The Industrial Revolution

1. The Industrial Revolution -Key Concepts-

2. I. The “Other Half” of the “Dual Revolution” • A revolution recognized by 1820 • Changes occurred rather suddenly • Changes in the workplace • In 1860, Britain produced 20% of the entire world’s output of industrial goods • Two “caveats” --scope of the revolution --impact of the revolution

3. II. The Essential Nature of the Industrial Revolution • Dates vary according to nation • 18th century origins --expanding Atlantic economy --flourishing English agriculture --effective central bank and credit system --stable and predictable government --mobile rural wage earners

4. II. The Essential Nature of the Industrial Revolution (cont) • Fundamental nature = adaptation and change • Continuous nature of adaptation—a “permanent” revolution • Impact of the industrial revolution • Beginnings in Great Britain • Pre-industrial cottage industry

5. III. A Case Study: Cotton Manufacturing in Manchester • Great location • By-product of overseas trade --1 million bags of cotton imported into Liverpool in 1825 • Tremendous opportunity • New Technology

6. James Hargreaves’ “Spinning Jenny” (1765)

7. Richard Arkwright’s Water Frame (1769)

8. James Watt’s Steam Engine (1790’s)

9. Significance of the Steam Engine • Requires a specialized facility for its use near a ready source of coal • Changed the location of factories, freeing the factory to be located in the most economical location

10. IV. Economic Explosion Mixed with Fear • Availability of cotton clothing to all • Temporary bottleneck means higher wages for British weavers --Edmund Cartwright’s power loom (1785) • The cityscape of Manchester was dramatically transformed by 1800 • New machines and factories were both fascinating and horrifying

11. The “Crowning” Invention: The Railroad • The world’s first railway line ran from Manchester to Liverpool • The first locomotive = The “Rocket” (1830) • Revolution in land transportation = dropping prices • Laborers shift to the city and factories • Cultural changes produced • A “feedback” mechanism

12. VI. The Invention of a Free Market • Transportation advances broke down traditional local markets • Significance of economic freedom --abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 • A free market in labor • The main goal = profit • Praise for the free market • Criticism: A sense of destruction and alienation

13. VII. The Industrial Revolution on the Continent • Industrialize in a different pattern than Britain • Later industrialization as you move east • Entered industrialization at an advanced stage • Railroads and banks were instrumental • “State-managed capitalism” --Friedrich List’s Zollverein

14. VII. Continental Industrialization (cont) • Delayed industrialization was more explosive • Process of industrialization is far from automatic --Competition from cheap British goods --Complicated technology --Expensive technology --Shortage of laborers --Authorities suspicious at first

15. VIII. The New Working Class • Who were they? • A group with genuine hesitation --initial reluctance --incomplete conversion • The significance of kinship ties • Slow evolution in some kinds of manufacturing employment

16. VIII. The New Working Class (cont) • Early attempts to organize workers --Combination Acts, 1799 --1834 attempt at a national labor union by Robert Owen --Chartist movement, 1830’s and 1840’s

17. VIII. The New Working Class (cont) • Working conditions --long hours --unbroken routine -- “Separate Spheres” for married and single women • Labor Discipline --fines --low wages --Thomas Malthus --David Ricardo and the “Iron Law of Wages”

18. VIII. The New Working Class (cont) • Bells • “Speed up and stretch out” • Employment of women and children • Subcontracting • Subjected to real danger • The notion of “hands”

19. IX. Living Conditions in New Factory Cities • The symbolism of the “East End” • Enormous population shifts • Problems of disease, alcoholism and crime • Occupied “row houses” near factories • No rise in “real” wages until after 1850 • Middle-class reform efforts --leads to vote for women

20. X. A “Divided City” • “West End” = winners of the industrial revolution • “East End” = losers of the industrial revolution • Urban geography displayed the extremes of industrial capitalism

21. XI. Symbol of Industrial Success: The Crystal Palace • The Great London Exhibition of 1851 • Intended to show off the industrial might of Great Britain • The need for a special building to house the exhibition --Joseph Paxton • Construction problems: light and speed • The answer: a “machine building”

22. XI. The “Crystal Palace” (cont) • “Softening” the industrial design • The popularity of the exhibition • A variety of exhibits --Grandest spectacle was the Machinery Court • The significance of “period revivalism” used for the exhibits

23. XI. The “Crystal Palace” (cont) • The Crystal Palace as a vision of the future—a “haunting modern dream” • Its transparency symbolized a sense of limitlessness—no boundaries • Became the basis for modern architecture • Ambivalence for a controlled, orderly world