Steam Engines and Coal

Coal

• The use of coal to power steam engines was one of the hallmarks of the industrial rev

• Involved a transition from wood burning to coal burning

• Coal provided steam power used in many industries

• By 1850, England produced 2/3 of world’s coal

Steam Engine

• James Watt (1769) invented and patented the first efficient steam engine

• Most fundamental advance in technology• Replaced water power in cotton spinning mills• Radical transformation occurred in

manufacturing and transportation

Iron Industry

• Transformed by steam power• Boosted iron production and gave rise to

heavy industry• Henry Cort (1780’s) developed the puddling

furnace, which refined pig iron• By 1850, England produced more than half of

world’s iron

Transportation Revolution

Revolution

• Made possible by steam power• Allowed for distribution of finished products

as well as delivery of raw materials

Canals

• Duke of Bridgewater• Canals important in completing basic needs of

related interdependent industries: railroad, steel, coal industries

Roads

• Construction of hard-surfaced roads pioneered by John McAdam

• Significantly improved land travel

Steam Boat

• Robert Fulton, 1807• Clermont traveled the Hudson River from New

York City to Albany• Used steam engine, made 2-way river travel

possible• 1838, first steamship crossed the Atlantic

Ocean

Railroad

• 1825, George Stephenson made railway locomotive commercially successful

• 1830, Rocket, traveled at 16mph on the Liverpool-Manchester railway

• Many private companies were hired to build rail lines

Impact of Railroads

• Greatly reduced cost of shipping freight on land

• Resulted in growing regional and national markets

• Facilitated the growth of urban working class who came from country side

Europe and the Industrial Revolution

Catching up

• After the Napoleonic Wars, continental Europe began catching up to Britain

• Studied Britain’s early mistakes and avoided them

• Borrowed British technology, hired British engineers, and gained British capital

• Used strong banking systems

Social Implications

• New social order in place• Golden age of the middle class– Two levels of bourgeoisie• Upper-bankers, merchants, industrialist• Lower-Small merchants, professional men

• Certain ethnic and religious groups became successful