The Industrial Revolution and the Birth of Modern Europe

“Man no longer treated men as men, but as a commodity which could be bought and sold on the open market.”

The Industrial Revolution Long, slow process of production

shifting from hand tools with human and animal labour to steam and electrical machine power

Political disruptions in France the main reason that Britain lead in the industrial revolution

Agriculture Revolution One key to the industrial revolution was

the increased production and variety of crops produced

New crops from Americas – potatoes and corn

Charles Townsend – discovers crop rotation rather than leaving fields fallow Use of clover and turnips in rotation with wheat

and barley Clover and turnips used to feed animals for meat =

more animals Meat $ down = more protein in diets

11 22

33 44

Jethro Tull develops the seed drill rather than random scattering Reduced amount of seed used Easier to weed

Iron plow replaced wooden onesMechanical reapers and threshers

replace wooden ones

Land ownership changes Farmers used to work small strips of land in

scattered fields and graze their animals on “common land”

Enclosure movement – wealthy land owners begin claiming sole rights to use of the common lands from 1500s on

Land use more efficient but forced many smaller farmers out

Some become tenant workers Most move to towns and cities looking for work

Results1.  Better diet = increased population =

more demand for manufactured goods

2. More efficient farming = fewer farm labourers = increased unemployment = urbanization and large available workforce

Individual gifts should be recognized in the delineation of responsibilities; each person should concentrate on a specific area of work Romans 12:6-8

Textile Industry 1500s and 1600s – “domestic industry”

developed Entrepreneurs supply rural residents with

raw wool and cotton In their cottages families clean and spin the

wool Use hand looms to make cloth Not able to keep up with increased

demand = innovation and invention begins

Cottage Industry

Mechanical inventions 1733 – John Kay – Flying Shuttle

replaces hand shuttle in looms could now weave faster than they could

spin

Mechanical inventions 1764 – James Hargreaves – “Spinning

Jenny” – multiple threads spun at once

Mechanical inventions 1769 – Richard Arkwright – Water

Frame – develops machine that could hold 100 spindles BUT too heavy to operate by hand (use of water power)

1779 – Spinning Jenny combined with water frame – more thread than weaving

1785 – Water Loom – weaving 200X faster

1779 – Spinning Jenny combined with water frame – more thread than weaving

1785 – Water Loom – weaving 200X faster 1791 – Eli Whitney – Cotton Gin

Mechanically tore seeds from cotton plant Made cotton cheaper to produce

1830s – Britain importing 280 million pounds (127 million Kg) and the largest textile manufacturer in the world

Factory System Machines expensive and had to be beside

moving water (water wheels) Mills often hired hundreds of workers to run

new machines Factory system gradually replaces domestic

system Brought workers and machines to one place

to manufacture goods (more efficient) First time everyone had set number of hours

of work and a set daily or weekly wage

Steam Engine Idea had been around since 1698 but

unreliable and downright dangerous 1760s – James Watt – develops improved

version of Newcomen Engine (4X more power from same amount of coal

*Portable – no need for rivers* and used in textile industry but demand for coal increases

Iron and Coal Industries Steam engines need a lot of coal and iron –

Britain had lots Shift from charcoal (partially burned hardwoods)

to coke (coal with gasses burned off) to make iron 1780s – a puddling process improved iron quality

(less cracking under pressure) method of rolling molten iron into sheets

developed 1788-1806 – Iron production 4X in Britain because

of increased demand for coal and iron for steam engines

Why Britain Led Agricultural Revolution = more food =

more free workersPlentiful coal and iron resourcesDeveloped excellent transportation

system

Leading commercial power in EuropeCentre of world trade after defeating the

Spanish Armada in 1588 (esp. sugar, tea and slaves) Had the $ to develop new industries

Large colonial empire to supply raw materials (NZ – sheep) and buy finished goods in return

British government encouraged trade by lifting restrictions, building roads and canals, and having a strong navy to protect merchant ships and colonial interests

Stable intellectual and social climate promoted industrialization through a class society that was open to social ascendance by financial gain

