The Rise of Industry

How Did the Average European Live in 1750?

In 1750 … Worked as farmers using handmade tools Lived in one-room cottages in or around small villages Made their own clothes Grew their own food Only variety in goods was through occasional trade in the village Knew very little about the world outside their own village All travel was by foot or cart

How Did the Average European Live By 1850?

By 1850 … Worked in factories using machinery Lived in crowded multifamily apartment buildings in large towns or cities Bought all of their clothes Bought all of their food Had a variety of options in what they could buy from stores Knew a great deal about the outside world were able to travel rapidly by train or steamship

Agricultural Revolution New chemical fertilizers improved the quality of the soil and crop yield The seed drill (a machine which planted seeds in even rows) was invented Practiced new forms of crop rotation and discovered which crops replenish nutrients in the soil the fastest (if you’re curious, it’s turnips)

Agricultural Revolution Small farms disappeared as they were bought up by wealthier landowners to create more efficient large farms – this increased farm output and profitability – it also left a lot of peasant farmers homeless and jobless; they were left with no choice but to move into the cities

Population Growth More efficient farms → more food → more people – Population of England grew from 5 million in 1700 to 9 million in 1800 – Grew mostly from people living longer; no longer had to worry about starving to death or being weak from malnutrition

New Technologies Began to burn coal to produce energy Invention of steam powered engine, which would power ships and trains, by James Watt Learned how to make higher quality metals, specifically iron

Transportation Improvements Built new roads, canals, better bridges and harbors Railroads invented around 1830; thousands of miles of tracks quickly laid Began to replace sailing vessels with steamships

Industrial Revolution Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain? – Had lots of coal and iron deposits – Had lots of workers available to work in the mines and factories – Had the many mechanics and engineers necessary for developing new inventions – Had many people who had grown wealthy from overseas trade that were looking for investments – Had a stable government that supported economic growth

The Textile Industry Textiles are cloth goods Had been produced using the “putting-out” system since about 1600: – raw cotton was distributed to peasant families who spun it into thread and then wove the thread into cloth – the cloth was then sent into towns where skilled artisans finished and dyed the cloth, making it ready for use – this process was SLOW, produced INCONSISTENT quality, and was EXPENSIVE!

The Textile Industry In the mid-1700s, inventors came up with a variety of machines to perform the spinning, weaving, finishing, and dying processes – this made the process of making cloth much faster and cheaper – the machines were large and heavy, however, and had to be housed in factories – rather than sending the work out to the workers, the workers now had to come to the work

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain Began in 1780s (not complete until 1830 at the earliest) – Had no impact on continental Europe until after the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815)

Why Britain? Land and geography – Geographic isolation from the Continent offered protection and separation from many of the continental wars

Why Britain? Good supply of coal and iron – Wales and Northern England important sources – Foreign assistance not required

Why Britain? Waterways offered a source of alternate power for factories and navigable transport for trade and communication. – No part of England was more than 20 miles from navigable water. – Much cheaper to ship goods by water than by land.

Why Britain? Industrial Revolution grew out of England's expanding role in the Atlantic economy of the 18 th century. – The growth of the Royal Navy and the development of ports provided protection from foreign invasion and later aided Britain's commercial empire.

Why Britain? Agricultural Revolution – Supply of cheap and abundant labor emerged as the enclosure movement forced many landless farmers to move to towns and cities – The revolution in agriculture made it possible for fewer farmers to feed larger numbers of people. British population doubled in the 18 th century. Demand for goods within the country increased

Why Britain? More people were freed up to work in factories (the industrial proletariat) or in the distribution of other goods and services People were free to move around in search of land or other forms of employment. – Rural wage earners were relatively mobile – Feudalism was reduced significantly and serfdom had long since been abolished

Why Britain? Large supplies of capital were available due to over two centuries of profitable commercial activity – England avoided many costly continental wars – British merchants and gentry had had prospered during the numerous wars on the continent. – Establishment by the gov't of the Bank of England in the central bank – Insurance companies, like Lloyd's of London, provided some degree protection from commercial failure.

Why Britain? Entrepreneurs – Class of inventive highly- motivated people who possessed technological skill and were willing to take risks. – Many young men from the gentry undertook careers in business. Members of the middle class could rise into the nobility from the wealth created in business. – Calvinists in the middle class were driven by the "Protestant work ethic"

Why Britain? Colonial Empire – Gave Britain access to raw materials needed for development of many industries. – Growing market for English goods occurred in its colonies, buttressed by the African slave trade.

Why Britain? Role of government – Gov't was sympathetic to industrial development and well-established financial institutions were ready to make loans available. – Limited monarchy meant that gov't did not stifle the growth and expansion of the middle class as was the case in French and Russian societies.

Why Britain? Stable government – Successful outcome of wars did not leave England devastated (as was the case with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe) – Rise of the House of Commons became an instrument of the middle class to gain gov't cooperation and secured middle class loyalty. In contrast, the French middle classes had led revolutionary movements.

Why Britain? Parliamentary legislation was favorable towards growth of industry. – Bubble Act repealed which again allowed for the creation of joint stock companies. – Lowes Act: Allowed for limited liability for business owners – Repeal of the Navigation Acts and the Corn Laws decreased mercantilism's stifling effect in certain industries