Industrial Rev History 9 Study Guide

Study Guide: The Industrial Revolution

I. Causes of the Industrial Revolution

1. Agrarian Revolution

• Enclosure Movement: Wealthy landowners combined small fields → efficient farming but displaced poor farmers

• Crop Rotation: Alternated crops to maintain soil fertility

2. Population Growth

• Increased food supply → population boom

• Displaced farmers moved to cities for work

3. Energy Revolution

• Shift from human/animal labor to coal/steam power

• James Watt improved the steam engine (1769) → powered factories

Why Britain First?

• Natural Resources: Coal, iron, rivers, harbors

• Colonial Empire: Raw materials + markets for goods

• Stable Government: Supported business; strong navy protected trade

• Factors of Production: Land, labor, capital (investment funds)

II. Key Inventions & Industries

Textile Industry

• Factories: Built near water sources to power machines

• Mass Production:

  • Interchangeable parts + assembly lines → faster, cheaper goods

Transportation

• Steam Locomotives (George Stephenson) → connected industries

• Steamboats (Robert Fulton, 1807) → faster river/sea travel

III. Effects of Industrialization

Urbanization

• Rapid city growth → overcrowding, pollution, disease

• Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Described filthy industrial cities

Working Conditions

• 12–16 hour days, low wages, dangerous machines

• Child Labor: Small size exploited in mines/factories

• Women: Paid less than men; middle-class women saw limited progress

New Social Classes

1. Upper Class: Factory owners

2. Middle Class: Doctors, lawyers, teachers

3. Working Class: Factory laborers (poor living conditions)

IV. Economic & Political Responses

Capitalism (Laissez-Faire)

• Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations (1776)

• "Invisible hand" of supply/demand → economic growth

• No government interference in business

Socialism

• Public Ownership: Factories/resources owned by society

• Utopian Socialism: Robert Owen’s self-sufficient communities

Communism

• Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels: Communist Manifesto (1848)

• Class struggle (bourgeoisie vs. proletariat) → workers’ revolution

• Goal: Classless society (e.g., 1917 Russian Revolution)

V. Study Tips

• Match inventions to inventors (e.g., Spinning Jenny → Hargreaves)

• Compare economic systems: Capitalism vs. Socialism vs. Communism

• Analyze quotes (e.g., Dickens on urbanization)

• Timeline practice: Trace Britain’s industrialization → global spread

Key Terms:

• Industrialization: Shift to machine-based production

• Urbanization: Rural-to-city migration

• Proletariat: Working class

• Bourgeoisie: Factory-owning class

Visual Aids:

• Map of British railroads (Page 36)

• Factory conditions (Page 43)