The Industrial Revolution Begins 1750-1850

1. The Industrial Revolution Begins1750-1850 Chapter 7

2. Dawn of the Industrial Age Chapter 7 Section 1

3. For thousands of years following the rise of civilization, most people lived and worked in small farming villages. • A chain of events in the mid-1700s changed the way people live. Today, we call this period of change the Industrial Revolution. • It began in Great Britain. It was a long, slow process in which production shifted from simple hand tools to complex machines. New sources of power replaced human and animal power. Gradually it spread to North America, the rest of Europe, and around the globe.

4. A Turning Point in History • In 1750 most people worked the land, using handmade tools. • By the 1850s, many country villages had grown into industrial towns and cities. Stores offered a large variety of machine-made goods. • Travelers moved rapidly between countries and continents by train or steamship. Urgent messages flew along telegraph wires.

5. New inventions and scientific discoveries were made. Between 1830 and 1855 for example: • An American dentist used an anesthetic, or drug that prevents pain during surgery. • An American inventor patented the first sewing machine. • A French physicist measured the speed of light. • A Hungarian doctor introduced antiseptic methods to reduce women’s deaths during childbirth.

6. A new Agricultural Revolution • The first agricultural revolution took place about 11,000 years ago, when people learned to farm and domesticate animals. • About 300 years ago a second agricultural revolution took place, which greatly improved the quality and quantity of farm products. • The Industrial Revolution was made possible in part by the change in farming fields of Western Europe.

7. Improved Methods of Farming • The Dutch led the way in this new agricultural revolution. • They built earthen walls called dikes to reclaim land from the sea. • They combined smaller fields into larger ones. • They used fertilizer from livestock to renew the soil

8. In the 1700s, British farmers made further improvements: • Different kinds of soil were mixed to get higher crop yields. • Others tried out new methods of crop rotation. Lord Charles Townshend urge farmers to grow turnips, which restored exhausted soil. • Jethro Tull invented the seed drill, which deposited seeds in rows rather than scattering them wastefully over the land. • Educated farmers exchanged ideas by writing in farm journals. • King George, himself, was nicknamed FarmerGeorge.

9. The Enclosure Movement was the process of rich landowners taking over and fencing off land formerly shared by peasant farmers. • Farm output and profits increased because large fields required fewer workers. • Many farm labors were thrown out of work, and small farmers were forced off their land, because they could not compete with large landowners. • Jobless farm workers migrated to towns and cities. There they formed a growing labor force that would tend the machines of the Industrial Revolution.

10. The Population Explosion • The agricultural revolution contributed to a rapid growth of population that continues today. • Britain’s population soared from about 5 million in 1700 to almost 9 million in 1800. • The population of Europe shot up from roughly 120 million to about 190 million during the same time period.

11. The population boom of the 1700s was due to declining death rates than to rising birthrates. • The agricultural revolution reduced the risk of famine. • Because they ate better, women were healthier and had stronger babies. • In the 1800s better hygiene and sanitation, along with improved medical care, further slowed deaths from disease.

12. New Technology • We have seen how the changes in agriculture and population explosion helped lead to the Industrial Revolution. • A third factor that helped trigger the Industrial Revolution was the development of technology. • New sources of energy, along with new materials, enabled business owners to change the way work was done.

13. An Energy Revolution • From the beginning of human history, the energy for work was provided mostly by the muscles of humans and animals. • In time water mills and windmills were added to muscle power. • During the 1700s people began to harness new sources of energy.

14. In 1712, inventor Thomas Newcomen had developed a steam engine powered by coal to pump water out of mines. • About 1769, Scottish engineer James Watt improved the steam engine. • Watt’s engines would become a key power source of the Industrial Revolution.

15. Improved Iron • Coal was also a vital source of fuel in the production of iron, a material needed for construction of machines and steam engines. • In 1709, Abraham Darby used coal to smelt iron, or separate iron from its ore. Darby found a way to remove the impurities from coal that damaged iron. • Darby’s experiments led him to produce better-quality and less expensive iron. His son and grandson continued to improve his methods. Iron was used more and more, particularly after the world in building railroads.