Industrial Revolution Vocabulary

Capital

money available for investment

Entrepreneur

a person who finds new business opportunities and new ways to make profits

Cottage Industry

a method of production in which tasks are done by individuals in their rural homes

Factory System

A system of production where goods are manufactured by machines

Textiles

a type of cloth or woven fabric

Enclosure movement

a period of time when land that was communally owned was taken and fenced in to make it privately owned

Puddling

the process in which coke derived from coal is used to burn away impurities in crude iron to produce high quality iron

Industrial Capitalism

an economic system based on industrial production or manufacturing

Assembly Line

pioneered by Henry Ford in 1913, a manufacturing method that allowed much more efficient mass production of goods

Mass Production

production of goods in quantity usually by machinery

Bessemer Process

a method developed for producing steel by removing impurities from iron through a process of blowing air through molten iron

Bourgeoisie

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people

Communism

an economic and political system promoting shared ownership of resources and equality, eliminating private property

Egalitarian

a philosophy that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities

Proletariat

the working class, especially factory workers, who coped with harsh conditions during the Industrial Revolution

Socialism

an economic system where the government or community collectively owns and controls key industries to promote equality

Free Enterprise

an economic system where individuals and businesses compete with limited government interference

Tenements

overcrowded, unsanitary, and poorly built (unsafe) apartment buildings where working-class families lived

Revisionist

a Marxist who rejected the revolutionary approach, believing instead in evolution by democratic means to achieve the goal of socialism

Feminism

the movement for women’s rights

Suffrage

the right to vote