Industrial Revolution Study Guide

Industrial Revolution Study Guide

1. Which power replaced water power?- Factory owners replaced water power with the revolutionary new steam power. This was greatly due to James Watt's improvement on the Newcomen steam engine, used for powering pumps that removed water from deep mine shafts. Starting in 1765, Mathew Boulton and Watt went into business together to produce and improve more upon thier design, trying to complete a steam powered engine that was mobile and versitile enough to work in the factories. By 1800, Watt became a very wealthy man making more than 500 individually crafted steam powered engines for factories.
2. Markings of the development/beginnings of the I.R.-most likely, The Industrial Revolution was a result of many different social elements, such as the Agricultural Revolution coming closely behind so there was a rapid period of advancements in farming technology.  People as a result were geared toward progress and making everyday tasks easier to excell in.  Enclosure occoured during the early to mid 1700's and before when land owners of great wealth and power began to look for ways to improve and expand thier harvest, on the land they bought out from the less wealthy farmers.  They would keep exact records of the harvests and archive the methods of which they used.  They then would exchange ideas with the other prominent farmers to try and reach common ground and look into methods they havent tried yet to see if they were effective.  Soon many inventors such as Jethro Tull began designing various machines to improve and expand farming, in which the Industrial Revolution began.
3. Britain’s population in the 1700’s-Europe's population increased by a little less than 50% in 100 years after 1750.  this is deemed as incredible considering it had taken four times as long for that to happen before.
4. Conditions that favored Britain in the I.R.-Great Britain had many conditions that favored it in the Industrial Revolution. To start with, it had an abundance of the three natural resources that the I.R. depended upon. Two of which were waterpower and coal, the two main suppliers of energy, and the last of which was iron ore, used for machines, tools, and buildings. Aside from that, Britain also had a favorable geography, many fine harbors and more than 6,000 ships to sail from them, to almost all parts of the world to trade and to access raw materials and markets. This in turn gave Britain a wealthy class of shipowners and merchants who had plenty of money to spare for various new projects at home. Also, Britain had plenty of people that were interested in science and technology, some of which were business people, some inventors themselves, who were willing to invest in the manufacture of new inventions. Britain seemed to be blessed with a superior banking system as well. By the 1700’s Britain had the most highly developed banking system in Europe. The main service of these banks was making loans. By lending the money at reasonable interest rates, the banks encouraged people to buy better machines, build new factories, etc. . In addition, there were no wars fought on British soil during the 1700’s, which made it possible for British businessmen not to have to worry about a army coming along and destroying their property. Last, Merchants and businessmen had considerable influence in Parliament, which made it so the government supported laws that encouraged new investment both and home, and in all other areas.
5. Textiles-Britain's major export since the early Middle Ages was raw wool and wool cloth. They were all produced produced by spinners and weavers who worked in their own homes, using spinning wheels and hand looms. British clothmakers also produced Linen, and Cotton, which was more durable and easier to care for than linen. Working by hand, spinners and weavers could not meet the demand for cloth, especially for cotton. This caused the price of cotton to remain relatively high. The cloth merchants soon saw that they could make more money if they could find a way to speed up the work of spinning and weaving. Thus the beginning of inventions like the powerloom and the cotton gin.   Pioneers of that field were people like Eli Whitney.
6. Richard Arkwright- Inventor of the water-frame, which revolutionized textile production, and drastically the rate at which they could be produced. Until the introduction of the water-frame, all of the machines had all been hand operated. However, this would all soon change. The water-frame was the first textile machine to use water power. It took the water current in a river, and puched a wheel, turning gears to power the machinery inside. Due to it’s size, it also changed the location of where, and who by the textiles were made. Spinning and weaving slowly stopped being done by families inside homes, and started being done by machines in factories run by merchants.
7. Purpose of the cotton gin-One of the most tedious and time-consuming jobs on the cotton plantation was taking the seeds out of the raw cotton. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made it possible for slaves to pick and clean ten times the amount of cotton daily. Which caused prices of cotton to decrease, but it didn't matter because due to the cotton gin, a dramatic increase of 9,000 bales of U.S. cotton in 1791 to 987,000 in 1831.
8. Advantages of the steam engine- Up until the 1770’s, when Watt improved the steam engine, factories ran almost exclusively on water power, which had many limitations, the greatest of which was location. If one wanted thier factory to be prosperous, one built it on stream, preferrably with fast rushing water.  But with the steam engine, you didn't have to build your factory near water, you could build your factory near the raw materials you need, thus taking the cost of importing raw materials away, the steam engine helped location through locomotives too, for you could move the product virtually anywhere.
