Wrigley 7
There has been much debate by historians about whether the
industrial revolution was a dramatic change
Wrigley believes that it was not dramatic, that substantial
economic growth and change had happened before 1750
but if that is the case, why did the industrial revolution
start when it did, not earlier
The industrial revolution was at first a relatively small part
of the economy--what can we learn from statistics that other
kinds of history miss?
cotton textiles and iron were growing dynamically in the late
18th century, not the rest of the economy
note mass produced pottery pipes for draining farm fields and
for sanitation in cities
But what was going on underneath was the end of the limits on
an organic economy
- coal was used for heat, allowing growth of industries and
planting of more land in crops
- by about 1800 coal was also substituting for human labor
by the use of steam engines
- once coal becomes important it drives innovation in
engines (for pumping water out of mines) and transportation
- Wrigley says wind and water power would not be enough--is
that still true?
Malthus says the population is always going to grow faster
than the economy (this helped lead Darwin the the idea of
natural selection--that only the best adapted individuals
survive and reproduce)
England escaped that, but the poor didn't see
much improvement in their lives (p. 209)
Mid 18th century:
- increasing agricultural production
- rapid growth in production and use of coal--61% of energy
used
- development of methods to smelt iron with coal
- otherwise England didn't look much different from the
Netherlands
1800:
- textile mills (about 900 mills had been built by 1800)
- about 2,000 steam engines in operation
- coal is 79% of energy used
- about 3,700 miles of canals and other improved waterways
- 40% of the labor force worked in agriculture
- 25% of the population lived in cities
mid 19th century:
- 2/3 of workers were still in traditional occupations
(chart on p. 201)
- annual energy consumption per capita has almost doubled
in 50 years
- coal is 92 percent of energy used
- 6,000 miles of railroads built since 1830
- the economy is transforming, everyday life less so
- real wages have started to go up more rapidly
Second phase of the industrial revolution--larger scale
investment in more industries
- larger scale investment
- not just the rich but also the middle class invested in
railroads
- railroads raised the funding they needed by selling
stock (setting themselves up as limited liability
corporations)
- beginnings of big corporations dominating industries,
able to invest more money in new technology
- broader industrial base--capital industries which produce
goods for other industries, not for consumers
- machines for factories, railroad locomotives, mass
production of iron
- more and more kinds of goods were being made in
factories
- factories were being built to make equipment for other
factories
- technological pattern--capital industries play a key role
(make machines for other industries)
- those companies spread new technology from one industry
to another
- more investment and spread of technology by capital
industries sped up technological change and industrial
growth
- pattern of impact on workers
- very often required workers with more skills
- workers began to be treated a little better
- working hours tended to become a bit shorter (10
hour
day in the textile industry) and wages higher
- the working poor began to see their lives improve after
1850
- gradually in the second half of the 19th century
workers got the right to vote (you no longer had to own
property)
- the fear of revolution diminished
- but so did economic advantage. Other countries
were also increasingly competing with Britain--the American
industrial revolution was well underway by 1850