The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

Definition

• The Industrial Revolution is the transition of states from primarily agrarian economies to industrial economies.
• Goods transitioned from being made by hand to being made by machines.

Significance

• Fundamentally changed the world's balance of political power.
• Reordered societies.
• Made industrial nations wealthy.

Beginning

• Started in Great Britain around 1750.

Factors Explaining the Start in Great Britain

1. Proximity to Waterways

• Great Britain was an island with rivers and canals.
• Enabled efficient transportation of manufactured goods to markets.

2. Geographical Distribution of Coal and Iron

• The first phase was powered by burning coal and Britain had a lot.
• Coal power enabled increased efficiency in iron production.
• Used iron to construct bridges, machines and railroads, contributing to rapid industrialization.

3. Abundant Access to Foreign Resources

• Britain had a massive maritime empire.
• Access to raw materials not present on their island.
• North American colonies provided timber.
• Exploited holdings in India for cotton.

4. Improved Agricultural Productivity

• Britain experienced an agricultural revolution, which increased the amount of food grown on farms.
• Improved methods of planting like crop rotation maintained soil fertility.
• New technologies like the seed drill planted seeds efficiently and accurately.
• New foods from the Columbian Exchange contributed.
• The potato was introduced to Europe from The Americas, diversifying diets and increasing life expectancy.
• Average British life expectancy increased from 37 to 41 years.
• Increase in lifespan led to a massive spike in population in Great Britain right on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.

5. Rapid Urbanization

• Farming became more mechanized and efficient, requiring fewer workers.
• Cities in Britain became hubs of industrial manufacturing needing labor.
• Led to rural to urban migration of people looking for jobs.
• Industrial cities grew rapidly.

6. Legal Protection of Private Property

• Britain passed laws protecting entrepreneurs who took risks to start and build new businesses in the manufacturing sector.
• Significantly contributed Britain's head start in industrialization because entrepreneurs felt safe enough risking the investment to start new businesses.

7. Accumulation of Capital

• Wealth gains through the Atlantic slave trade.
• Britain had well-to-do folks with excess capital.
• They were known as capitalists.
• They invested in startup industrial businesses that became the backbone of the industrial revolution.

The Factory System

• A factory was a place where goods for sale were mass produced by machines.
• The first iteration of the factory concentrated production in a single location and was powered by moving water, thanks to the invention of the water frame.
• In textile factories, this was connected to a machine called a spinning jenny, which operated looms that created textiles way faster than they could be by hand.
• A significant specialization of labor began to occur.
• Goods were made by artisans who had performed every step of their craft with hard learned skill.
• Now with machines making goods, workers were more like interchangeable cogs performing one action over and over again, and that meant they were easily replaced.