9. Results of the revolution in producing cotton textiles-The amount of cotton cloth from British factories rose from 40 million yards in 1785 to more than 2 billion yards in 1850, due mostly to ongoing technological advancements.
10. Railroads and their effects-The invention of the locomotive had four main effects. The first was that railroads encouraged further industrial growth by giving manufacturers a fast, and inexpensive way to transport. Entrepreneurs could now build their factories in almost anywhere in Britain. Wherever there were tracks trains were now delivering all kinds of goods. The second is that the railroad provided tons of new jobs. It offered positions in everything from leveling hills to building bridges, and even boosted the coal and iron industries, due to the great amount of both resources that the railroad consumed. Third, the railroads gave new hope for agriculture, and fresh produce (sometimes even from halfway across the country) was made available daily. And fourth the railroads changed both the cost of, and the attitude about travel. Up until the locamotive was made publicaly available for travel, travel was only done when absolutely neccesary. Now that it was cheaper and quicker, people visited family and friends more often, and some were even convinced to go on vacation.
11. Why the I.R. was slow to spread to other countries-The Industrial Revolution stayed strictly within Britain for many years, mostly because Britain wanted to keep the secrets to it’s industrialization to itself. Until 1825, Britain forbade by law, for any engineers, mechanics, or toolmakers to leave the country. However, many of these British artisans, like Samuel Slater, found their way to other countries like the United States, and various countries in Europe, disguising themselves as farmers, or other kinds of non-industrial workers. Once in these areas they would build various British machines from memory. Eventually a very industrialized United States, and many European industrial "islands" became extremely prominent throughout the entire world.
12. Britain’s systems of transportation-In 1850, Britain had an astonishing 6,084 miles of railroad track in operation. That was more than France’s, Russia’s, Austria’s, Belgium’s, and the Italian States’ railroads had combined.
13. Why people moved to cities in Britain-The increasing amount of opportunities in the factory system attracted many people from rural areas to the cities and towns of Britain, for a couple of reasons. The first was that factory workers could expect to find regular wages whatever the weather conditions were, whereas a little bit of bad weather could wipe out a farmers entire crop. The second was that with the boom in industry, there were plenty of these jobs open.
14. Working conditions and laws to reform-During the I.R. working conditions changed from working either spinning and weaving or out in the fields, from dawn to dusk, to working in the factories, and at whatever, and how ever many hours they called for (i.e. most people were working an average of 14 hours a day, six days a week, and did this year round). There were also many new dangers that came along with working industrial jobs. Factories were usually reasonably dark and dirty, Workers often lost appendages and sometimes even their lives to the various kinds of machines found in the factories. The harshest jobs were by far the ones found in the mines. The average miner’s life span was ten years shorter than that of a worker in a different industrial field, due to frequent accidents, constant breathing of coal dust, and very damp conditions. Also, out in the fields and in the homes, parents could keep a constant watch on their children. However in the factories and coal mines (where children were really needed), children were often taken advantage of. Their parents could no longer keep their eyes on them, and as a result children were often forced into the most dangerous of jobs, and sometimes even to work longer hours than their parents. In 1831, Parliament finally organized a committee to investigate the abuses of child labor. As a result, the committee passed the Factory Act of 1833, which made it illegal to employ children under 9 years of age, to employ children between the ages of 9 and 13 for more than 8 hours a day, and to require young people from ages 14 to 18 to work more than 12 hours a day. Later, in 1842, the Mines Act placed similar limits on the work of children in mining.
15. How the I.R. changed people’s lives-Besides the facts of the I.R. influencing people in rural areas to move to cities, and making goods and travel much cheaper, it also brought giant sums of money to Britains economy, most of it going to factory owners, shippers, and merchants. Together these people made up a growing middle class, greatly changing Britain’s social structure. Now, instead of all of the wealth and power resting in the hands of landowners and aristocrats, this new class of factory owners and merchants played a big part in both areas as well. However, until the 1800’s, this "new money" was looked down upon and weren’t really accepted as social equals. Eventually, a true middle class (neither rich, nor poor) consisting of government employees in high positions, doctors, lawyers, and managers of mines, factories and shops began to come forth. Not long after, a lower middle class, consisting of factory overseers and skilled workers, came about, living a comfortable standard of living. Britains social structure would now be forever changed.