Rise of Modern Industry (Stage II)

Industry spread quickly in the second half of the 19th century to Belgium, France, Japan (after the Meji Restoration) and Germany (after 1870)

Also spread to USA who would surpass Britain by 1880

Southern and Eastern Europe still largely agricultural and did little to encourage industrial development

Advances in science and technology Artificial dyes developed - cheaper than

natural ones, chemical fertilizers – rapidly increased food production

Alessandro Volta (1800) created one of the first electric batteries

Electric generators developed and would eventually replace steam

1866 – 1st Transatlantic Telegraph cable laid

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell – invents the telephone

1900 – Marconi – develops the radioEdison – Light bulb, phonograph,

electric generator, etc . . .

Advances in Transportation Internal combustion engine

Could be started and stopped more easily than steam

1886 – Daimler (German) develops first small gasoline engine for vehicles

Rudolf Diesel (German) develops large internal combustion engine for trucks, ships and locomotives

Resulted in a boom for petroleum, steel, and rubber industries

Airplanes @ Kittyhawk with the Wright Brothers Germans believed now to have been first

in the air

New Methods of Production Eli Whitney – came up with

interchangeable parts Had a gun factory – all hand made Made parts easily interchangeable and

repair speed up

Henry Ford – assembly line (1914) Work broken into small tasks Cost went down as a result = more people

could buy cars = boom in related industries

Financing Industrial Growth Corporation – business owned by many

investors who have bought shares in the company Became the dominant form of ownership

due to cost to set up a business Investors had limited liability – could only

lose what they put in

Many corporations bought up smaller companies and attempted to create monopolies (CWB) or related industries (Standard Oil) – vertical integration

Banks esp. prominent in financing corporations

Nations become interdependent because of trade of manufactured goods and resources, as well as investing in each other’s economies (Canada and USA)

Effects of Industrialization

Shift from rural and self-employed to urban wage earners

Population explosion 1750 – 140 million to 1914 – 463 million (over 3X) Ag. Rev. improved diets and health – people live

longer, medical discoveries and sanitation reduce deaths from disease

No major wars fought by Europeans between 1815 and 1914

Industry provided goods and jobs for the growing population

Problems of Growing Cities Cities often sprang up almost overnight

and were wherever the factories and resources were located (no longer on rivers or major trade routes)

Case Study: Manchester1750: 16 000 – 1855: 455 000 peopleBecame centre of British cotton industry

when coal and iron discovered nearbyRapid growth mean thousands of

factory workers into poorly built houses with 6-10 people living in a single 8X8 room

Little water or sanitation – sewage thrown in streets with pigs as garbage collectors

Slums became breeding grounds for disease Not even a chartered city so could not raise

taxes or pass laws to improve life No longer able to rely on neighbors like in

rural areas – destroyed sense of community

Working in a Factory Conditions often as bad or worse than the

conditions outside themWealth of unskilled labour = wages very low

Often whole families had to work to survive Women and children in high demand because

they could be paid less than men

Robertson’s Wagon Works Simulation and Modern Times (SS#5-4)

12-16 hour workdays, 6 days a week, no vacations, sick leave, or paid holidays

Conditions promoted illness or injury Fumes from machines, poor ventilation,

poor lighting, loud machines, and no safety equipment

If injured on the job there was no compensation, if it prevented you from doing the job they fired you

Worst of all – work was mindless and monotonous

Child Labour

The End Result - WW I

The Shift in Employment

New Social Structure Pre-industrial Revolution

Post-industrial Revolution

Upper-middle class attempted to adopt aristocratic customs and attitudes Country estates, horse racing, sailing, etc Most Middle Class tried to live quiet respectable

lives

Industrial workers largely unskilled and very aware that they were part of the lowest class without political or economic power Started to band together

Changing Roles for Women Women used to help farm the land as

servants or earn money through the domestic system

Went to work in the industrial revolution to support their family Often worked with their children in the mines

Put in a 12-16 hour workday and then still had to cook, clean, sew, and raise the children

