1. The Industrial revolution

2. Why does it matter?
The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s affected society in much the same way as the technological revolution of the late 1900s. With bewildering speed, the Industrial Revolution changed the world from a society of farmers to a society dominated by manufacturers.
Changes were rapid and sweeping
All levels of society were affected

3. The Revolution Begins
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most Americans were farmers and most goods were produced by hand.
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the mid- 1700s with James Hargreaves invention of the Spinning Jenny, a machine that could spin several threads at once.

4. The Factory System
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most spinning and weaving took place in the home.
Large machines, however, had to be set up in large mills near rivers. Water flowing downstream or over a waterfall turned a wheel that produced the power to run the machines.

5. How did the factory system change the way goods were produced?
Setting up a spinning mill required large amounts of capital. Capitalists supplied this money, built factories, and hired workers to run the machines.
The new factory system brought workers and machinery together in one place to produce goods.
Factory workers earned daily or weekly wages and had to work a set number of hours each day.

6. Samuel Slater
Britain wanted to keep its new technology a secret. It did not want rival nations to copy the new machines.
Samuel Slater, a skilled mechanic in a British textile mill, heard that Americans were offering large rewards for the plans to British factories
He memorized the design of the machines in the mill and boarded a ship for New York City in 1789.

7. Slater’s Mill

8. Interchangeable Parts
Eli Whitney
Wanted to speed up the making of guns by having machines manufacture each part.
All machine-made parts would be alike
Interchangeable Parts saved time and money
Inventors began to design machines to produce interchangeable parts for clocks, locks, and many other goods. Small workshops grew into factories.

9. Lowell Mills
Built a mill in Massachusetts that had all the machines needed to turn raw cotton into finished cloth.
After his death, his partners built an entire factory town and named it after him.
1821 – village of five farm families
1836 – More than 10,000 people
Model community composed of small wooden houses, painted white, with green blinds, very neat, very snug, very nicely carpeted

10. Lowell Mills

11. Lowell Girls Young women from nearby farms
Worked for a few years in the mills before returning home to marry
Lived in boarding houses
Sent wages back home to their families
Many women valued the economic freedom

12. Lowell Girls

13. Life of Workers Child Labor Long Hours Changes in Home Life
Boys and girls as young as seven worked in factories (could squeeze around the large machines)
Child’s wages were needed to support the family
Long Hours
12 hours per day, 6 days per week
Changes in Home Life
More family members leave home to earn a living
Changed the role of women – in poorer families, women had to leave to work. In wealthier families, wives stayed home. This became a sign of success for a husband.

14. Urbanization
In 1800, most Americans lived in rural areas. During the Industrial Revolution, people left farms to work in factories.
The movement of the population from farms to cities is called urbanization.
Steady but gradual process
1800 – 6% of population in cities
1850 – 15% of population in cities
1920 – more people in cities than farms

15. Urbanization Hazards Attractions
Dirt and gravel streets turned into mudholes in rain
Cities had no sewers
People threw garbage in the streets
Disease spread easily – epidemics of influenza and cholera killed hundreds
Attractions
Theaters, museums, and circuses
Stores sold the latest fashions from Europe
“ready to wear” clothing