Before the industrial revolution

• Colonies


  Lands that are politically controlled by a more powerful country
• Domestic industry


  When goods such as textiles (cloth) are made at home by the whole family
• Finance


  To pay for something
• Manufacturing


  When goods are made on a large scale using machinery
• Merchant


  A person who buys and sells goods for a profit
• Profits


  The money that is made in a business or by an individual after all expenses have been paid
• Small scale


  When goods are made on a small scale
• From about 1750 to 1850, the way that people lived and earned a living in Britain changed. These changes were known as the Industrial Revolution.
• Before the Industrial Revolution, people lived and worked on the land. Some goods were also made in domestic industries at home.
• After the Industrial Revolution, people moved to the urban areas and worked in harsh conditions in factories.
• These changes happened because Britain was a wealthy country. Wealthy British people invested their money in new inventions and factories.
• A lot of this money came from the process of colonisation.
• The importance of colonies

  Colonies became important sources of raw materials, which were needed to develop Britain's manufacturing industries. They also provided Britain with new markets where British industries could sell their products.
• Foreign trade increased very quickly as Britain became the most powerful trading nation in Europe.
• Merchant traders became very rich and many of them used their money to finance the Industrial Revolution.
• Much of the wealth of Britain in the 18th century came from the slave trade. The profits made from the slave trade helped to finance the Industrial Revolution.
• In 1700 Britain traded mainly with Europe. This changed during the 18th century as Britain focused on the slave trade.
• Transatlantic Slave Trade


  The trade was based on slaves and is often referred to as the 'triangular trade'.
• Goods traded in the Transatlantic Slave Trade

  • Guns
  • Alcohol
  • Tobacco
  • Cloth
• The slave trade is often called the 'triangular trade'.
• Britain was able to gain great wealth as a result of the slave trade.
• The Industrial Revolution was able to happen as a result of the merchants' wealth. Merchants used their wealth to develop banks, which loaned money to inventors and entrepreneurs who built factories.
• The open field system worked for as long as the population numbers did not grow very much.
• In the 18th century the population increased very quickly and there was a need to produce more food. Something needed to change.
• Cottage industries


  Goods produced by hand in the home by the whole family
• The largest cottage industry was cloth-making.
• Before the Industrial Revolution, there was a revolution in agriculture. The Industrial Revolution would not have been able to take place without these changes in agriculture.
• Landlords replaced the open field system with enclosures. An enclosure was formed by joining the strips of land in the open field into one large unit of land.
• The common lands were also enclosed. As a result, many small farmers did not have enough land to farm or to graze their cattle. They were forced to move to the growing towns and cities and look for work in factories.
• New developments in farming methods and machinery made farming more efficient and effective. This also led to more food being produced. But these new machines needed less people to work on the land. This was another reason that farmers left the land to find work in the new factories.
• The first industrial changes took place in the textile industry. As the population increased rapidly in the 18th century, it was necessary to produce more cloth to clothe the British people as well as to export to Europe.
• New machines were invented which led to spinning and weaving becoming mechanised.
• Another important change in production was the use of steam power. The first factories used water and animal power to drive their machines. Then in 1769 James Watt invented the steam engine.
• Factories had to be built near sources of coal, and so the first industrial centres developed around factories built near the coalfields of Britain.