1. The Industrial Revolution

2. References The 19th century: p. 3 (« The first industrial nation »)
p.7 (« Commodities and ownership »)
P. 56 (« Consumption and recreation »)

3. General outline I/ Factors of the industrial revolution
II/ Social impact
III/ Conflicting interests

4. Introduction Mid-18th to mid-19th century 1815 = mid-way mark
Before: machines increased productivity
After: machines to make other machines
1850: Britain = urban industrial country + for a few decades, no other country could compete

5. « No precedent in any country existed for the economic dominance of industries such as iron, steel and manufacturing, or for the extent of urbanization which accompanied them. »
(The Nineteenth Century, p. 3).

6. Factors of the industrial revolution

7. Outline Natural factors Political factors Economic factor
Technical improvements
Transports

8. Natural factors Geography Population Vast stores of coal and iron
Reliable streams (communication + machinery)
Population
Increase in population = more available workforce.
Rural exodus (enclosures)  labour force for the industry.

9. Political factors (1) Glorious Revolution (1688)
rise of a middle class with capital to invest.
End of guild regulations

10. Political factors (2)
Acts of Union (1707 with Scotland, 1801 with Ireland)
creation of a large tariff-free internal zone.

11. Economic factors (1) Empire mass market for British goods.
Expansion of retail trading
wider choice stimulated demand

12. Economic factors (2) Enclosures/rural exodus labour for industry
 Consumer market

13. Technical improvements
Coal replaced wood as the main fuel.
1764: cotton-spinning machine.
1781: Watt  engine capable of a turning motion (= no need for natural power).
1785: mechanical frame (weaving).

14. Transports Improved road system. Waterways and canals. Stage coaches.
1825: first railway line (Stockton-Darlington)
1840: steamers plied the Atlantic both ways.

15. Social impact

16. Outline New ‘feudal’ order Unemployment and violence
Rapid shift of population to towns & cities
New attitude to labour

17. New ‘feudal’ order
Social tensions caused by the Industrial Revolution  fear of a revolution on the French model
 Hard stance against workers (ex: Peterloo massacre, 1819)

18. Unemployment and violence
Labour-saving machines made workers redundant  outbreaks of machine breaking (18th century)
Early 19th century: Luddite riots in the textile industry
Hanging & transportation

19. Rapid shift of population to towns and cities
: Birmingham & Sheffield doubled in size
1815 to 1820: London added ¼ million to its population  inhabitants
1840s: most people were urban dwellers  housing problem / slums

20. New attitude to labour
Irregularity of work in the countryside VS continuous labour in factories.
Employer: labour as a factor of production.
Child labour
Depersonalisation of work.
Factories: concentration and division of labour.

21. Conflicting interests

22. Outline Within the ruling class
Between the ruling classes and the workers
Labour conflicts
Philantropy VS self-help

23. Within the ruling class (1)
Ex: Corn Laws
First rift between manufacturing and landed interests
Tories split over the issue of the repeal

24. Within the ruling class (2)
Transports
Dvt of train fiercely opposed by stagecoach and canal companies

25. Ruling class vs workers
Mine & mill owners keen on fast and cheap production
Threat of unemployment
Return to the land impossible

26. Labour conflicts (1) Early tactics = petitioning Parliament BUT
Parliament = representatives of industry and landed classes

27. Labour conflicts (2)
Workers’ ‘combinations’ were repressed by Parliament
Employers could take legal action against members of combinations / trade unions.

28. Philantropy vs self-help
Paternalistic approach to social distress
Robert Owen ( )
Lord Shaftesbury ( )
John Stuart Mill ( )
Self-help = individual

29. Conclusion: A culture of consumption
« A mass market in commodities of remarkable complexity developed, with advertisements stressing in detail the variety of choice available to the individual in a cheap form, whether of clothes, furniture, books, pictures, or any other of a myriad of products. Houses became showplaces of numerous objects, the walls cluttered with pictures and decorations, the furniture elaborately carved, the atmosphere made claustrophobic with the abundance of detail. » (The Nineteenth Century, p. 7)