production and economic expansion.

Political Stability

Britain’s stable government, property rights, strong navy, and avoidance of major internal wars encouraged investment and industrialization.

Spinning Jenny

Invented by James Hargreaves in 1764; allowed one worker to spin multiple threads at once, vastly increasing textile production and speeding up factory growth.

Steam Engine & James Watt

James Watt improved the Newcomen steam engine in the 1770s, making it more efficient and adaptable for factories, locomotives, and ships.

Steam Engine - Consequences

Factories could move away from rivers, industries expanded rapidly, coal mining increased, transportation improved, and pollution rose.

Factories

Large buildings where machinery and workers produced goods under one roof, marking the shift from craftsmanship to mass production.

Factory Conditions

Long hours (12–16 per day), low wages, unsafe machinery, poor air quality, and overcrowded, unsanitary environments.

Child Labor

Children worked long hours for low pay in factories and mines due to family need and employer preference for small, obedient workers. Later restricted by reform laws.

Manufactured Goods

Mass-produced factory-made items such as textiles, tools, and machines. Cheaper and more uniform than handmade goods, making products more accessible.

Waves of Industrialization

Refers to stages of industrial growth: first in Britain (textiles, steam, coal), later spreading to Europe, the U.S., and Japan (steel, electricity, chemicals).

Waves of Industrialization - Impact Today

Shaped global capitalism, urbanization, technology, and social inequality; its environmental and economic effects persist.

Waves of Industrialization - Growth of England vs. Europe

Britain industrialized first due to capital, resources, and stability; Europe lagged due to wars and fragmentation but caught up by the late 1800s.

Child Labor (Reform Emphasis)

Widespread during early industrialization; children worked in mines and factories. Eventually sparked reform movements and laws limiting child labor.

Railroads

Railroads revolutionized transport and trade by linking mines, factories, and cities, boosting industrial expansion.

Railroads - Consequences

Faster trade and travel, lower costs, urban growth, demand for coal and iron, and spread of industrialization beyond local regions.

Capitalism

An economic system where private individuals own production and seek profit. Dominant during and after the Industrial Revolution.

Supply and Demand

Prices and production depend on how much of a product is available and how much people want it. High demand with low supply raises prices, and vice versa.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776); argued that free markets and self-interest (the “invisible hand”) lead to economic prosperity.

Laissez-Faire

French for “let do”; the idea that government should not interfere with business or the economy. Encouraged industrial growth but also exploitation.

Free Market Economies

Economies where competition determines prices and production instead of government control.

Free Market Economies - Advantages

Encourages innovation, efficiency, and consumer choice; promotes economic growth and wealth creation.

Free Market Economies - Disadvantages

Leads to inequality, worker exploitation, environmental harm, and boom-bust economic cycles.

Free Market Economies - Criticisms

Social reformers argued capitalism favored the rich, caused class divisions, and ignored worker welfare.

Government Managed or Planned Economies

Economic systems where the government controls production and distribution to promote equality (e.g., socialism or communism).

Specialization of Labor

Division of work into specific tasks to increase efficiency. Workers became skilled in one task but lost independence and variety.

Bourgeoisie (Business Class)

The wealthy middle class of industrial society—factory owners, merchants, and financiers who gained power through industry.

Proletariat (Industrial Working Class)

Factory and mine workers who sold their labor for wages and owned no property; their hardships led to socialist and labor movements.

Luddites

Skilled British workers in the 1810s who destroyed industrial machines, protesting job loss and poor conditions caused by mechanization.