Methodists and Machines English Social and Intellectual History,

Gregory King’s Census 1696—Secretary to the Commissioners of Public Accounts Life expectancy was 35 Nuclear family was norm—long before Industrial Revolution 1,360,586 families—5,500,520 persons Top 3.5% of all families controlled 25% of income

Transformation in England Population grew to 7.1 million in 1780, but more than doubled by 1851 to nearly 17 million Improvements in hygiene, the agricultural revolution, and industrial revolution explain much of this growth England also evolved in its social norms—read morally—and much of this was a function of Methodism and allied assumptions.

Hygiene Inoculation against small pox—Dr. Edward Jenner (1790s); other epidemic diseases seemed less virulent too. Soap Potato

Agricultural Revolution Elizabethan Enclosure and redistribution of land in 1640s and 1650s increased productivity. Jethro Tull ( ) advocated deep plowing and invented the seed drill. Charles Townshend ( ) advocated use of legumes and crop rotation to enhance soil fertility. Robert Bakewell ( ) used selective breeding to enhance healthier cattle. Arthur Young ( ) advocated and publicized better agricultural techniques; one source of pro-male bias in English farming families.

Jethro Tull

Industrial Revolution Good natural resources and, with turnpike trusts in 1730s, 40s, and 50s, better transportation. Entrepreneurial Culture Need for coal and clothing drove process Coal production soared—3 million tons in 1700; 25 million tons in Made possible by steam powered pumps to get water out of the mines. Clothing—Flying shuttle (1733) John Kay; Mule (1762) Samuel Crompton; Waterframe (1785) Richard Arkwright. Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin (1793) created raw cotton surplus: 8 million pounds raw cotton in 1770s into Britain; 250 million pounds in 1830

Water Frame

James Watt ( ) and Steam Engine Improved Atmospheric Engine of Savery and Newcomen by adding separate condenser for steam. Perfected flywheel Made double reciprocating engine: steam drives piston in both directions 1000 steam engines in England in 1800

Watt’s Steam Engine

Industrial Revolution’s Impact Growth of large factory towns like Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool Division of Labor, both according to task and increasingly of gender Material quality of life increased among workers as did alienation

Meddling Methodists John Wesley ( ) challenged Calvinism and brought evangelical revivals to England. 1795—Society of Methodists broke with Church of England Very socially conservative, Methodism challenged idea that well-born and governing classes were superior to ordinary rabble. Methodists introduced Sunday Schools and dicta: “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Only 80,000 Methodists in 1790—numbers grew to low millions by 1840.

Other Reform Movements Driven by Enlightenment Humanitarianism and Methodism John Howard ( )—Prison Reform William Wilberforce ( )—slave trade; Somersset case in 1772; 1807 slave trade abolished; 1833 slavery abolished in Empire. Growing concern about Child Labor and desire for political reform

William Wilberforce