Video Lesson

Learning Competencies: After learning this lesson, you will be able to:

• recognize the events that made the Industrial revolution possible;
• generate a report on the main technological innovations of the early stages of the Industrial Revolution.

Brainstorming Questions

• What do you understand by the term ‘revolution’?

Key terms and concepts

The Industrial Revolution, starting in mid-18th century England, marked a significant shift from handcraft to machine-based production. It initially transformed industries like textiles, iron, mechanical engineering, chemical manufacturing, and transportation, including steamships and railways. This period of rapid industrialization spread to Europe and North America, fundamentally changing how goods were produced and transported.

The Agricultural Revolution of the early 18th century, beginning around 1700, involved wealthy landowners buying up village farmland and enclosing it with fences. This allowed for larger fields and the implementation of more productive farming methods, leading to higher crop yields. Consequently, small farmers were either forced to become tenant farmers or had to move to cities.

In about 1701, scientific farmers invented the seed drill, which allowed for sowing seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths, improving germination and crop yields. Crop rotation also became a key development. As food supplies and living conditions improved, England’s population grew, increasing the demand for food and goods. Consequently, many displaced farmers became factory workers as large enclosed farms expanded.

Why did the Industrial Revolution Begin in England?

England’s Industrial Revolution benefited from a large workforce and extensive natural resources, including water power, coal, iron ore, rivers for transportation, and harbors for trade. These resources were crucial for developing machine-based production. Britain’s expanding economy supported industrialization through investments in new inventions and a developed banking system that offered loans for machinery and business expansion. Growing overseas trade, economic prosperity, and a progressive climate also increased demand for goods.

Britain’s political stability and military successes during the 18th century, with no wars on British soil, gave it a significant advantage. Supportive laws from Parliament and a favorable climate helped encourage and protect business, providing all necessary factors of production (land, labor, and capital) for the Industrial Revolution.

Inventions Spur Industrialization

New inventions revolutionized Britain’s textile industry, which was the first to undergo transformation. Key innovations included John Kay’s 1733 flying shuttle, which doubled weaving productivity, and James Hargreaves’ 1764 spinning jenny, which enabled a single spinner to handle eight threads simultaneously.

Initially, textile workers manually operated the flying shuttle and spinning jenny. Richard Arkwright’s 1769 water frame, driven by waterpower, and Samuel Crompton’s 1779 spinning mule, which combined features of the spinning jenny and water frame, improved thread quality. Edmund Cartwright’s 1787 power loom, also water-powered, accelerated weaving. These bulky, expensive machines were moved to factories near rivers and streams, where wealthy merchants set them up.

England`s cotton came from plantations in the American South in the 1790s. Removing
seeds from the raw cotton by hand was hard work. In 1793, an American inventor named
Eli Whitney invented a machine to speed up the job. His cotton gin multiplied the amount
of cotton that could be cleaned.

Improvements in Transportation

Advancements in the textile industry spurred other industrial improvements, including the steam engine. Early steam engines, used to pump water from mines, were inefficient and fuel-intensive. In 1765, James Watt improved the steam engine to enhance efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. In 1807, American inventor Robert Fulton used a British steam engine to build the Clermont, a steamboat that successfully transported passengers.

In England, water transportation improved with the development of canals, while roads also saw enhancements due to Scottish engineer John McAdam. Private companies built and operated these roads for profit. By the late 18th century, steam-driven machinery powered factories, and Richard Trevithick’s 1804 steam locomotive paved the way for rail transport. George Stephenson began constructing the world’s first railroad line in 1821, with operations starting the following year.

The locomotive had four major effects: it spurred industrial growth by providing a cheap transport method, created numerous jobs in railroads and mining, boosted agricultural and fishing industries by enabling product transport to cities, and facilitated easier travel, encouraging rural workers to seek city jobs. While the Industrial Revolution eventually improved living standards in Great Britain, it initially caused human suffering, including poor working conditions, pollution, child labor issues, and rising class tensions between the working and middle classes.

By the 1800s, rapid industrialization in Britain led to higher wages in factories compared to farming, allowing people to afford better heating and clothing. As the factory system grew, more Europeans moved from rural areas to cities, causing urban populations to double or even quadruple. This era marked significant urbanization, with people increasingly concentrated in cities. Factory owners sought to maximize machine use, leading workers to endure 14-hour days, six days a week. Factories were often poorly lit, dirty, and dangerous, with no government aid for injuries. Coal mines were especially hazardous, with frequent accidents, damp conditions, and coal dust shortening miners’ lifespans by about ten years. Women and children, employed for their low wages, were common in mining due to the demand for cheap labor.

Class Tensions Grow

Although poverty affected Britain’s working class, the Industrial Revolution generated significant wealth, primarily for factory owners, shippers, and merchants. This wealth contributed to the rise of a new middle class, which included skilled workers, professionals, business people, and wealthy farmers. This shift in wealth transformed Britain’s social structure, with some factory owners and bankers surpassing traditional landowners and aristocrats in wealth. The upper middle class comprised government employees, doctors, and managers, while the lower middle class included factory overseers and skilled workers, all enjoying a comfortable standard of living.

During the years 1800 to 1850, however, laborers, or the working class, saw little improvement in their living and working conditions. They watched their livelihoods disappear as
machines replaced them. In frustration, some smashed the machines they thought were
putting them out of work. One group of such workers was called the Luddites. They were
named after Ned Ludd. Ludd, probably a laborer, was said to have destroyed weaving machinery around 1779. The Luddites attacked whole factories in northern England from 1811
to 1816, destroying labor saving machinery. Outside the factories, mobs of workers rioted,
mainly because of poor living and working conditions.

Despite its issues, the Industrial Revolution had several positive effects. It created jobs, increased national wealth, fostered technological progress, and greatly raised the production of goods and living standards. It also improved diets, housing, and clothing, and expanded educational opportunities. However, it widened the gap between rich and poor. Business leaders preferred minimal government intervention, while reformers and workers advocated for government action and formed labor unions to secure better rights and protections.

The Philosophers of Industrialization

Laissez-faire, meaning “let do” in French, is an economic policy advocating minimal government interference in business and industry, promoting a free market economy. Rooted in Enlightenment ideas, it argues that free trade, without heavy tariffs or regulations, fosters economic prosperity. Adam Smith supported this view in his 1776 book ‘The Wealth of Nations’, outlining three natural laws of economics: self-interest (people work for their own benefit), competition (drives product improvement), and supply and demand (balances production and pricing). Laissez-faire proponents opposed government interventions like minimum wage laws, believing they would disrupt the free market, reduce profits, and hinder economic growth.

The Rise of Socialism

Unlike laissez-faire philosophy, which advocates minimal government intervention, some scholars argue that governments should act to improve lives. French reformers like Charles Fourier and Saint-Simon promoted socialism, where public ownership of production factors aims to benefit all and counteract industrialization’s negative effects. Socialism, rooted in optimism, progress, and social justice, supports government planning of the economy and control of key industries to reduce poverty and promote equality.

Karl Marx introduced Marxism, a radical form of socialism, with Friedrich Engels in their 1848 pamphlet ‘The Communist Manifesto’. Marx and Engels argued that societies have always been divided into opposing classes, such as the bourgeoisie (wealthy employers) and the proletariat (poor workers). They claimed that the Industrial Revolution exacerbated the divide, enriching the wealthy while worsening conditions for the poor, leading to conflict.