22.1—Industrial Revolution

n      Industrial Revolution started during the mid 1700’s in Great Britain

Why Great Britain in the mid 1700’s????

n      Changes in Farming

·        Industrial Revolution might not have taken place w/o the dramatic improvements in farming.

·        Enclosure Movement—wealthy landowners were buying up much of the land that village farmers had once worked.

a.     New owner often put up some sort of fence or hedge around his land.

b.     Wealthy landowner would rent fields out to families of tenant farmers to work the land.

c.      Applied a scientific approach to their farms.  Kept careful records, experimented with crops, and exchanged ideas with other landowners.

·        Jethro Tull—one of the first scientific farmers.  Invented the seed drill in 1721.  Sows seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths.

·        Viscount Charles Townshend—Discovered that the two-field and three-field methods were not necessary.  Needed to rotate crops every year.  Came up with crop rotation.  Needed to plant clovers, turnips, or some other type of plant that would restore the soil.  Nicknamed Turnip Townshend.

·        Robert Bakewell—Selective breeding.  Trying to raise larger sheep, he only allowed his best animals to breed.  Others did this with other animals, and quality increased.

·        Effects on Population

a.     Better livestock and increased crop production meant more food.  Fewer hungry people.

b.     Many small farmers were forced off their land.  Moved to the city.  Became labor force for industry.

n      Rise in Population

·        1750-1850—Population Explosion

Historians are not sure why:  

a.      More Food

b.      Scientific Advancements (Smallpox Vaccination)

·        Increased population helped the industrial progress.

a.     Higher demand for goods

b.     More workers for the factories

n      Other Advantages

·        Abundant Natural Resources—Great Britain was rich in three important natural resources:

a.     water power

b.     coal

c.      iron ore

·        Favorable Geography—Island nation.  Many fine harbors.  Overseas trade gave Britain access to raw materials and markets.

·        Favorable climate for new ideas—people were open-minded.

·        Good Banking System—loaned money at reasonable rates.

·        Political Stability—no wars fought on British soil.  For ordinary people, it was a century of peace.

22.2—Industrial Revolution

New Inventions Appeared First in the Textile Industry

n      Spinners and weavers could not keep up with the demand for cloth (wool, linen, and especially cotton).

n      Cloth merchants wanted to find a way to speed up their process.

·        John Kay—invented the Flying Shuttle.  Moved back and forth on wheels—allowed weaver to work twice as fast. (1733)

·        As a result, weavers were working too fast for the spinners to keep up.

·        James Hargreaves—invented the Spinning Jenny.  Allowed one spinner to work 6 to 8 threads at a time. (1764)

·        Richard Arkwright—invented the Water Frame.  Used water power to drive the spinning wheel. (1769)

·        Samuel Crompton—invented the Spinning Mule—combined the features of  the Spinning Jenny with the Water Frame.  Made stronger, finer thread.(1779)

·        These new machines were too big for home use.  As a result, spinning and weaving slowly stopped being work that families did together in their homes. 

·        New buildings called factories were built to house these new machines.  Most of the new machines needed waterpower so these factories were built near rivers.

·        Weavers soon fell behind.  Spinning machines were too advanced.

·        Edmund Cartwright—invented the power loom run by water power.  Weavers were now able to work as quickly as the spinners. (1785)

·        By late 1700’s, weavers and spinners were so efficient that cotton growers could not keep up.  Great Britain’s main source or cotton was Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, and Georgia.

·        Eli Whitney—invented the Cotton Gin.  Removed seeds from the raw cotton.  Slaves could clean and pick 10 times more cotton. (1793)

Steam Engine

n      Drawback to waterpower was the factories had to be near rushing water.  These places were often far from raw materials, workers, and markets.

n      Factory owners searching for new source of power:  STEAM.

n      Newcomen—invented an early steam engine.  Worked very slowly and burned a lot of fuel making it expensive to operate.

n      James Watt—Improved on the Newcomen Engine.  Made it faster and more efficient, while burning less fuel. (1765)

n      Watt became partners with Matthew Boulton.  They were both entrepreneurs—people who organize, manage, and take on the risks of a business.  They both became millionaires.