English Industrial Revolution storia

WHY “REVOLUTION”?  We can say it was a REVOLUTION because it CHANGED the life of people.

WHY IN ENGLAND?  The population increased  Large Empire  Strong economy  Inventions from 6 to 9 mln inhabitants

Population density

INNOVATIONS  A new steam engine was used in factories to give power to the machines expecially in TEXTILE INDUSTRY The most important innovations were  1763 James Watt developed a new steam engine.  1764 Invention of the “spinning Jenny”. It created a big change in textile industry.  1783 Steam powered cotton mill invented by Sir Richard Arkwright

James Watt STEAM ENGINE More durable and efficient BUT it needs:  Coal opened a lot of coal mines  Iron it was used to make machines, trains, ships  money Men, women and children went to work in factories because they need workers

CONSEQUENCES…  Machines to do the work of hand tools  Commerce and industry were closely related.  Growth of demand

…SO…  changes in production  Increased production of iron  Development of mining industry  Commerce development (import ed export)  Development of textile industry  technological innovations

Exports of manufactures of cotton ( in thousands of pounds)

Production of iron ore ( thousand tonnes)

Coal production

SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION come quickly new classes  MIDDLE CLASS (doctors, lawyers, factory owners, merchants) had a confortable life and became richer.

 WORKING CLASS (proletarians ): people from the countryside began to move into the towns, looking for a better paid work. Factory workers were paid very little and it was difficult to find a place to live in the city. Most families lived in a room (sometimes several families lived together) cold, dark and unhealthy. People (men, women and children) worked at least 12 hours a day from Monday to Saturday, some also worked on Sunday, in terrible conditions.

A NEW LANDSCAPE  Widening of roads and transport: Renewed the road network The rivers are made navigable canals, and many are built.  Concentration of industrial areas in the plains, near mines and roads  Begin to form the industrial cities high concentration of factories and overcrowded slums for the workers

Canals and roads in England at the end of XVIII century

the end