Industrial Revolution Essay

Historical Significance of the Industrial Revolution.
An ancient Greek or Roman would have been just as comfortable in Europe in 1700 because daily life was not much different-agriculture and technology were not much changed in 2000+ years.
The Industrial Revolution changed human life drastically.
More was created in the last 250+ years than in the previous 2500+ years of known human history.
What was the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution was a fundamental change in the way goods were produced, from human labor to machines.
The more efficient means of production and subsequent higher levels of production triggered far-reaching changes to industrialized societies.
The Industrial Revolution.
Machines were incented which replaced human labor.
New energy sources were developed to power the new machinery-water, steam, electricity, oil (gas, kerosene)
Some historians place advanced in atomic solar, and wind energy at the later stage of the Industrial Revolution.
Increased use of metals and minerals.
Aluminum, coal, copper, iron, etc.
The Industrial Revolution
Transportation improved.
Ships
Wooden ships, Iron Ships, Steel ships, wind powered sails, steam powered boilers.
Trains
Automobiles
Communication improved
Telegraph
Telephone
Radio
Developments
Mass production of goods.
Increased numbers of goods.
Increased diversity of goods produced.
Development of factory system of production.
Rural-to-urban migration.
People left famers to work in cities.
Development of capitalism
Financial capital for continued industrial growth.
Development and growth of new socio-economic classes
Working class, bourgeoisie, and wealthy industrial class.
Commitment to research and development.
Investments in new technologies.
Industrial and governmental interest in promoting invention, the sciences, and overall industrial growth.
Background of the Industrial Revolution.
Commercial Revolution
15th, 16th, 17th centuries.
Europeans expanded their power worldwide.
Increased geographic knowledge.
Colonies in the Americas and Asia.
Increase trade and commerce.
Guild system could not meet the demands of increasing numbers goods.
Background of the Industrial Revolution.
Scientific Revolution
17th and 18th centuries.
Discoveries of Boyle, Lavoisier, Newton, etc.
Intellectual Revolution.
17th and 18th centuries.
Writings of Locke, Voltaire, etc.
Atmosphere of discovery and free intellectual inquiry.
Development of the Domestic System of Production.
Domestic system developed in England.
Late 1600s-late 1800s.
Domestic system of production- “putting out” system.
Business people delivered raw materials to workers homes.
Workers manufactured goods from these raw materials in their homes.
Factory System
Developed to replace the domestic system of production.
Faster method of production.
Workers concentrated in a set location.
Production anticipated demand.
For example: Under the domestic system a women might select fabric to make a dress.
Why the Industrial Revolution started in England…
1. Capital for investing in the means of production.
2. Colonies and Markets for manufactured goods.
3. Raw materials for production.
4. Workers
5. Merchant marine
6. Geography.
“Necessity Is the Mother of Invention”
Spinning machine
Need to speed up weaving
Power loom
Increased demand for raw cotton
Invention of cotton gin
Demands for iron
The Bessemer Process which created steel
The Textile Industry
Textiles- cloths or fabrics
First Industry to be industrialized
Great Britain learned a lot about textiles form India and China.
The Birth and Growth of the Textile Industry
John Kay (English)- Flying Shuttle 1733 (Hand operated machine which increases the speed of weaving)
James Hargreaves (English)—Spinning Jenny, 1765 (Home Based machine that spun thread 8 times faster than when spun by hand.)
Richard Arkwright (English)- Water Frame, 1769 (Water powered spinning machine that

Show More