The Industrial Revolution

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Arnold Toynbee, late 19th century historian, coined the phrase (he had a religious view of history).
è“Dual Revolution: liberalism of the French Revolution combined with the Industrial Revolution
A. After 1815, these economic and political revolutions fused in the form of capitalism, liberalism, nationalism, and socialism throughout Europe.
B. This “Dual Revolution” has continued to unfold well into the 20th century.
Roots of the Industrial Revolution
Commercial Revolution (1500-1700)
rise in capitalism (laissez-faire): bourgeoisie at the forefront
chartered companies: state provided monopolies in certain area (BEIC, DEIC)
joint-stock companies: investors pooled resources for common purpose (forerunner of
modern corporation
stock markets: e.g., Bourse in Germany
mercantilism: economic self-sufficiency; “bullionism”
overseas colonization: esp. Atlantic economy
scientific revolution: new inventions and experimentation in better agricultural practices
rise in population: between 1750 & 1850 pop. nearly doubled to 266 million
Thomas Malthus: late 18th century economist who believed food supply could not keep up
with population growth (pop. growth exponential; food production increased geometrically)
England
è Reasons favorable to England: influence of Calvinism, good location of rivers, coal & iron,
strong Atlantic economy & navy, abundance of cheap laborers (due to enclosure?),
agricultural revolution, large amount of capital (e.g. Bank of England), inventive and
technologically skilled managers, stable gov’t supportive of industry,
Bubble Act repealed: again allowed for joint-stock companies
Lowes Act: allowed for limited liability
repeal of Navigation Act and Corn Laws
Inventions (due to growing worldwide demand for textiles)
1733, John Kay: flying shuttle
1764, James Hargreaves: spinning jenny
1769, Richard Arkwright: water frame--improved thread spinning.
1779, Samuel Crompton combines spinning-jenny & water frame into the mule.
1780s, Arkwright: steam engine to power looms; factory production of textiles.
1784, Edmund Cartwright (1753-1823) invents loom powered by horses, water, or steam.
1793, Eli Whitney, cotton gin
impact of new technology in textiles: cheaper, faster, & more profitable
coal
Thomas Savory,1698 & Thomas Newcomen,1705: steam pump rids mines of water seepage
1769, James Watt (1736-1819) invented and patented the first efficient steam engine.
è Industrial Revolution’s most fundamental advance in technology
heavy industry: manufacture of machinery and materials used in production
Henry Cort, in 1780s, developed puddling furnace: refined pig iron




Transportation Revolution:
Duke of Bridgewater: developed canal system (with use of steam power)
John McAdam (1756-1836): hard-surfaced roads
1785, James Rumsey (1743-1792): first steamship, went up the Potomac River
1807, Robert Fulton, Clermont: first useful steamship; went up the Hudson River
Railroad’s impact:
revolutionized travel overland; fast, cheap, and in any terrain
Growing regional and national market
1825, George Stephenson made railway locomotive commercially successful.
Britain’s economy by 1850:
1. Produced 2/3 of world’s coal.
2. Produced more than ½ of world’s iron.
3. Produced more than ½ of world’s cotton cloth.
4. GNP rose between 1801 and 1850 350%
· 100% growth between 1780 and 1800.
· Population increased from 9 million in 1780 to almost 21 million in 1851.
5. Per capita income increased almost 100% between 1801 and 1851.

Continental Europe industrializes after 1815
è Napoleonic Wars retarded growth of Continental economy until after 1815
borrowing (or stealing) of British technology
Industrialization differed in each country after 1815
Belgium, Holland, France, & U.S. began in 2nd decade of 19th century.
Samuel Slater: “father of the factory system” in the U.S.
Germany, Austria, and Italy in mid-19th century.
Germany eclipsed Britain by 1890s
Eastern Europe and Russia at end of 19th century.
Parts of Asia and Africa well into 20th century; it still continues.
Strong sovereign central governments and banking systems to promote native industry
Credit Mobilier in France: financed major industrial projects
Tariff policies used to protect native industries: Zollverein in Germany
Significance: increased production and availability of manufactured goods.














Social Implications from Industrial Revolution:
è New social order replaced traditional stratification (clergy, nobility and masses)
rise of the middle-class: bourgeoisie
new wage-earning class of factory workers
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895): lashed out at middle-class abuse of wage-earners
Luddites: attacked factories, broke machinery; believed factories taking their jobs
After 1850, industrial revolution more favorable to workers than negative.
struggle between labor and capital
union movement: workers began to organize to improve wages & working conditions Combination Acts (1799): Parliament fearful of radicalism of French Revolution
Made unions illegal; largely ignored by workers; repealed in 1824
Robert Owen (1771-1858): in 1834, Grand National Consolidated Trades Union
Movement failed; after 1851 unions moving toward craft unions
Chartists: sought political democracy for all men
Great Charter: put demands before Parliament
Failed initially but all demands eventually met by early 20th c.
è Union action combined with general prosperity and a developing social conscience, to
improve working conditions, wages, and hours first of skilled labor, and later of unskilled labor.

changes in working conditions
factory work: more discipline required; increased loss of personal freedom
exploitation of children
Factory Act of 1833: limited hours per day; prohibited children under age 9
Mines Act of 1842: prohibited all children under age 10 from working underground
è Urbanization of the world: Industrial Revolution’s most important sociological effect
è Working class injustices, gender exploitation and standard-of-living issues became the
19th century’s great social and political dilemmas
family structure: productive work taken out of the home to the factory
gender issues: women’s work now seen as less valuable; increasingly associated with
domestic duties.
Men separated from wives and children: leaving home to go work or working in
different factory
David Ricardo: “iron law” of wages -- argued that the high pressure of population would
cause wages to always be low.

Industrial Revolution may have prevented large-scale human tragedy like in Ireland
Irish Potato Famine: 1845-46, 1848, 1851
Historical debate on Industrial Revolution:
Capitalists view it as a positive step toward fulfilling human wants and needs
Socialists and communists view it as the further exploitation of the have-nots by the haves