Chapter 9-3 Industrialization Spreads I) Industrial Development in the United States II) Industrialization Reaches Continental Europe III) Worldwide Impact of Industrialization

I) Industrial Development in the United States The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain soon spread to other countries that had similar conditions that made for rapid industrialization. Eager to keep the secrets of industrialization to itself, Britain had forbid engineers, mechanics, and toolmakers to leave the country. In 1789 however a young mill worker named Samuel Slater snuck out of Britain and designed a spinning machine from memory which was put in the 1st United states factory in Rhode Island.

I) Industrial Development in the United States In 1813 Francis Cabot Lowell and four other investors revolutionized the American textile industry by mechanizing every stage in the manufacturing of cloth. Thousands of young single female workers flocked from their rural homes to work as mill girls in factory towns, toiling 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. Despite a great deal of industrialization in the Northeast in the early 1800’s, the United states remained primarily a agricultural nation until the Civil War ended in 1865, when the country experienced a technological boom. As in Britain the US had a wealth of natural resources (oil, coal, iron), a burst of inventions (light bulb, telegraph) and a swelling urban population that consumed the manufactured goods. Railroads played a major role in America’s industrialization, and building large businesses like railroads required a great deal of money.

I) Industrial Development in the United States To raise the money entrepreneurs sold shares of stocks, and people who bought stock became part owners of the business. These businesses were called corporations, where stockholders share in the profits but are not personally responsible for its debt. Big business tried to control entire industries and made big profits by cutting the cost of production, such as Standard Oil (John Rockefeller) and Carnegie Steel Company (Andrew Carnegie). While workers earn small wages for long hours at hard labor, stockholders earned high profits and corporate leaders made fortunes. Profits

II) Industrialization Reaches Continental Europe While other European nations yearned to adopt the “British miracle”, they were absorbed by the French Revolution and Napoleon until the 18th century. Belgium led the way in adopting Britain’s new technology, as a Lancashire carpenter named William Cockerill smuggled secret plans for building spinning machinery out of England which helped his son John eventually build an enormous industrial enterprise in eastern Belgium. Although Germany was a politically divided empire, beginning around 1835 they began to copy the British model by importing equipment and engineers and sending children to England to learn industrial management.

II) Industrialization Reaches Continental Europe Most importantly Germany built railroads to link its growing manufacturing cities, and its growing industrial strength allowed it to develop into a military power by the 19th century. In France, industrial growth did not occur until after 1850 when the central government constructed railroads that created a thriving market foir new French products. Elsewhere in Europe industrialization proceeded by region rather than country, and in some nations the social structure or geography prevented them from industrializing.

III) Worldwide Impact of Industrialization The Industrial Revolution shifted the balance of power by promoting competition between industrialized nations and increasing poverty in less developed nations. To keep factories running and workers fed, industrialized nations required a steady supply pf raw materials from less developed land and in turn sold their manufactured products back to them. Soon industrialized Western nations, led by Britain, seized and exploited overseas colonies for their resources and markets.\

III) Worldwide Impact of Industrialization This policy of extended one country’s rule over many other lands, Imperialism, gave even more power to the wealthy nations. Industrialization gave Europe and the West tremendous power, especially since the economies of Asia and Africa were still based on agriculture. The industrialization that took place in the 18th and 19th centuries revolutionized every aspect of society, and despite the hardships the development of a middle class created great opportunities in education and improvements in daily life and health for the majority of the population.