THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

What is the Industrial Revolution?The Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid manufacturing growth during the late 1700s and the early 1800s. This growth caused a radical shift in focus from agriculture (farming) to industry (factories) within the United States.

Rural Life

Urban Life

Urban Cities Grow

Since people needed to be near their jobs in the factories, urban areas began to grow rapidly. Cities grew as more and more people moved off the farm to come work in the factories.

Life in the Factory• For many working in the

factories brought great opportunities.

However, factory work had a very dark side.

• Many people often worked 12hr days for very low wages. They were even forced to live in the housing developed by the factory owners so that the owners could control every aspect of their employees’ life.

The Textile IndustryFrancis Cabot Lowell decided to build the first textile factories in 1813. At the Lowell Mills women often worked long hard days.

(Textiles are what you use to make cloth)

Lowell Mill Girls

Conditions in the Factories WorsenAs more and more factories were built, factory owners needed to stay competitive. To make more money the factory owners began to make the employees work longer for less pay. Many of the workers in the factories were young and unskilled. Working in the factories became very dangerous.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

• Conditions over time worsened in the factories. In 1911, fifty years after the height of the factory mills, a major tragedy struck. This event showed how bad the conditions in the mills had become and why they needed to change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4j04-FeO3s&feature=related

Regardless of the poor conditions in the factories many great things came out of the Industrial Revolution.

During the Industrial Revolution many great products were invented that would completely change life in America. These inventions impacted transportation, communication and agriculture.

Transportation Improves!!!!!

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton invented the steamboat. This boat could move against the water current and strong winds. It used a steam engine to turn two side paddle wheels, which pulled the boat through the water. This launched a new era of trade and transportation on the rivers.

The Erie Canal To take advantage of the new inventions in water transportation President James Monroe decided to fund the Erie canal project. This canal project created a man-made water route through New York.

Building the Erie Canal.

A canal is a man-made water route

The Erie Canal

• http://havefunwithhistory.com/movies/erie.html

Communication

Improves

Samuel MorseIn 1837, Samuel Morse improved communication when he invented the telegraph. This machine sent pulses of electricity along a wire. The machine made a “beeping” noise that could be translated into letters of message. The code create by the telegraph is called Morse Code after Samuel Morse.

Beep…beep… beep beeeep Don’t you love

Morse code?

Morse Code vs. Text Message

• Click on this link

Farming Improves!!!!!!!

Technology Improving FarmingThe steamboat and telegraph both improved communication and transportation, bringing the nation closer. Other new inventions increased farm production.

John Deere

In 1836 John Deere invented a lightweight plow with a steel edge. The steel plow allowed farmers to cut through the rocky soil. This made planting crops much easier.

Cyrus McCormick’s ReaperThe mechanical reaper invented by Cyrus McCormick made it easier to separate kernels of wheat from their husks. Midwestern farmers were able to grow more wheat and process it much faster than ever before.

Eli WhitneyEli Whitney invented the cotton gin. This machine was used for cleaning cotton. The cotton gin used a special process for removing the sharp seeds within cotton. With the new machine, one worker could now clean as much as 50 pounds of cotton a day!

The Cotton Gin

• http://havefunwithhistory.com/movies/cottonGin.html

Cotton BoomProcessing cotton became much easier and faster with the cotton gin. This meant that growing cotton became a much more profitable business. From 1790 to 1860, cotton production in the South grew greatly. With more cotton being produced and processed by the cotton gin, the demand for slaves grew.

Interchangeable

Parts

A New Way to ManufactureIn 1797, the US government hired the inventor Eli Whitney to make 10,000 muskets for the army. He had two years to make the muskets. This was a big challenge for Eli Whitney because at the time every musket was hand-made. If even one part of the gun broke, the whole gun had to be re-made!!!

Interchangeable PartsEli Whitney wanted a better way to make the guns. After a year of trying, Eli Whitney invented interchangeable parts. This meant that all the parts of the guns were made the same and could be change out if needed. This allowed him to produce mass amounts of guns very quickly.

Interchangeable Parts means every gun is the

same!! If one part breaks, just

replace it!!!

Interchangeable Parts leads to the Assembly-line

Interchangeable parts led to the invention of the assembly line by allowing each product to be made exactly the same with parts you could change out if needed…

Modern Industrialization

Many countries around the world are just now becoming industrialized.

How do working conditions in today’s industrializing countries compare to the

working conditions during American Industrial Revolution of the 19 century?

(Consider: wages, age, safety, pollution, etc)

LINK TO BBC CHILD LABOR

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childrenofconflict/work.shtml

• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/03/60minutes/main2149023.shtml