Know the following terms:

2. Union- A group of workers in a trade or industry who join together to bargain for better working conditions and higher wages.
3. Canal(s)-A human-made waterway.
4. Samuel Slater-As a young British mill worker, Samuel Slater disguised himself as a farmer and boarded a ship headed for the United States. Once there, he built a spinning machine from memory, and went into business with Moses Brown, a Rhode island businessman whom built a factory to house his machines, thus starting the first industrial thread factory in the United States and helping start it’s own industrial revolution.
5. Enclosure-The process by which wealthy land owners buy the open fields in a village, fence them, and then rent them to tenant farmers, who work the land.
6. James Watt-A mathematical instrument maker, whom improved the steam engine by making it work much faster and more efficiently while burning less fuel, all this eventually leading to him becoming a millionaire.
7. Manchester-A city located in the inland of England. During most of the time of the Industrial revolution, Manchester was the heart of the spinning and weaving industry.
8. Industrial Revolution-The period (1800’s-1700’s) of greatly increased output of machine-made goods.
9. Power loom-Invented in 1785, by Edmund Cartwright, the power loom ran on water power and allowed weavers to weave more quickly and efficiently.
10. Entrepreneur-A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of running a business.

1. Water frame-Invented in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, the water frame used the waterpower from fast-flowing streams to drive spinning wheels.
2. Flying shuttle-Invented in 1733 by John Kay, the flying shuttle was not much more than a boat shaped piece of wood to which yarn was attached (or shuttle), that moved back and fourth on wheels. This allowed the common weaver to work twice as fast.
3. steam locomotive-Invented in 1804 by Richard Trevithick, the first steam locomotive consisted of only a steam engine and a cart, and used to win a bet, but later proved to be extremely successful in helping people, and various goods to travel long distances much quicker than by water, or by horse drawn carts on land.
4. spinning jenny-Invented by James Hargreaves in 1764, the spinning jenny was a revolutionary spinning wheel allowed one spinner to work six or eight threads at a time.
5. seed drill- Invented by Jethro Tull in 1721, the seed drill allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows specific depths. This helped to germinate a larger share of the seed, which in turn boosted crop yields.
6. weapons maker-neither this machine nor its inventor could be found in the book, or in either the audio or normal lecture notes.
7. cotton gin-Invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, the cotton gin made it possible for slaves to pick and clean ten times as much cotton daily as they had before.
8. rotating steam engine-Designed by James Watt in the 1770’s, this steam engine was actually just an improvement of the Newcomen steam engine that powered pumps to remove water from deep mine shafts. Watt’s engine worked much faster and more efficiently while burning less fuel. Instead of being used to power pumps, people now saw steam engines in the majority of the new factories, connected by drive shafts to various industrial machines. Now, without the need for water power, people could build their factories just about anywhere.
9. spinning mule-Invented in 1779 by Samuel Crompton, the spinning mule was made from a combination of the spinning jenny and the water frame. It made thread that was stronger, finer, and more even than previous spinning machines.
10. power loom-Invented by Edmond Cartwright in 1785, the power loom ran on water power. By 1833, there were more than 100,000 of them in use.

1. Positive and negative effects of the I.R.-

   Positive

    

   -unions were formed

   -many new technological advancements came about

   -Overall economy improved

   -travel was made quicker, easier, and cheaper

   -everything from food to clothing was made cheaper

   -fewer people went hungry or malnourished

   -many new job offerings

   -people were able to receive fresh produce from far away areas, daily

    

   negative

    

   -abuses of child labor

   -industrial workers were forced to work an average of 14 hours a day, 6 hours a week

   -many small farmers were forced off their land, due to enclosure

   -industry polluted the environment, leaving many city buildings covered in soot

   -Factory conditions were mediocre at best, and mine conditions were even worse, both caused many accidents and sometimes even caused deaths

    

    

    

2. Why Britain was the first to industrialize-