1. The Industrial Revolution

2. It Begins Prior to 1800, America had a mainly Agrarian economy
Most people made things by hand
There was very little mass production
Even immediately after the Industrial Revolution, most Americans were still farmers
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the late 1700’s

3. What Was It?
The Industrial revolution was a shift in the way things were produced
Took advantage of new technologies and sources of power
Steam and water replaced human and animal power
Transformed the textile industry
The Spinning Jenny was a machine that allowed several threads to be spun at once
Greatly sped up garment production

4. The Factory System
Prior to the revolution, artisans hand made goods from their homes or small shops
To utilize new, larger machines, larger buildings were created
Eventually, very large factories housing many machines were created
Capitalists invested in businesses in order to build these large factories
Workers were now being paid weekly wages instead of earning money for selling each item
This mass production allowed items to be made very inexpensively
Made it nearly impossible to be a successful artisan

5. The Revolution Comes To America
Great Britain initially wanted to keep this new system a secret
Didn’t want other countries to benefit
Parliament passed a law forbidding anyone to take plans for the machines out of the country
Samuel Slater memorized the design and took it to America in 1789 in order to gain a large reward
Helped create a water powered mill in Rhode Island

6. Interchangeable Parts
Because goods were made individually by hand, if it broke, a gunsmith had to painstakingly hand craft a replacement part
Eli Whitney created a plan to machine manufacture each part so that they would all be the same
This way, replacement parts would be easily available
He sold his idea to the Government since they used many guns
This revolutionary idea of interchangeable parts spread quickly

7. Lowell Mills
In Great Britain, one mill spun the thread and a second mill wove it into cloth
Francis Cabot Lowell combined this process into one mill in Massachusetts
From raw cotton to finished cloth under one roof
Young women were hired to work in these mills
Became known as Lowell Girls
Work was difficult, but women tended to value the economic freedom it provided
Often they sent their earning home to their families

8. Life After The Industrial Revolution
Child Labor
Boys and girls as young as 7 worked in factories
Useful in textile mills as they could fit in small spaces to change spindles
Children also worked on farms, so this was really nothing new
Children’s wages were often needed to support their families
No child labor laws
Very few labor laws and no real unions to protect workers

9. Continued Long Hours Women took more of an active role in the family
The typical work day lasted hours a day and the typical week was 6 days long
As competition grew, conditions in the factories deteriorated
Employers took less of an interest in working conditions
Women took more of an active role in the family
Some women worked outside the home but many ran the home as their husbands were away for much of the time

10. Urbanization People tended to flock to factory towns in search of work
This led to the growth of American Cities
We call the move from rural areas to cities Urbanization
In 1800, 6% lived in urban areas
By 1850, it was 15%
By 1920, the number was over 50%
Cities at the time were not clean places
Pollution, pot holes, disease
Cities did have major attractions
Museums, theaters, circuses, many shops and diverse goods