Better wages meant women could stay at home and their husband became the sole wage earners late in the Industrial Revolution

As the Middle Class grew so did demand for domestic servants Often done by single women 1/3 of women working outside the home in late

1800s were domestic servants

Few Middle Class women worked outside the home and were encouraged to raise the children instead

Responses to the Industrial Revolution:

Britain and the USA

BritainMany in the Middle Class had little

sympathy for the workers and were only concerned with their investments and survival of their businesses

Demands for change in Britain

Protests against conditions – sometimes even violently 1811-1816 workers sabotaged their

machines (wooden shoes called sabo) 1819 demonstration in Manchester of 80

000 workers 11 killed, 400 wounded by troops

1831 Parliament began a series of investigations into factory and mine conditions Liberals wanted government to stay out but

conservatives sometimes attacked the conditions of workers

Everyone shocked by the conditions found – writers documented conditions (Oliver Twist, David Copperfield)

Reforms 1833 – Factory Act – limited work days

for children1842 – Mines Act – barred women and

boys under 13 from working in minesTen Hours Act – women and boys

under 18 can not work longer than 10 hours Extended to all workers in 1874

The Rise of Labour UnionsWorkers began to form associations

that would eventually turn into labour unions

Governments feared labour unions because: Shorter hours and increased wages =

higher prices for goods and less profit

Combination Acts (1799/1800) outlawed labour unions Repealed in 1820s but still could not strike

or picket Trade unions allowed – based on craft

(skilled labour) and able to bargain with employers because more valuable skill set

Struggled for the right to vote, 10-hour work day, and right to strike

1868 – 100 000 in trade unions in Britain alone

1870s – Trade unions won the right to strike and picket peacefully

Workers emboldened by success of trade unions and began to organize by industry in 1880s 1889 – London Dock Workers Union went on

strike and shut down the world’s busiest port Unions grew rapidly in W. Europe and USA

Madagascar 2 – 1:08:51

Gains for Workers 1870-1914 wages rose rapidly (2X in 1880s)

and goods were cheaper than ever before (easier to buy)

employers gradually come to believe that happy and healthy workers meant better productivity Better light and ventilation, safety devices Those who did not change had laws passed to

force them to improve (Britain, France, Germany especially)

Insurance funds established for workers who were sick or injured on the job, old age pensions, unemployment insurance for those who lost their jobs because of business failure or economic slowdown

1914 – workers better off than 100 years earlier

Public Schools setup

Improving City Life Implementation of building codes, better

access to water, sewage systems installed

Parks est., police force, gas/electric lighting, electric street cars and subway systems

Political Reforms in BritainQueen Victoria (1837 to 1901)

Limited constitutional monarchy with parliament supreme

most men could not vote (6%) and social & economic conditions drove reform movement

“rotten boroughs”middle class and workers demand reformReform Bill of 1832Chartist MovementCorn Laws

Extending Democracy Whigs (Liberals) lead by William Gladstone Tories (Conservatives) – Benjamin Desraeli alternated 1860 to 1890

Reform Bill 1867 by Desraeli (same as Gladstone in 1866)

1872 – secret ballot1884/5 – rural men allowed to vote1900 – Labour Party formed1911 – House of Lords loses veto

Other Reforms lifted restrictions and Catholics and

Protestants outside Church of England1807 – slave trade outlawed1833 – slavery outlawed in whole of

British EmpireFactory Acts1870 – Education Act

1909 - old age pension1911 - Insurance Act1912 - minimum wages

Reforms in the USA1860-1910 – 23 million immigrants seeking

political and economic freedomCities grew fast and unplannedMany of the same problems as EuropeOpposed unions based on tradition of “rugged

individualism”American Federation of Labour (a union of

unions) formed in 1881 and had 2 million members by 1914

ReformsProgressives (1900s)

Believed in progress and attacked corruption Movement spearheaded by Theodore Roosevelt

Anti-trust laws Regulation of businesses increased

Encouraged better city conditions and education Allowed women to vote (1915 and 1920) and

some African-Americans (discontented still)