British Industrial Revolution

The British Industrial Revolution

An industrial revolution is a fundamental economic change:

between 1770 and 1850 the economy of England changed from mostly agricultural to mostly industrial
this was the result not of one key invention but of technological progress in different fields coming together
its center is the development of factories (which hadn't really existed before this time), but they couldn't have developed without better transportation creating larger markets and better transportation couldn't have existed without the growth of the iron industry, which couldn't have grown without steam engines
society had a hard time adjusting to the new economic system

Causes of the British Industrial Revolution:

feudalism--farmers were no longer bound to the land
guild system--the guild for a particular trade could no longer control who set up a new business
the system of customary prices--the market is more free, instead of the old system where changing the price because of a shortage was seen as profiteering

enclosure =the abolishment of the old system of communal farming and its replacement with family farms. Supposedly everyone had the same share of land as before, but the smallest farmers didn't have enough to survive as an independent farm and they went out of business and went looking for work. Took place 16th century to about 1820.
four field crop rotation--wheat, turnips, barley, clover or alfalfa (turnips and hay crops make it possible to keep more livestock)
new scientific approaches to farming (one of the pioneer scientific investigators of agriculture was an Englishman named Jethro Tull )

average agricultural surplus per worker doubled from about 25% to about 50%
workers no longer needed in agriculture were available for industrial jobs (discussion)

Iron:

by 1720 most iron in England was imported due to a shortage of charcoal for smelting
in 1709 Abraham Darby invented a way of smelting iron using coke (processed coal) instead of charcoal
the iron industry took off after 1760 since iron ore and coal were both very plentiful in England
1779 Iron Bridge ( photo )

The Steam Engine:

Newcomen Engine (about 1712) filled a cylinder with steam and then condensed it to draw the piston down. 1/2% efficient, but widely used to pump water out of coal mines.
Watt Engine (1774) had had a separate condenser, making the engine much more efficient
James Watt later added:

sun and planet gear converted reciprocating into rotary motion to power machines
automatic control mechanism
double-acting engine made for much smoother power

high pressure engines developed after 1800 were needed for transportation applications (the Watt engine was too heavy
significance of steam power

Transportation Technology:

improved roads built in large numbers 1750-1815 (about 1000 miles), reduced transportation costs 20-30%
Canals

The Duke of Bridgewater's Canal started in 1759--7 miles but had to cross a river valley. People thought this was a wild dream, but built in 5 years. Very profitable--halved the cost of coal in Manchester
canal building boom 1750-1800--by 1830 England had 3875 miles of navigable water (though only 1/3 of that was canals). The Oxford canal paid a 30% return for 30 years.
provided much cheaper transportation of bulky goods

canals in Birmingham

locomotives tried in coal mines first, but were generally too heavy for existing tracks used by horse-drawn cars
1825 Stockton and Darlington Railroad was first common carrier to use locomotives
in 1829 the Liverpool and Manchester had a contest to test locomotives. Thousands of people came to watch. Won by the Rocket designed by Robert Stephenson.

The Factory System:

the first big industry was cotton textile factories, though other kinds of factories developed as well
machines had been used some by workers who did piece work at home with spinning wheels and hand looms. What brought the workers together into a factory was the invention of machines for spinning that could spin more than one thread at a time and then the application of water power first to spinning and then to weaving

PEM photo--power loom (Slater Mill)

With these technologies the industry took off--by 1833 237,000 people were employed in cotton textile factories in England
this was a whole new way of life

46% of workers were women, 15% children under the age of 13 ( Child Labor )
wages were barely enough for a family to survive if all members over the age of 8 worked
in some areas 1/2 to 3/4 of worker families lived in a single room with no plumbing (dumped their chamber pot into the street or gutter)

reform laws started in 1833-- factory act of 1833 forbade employment of children under 9 and limited hours for children to 9 hours a day for children 9-13 and 12 hours a day for children 13-18
Chartist movement fought unsuccessfully for political change, but conditions gradually improved

this page written and copyright Pamela E. Mack
last updated 9/26/2005