Industrial Revolution

• The Agricultural Revolution brought about an extraordinary change in the daily life of people
• Innovations in Agriculture during the 1700s and 1800s


  • Jethro Tull - Seed Drill
  • Charles Townshend - Four Crop Rotation
  • Robert Bakewell - Selective Husbandry
  • Justus von Liebig - Chemical Fertilizer
• The Factory System was introduced to keep up with consumer demand
• Reasons for why the Industrial Revolution started in England

  • Strong sense of Property Rights
  • Canals
  • Natural Resources (Coal/Iron)
  • Cheap Labor
  • A Merchant Fleet
• Steam technology revolutionized transportation in England
• Textiles were among the first industries to be mechanized during the Industrial Revolution
• Steam engines were initially used to pump excess water out of mines
• The Bessemer Process allowed for mass production of steel
• The Enclosure Movement facilitated the agricultural revolution in England
• Coal Mining in England

  • 1800: 1 ton of coal, 50,000 miners
  • 1850: 30 tons, 200,000 miners
  • 1880: 300 million tons, 500,000 miners
  • 1914: 250 million tons, 1,200,000 miners
• Advancements in Steamships

  • 1819: The Savannah used a steam engine as auxiliary power for the first time
  • 1836: John Ericsson invented a screw propeller
  • 1838: The Great Western was the first ship to sail across the Atlantic on steam power alone
• The first successful steam-powered locomotive was created by George Stephenson in 1830
• Throughout the Middle Ages, food production remained in a relatively primitive state
• Industrialization of agriculture freed up labor to other fields and made food more abundant, allowing the population numbers to explode
• Mechanization of Farming

  1. Farming tools were mechanized to create more yields in a more efficient manner

  2. Machines reduced the need for farm workers, leading to urbanization
• Primitive industry in England was based on the "Domestic System"
• Early factories were dangerous, and workers had long shifts, six days a week
• The Industrial Revolution started in the middle of the 1700s in England
• Thomas Newcomen built the first successful steam engine


  1712
• Coal became the symbol of power during the Industrial Revolution
• The first commercial steamboat was built in 1807 in the United States by Robert Fulton
• James Watt created an improved version of the steam engine in 1776
• Working in a coal mine was hazardous, with long hours and exposure to coal dust
• England adopted a new road system during the 1700s with Turnpike Trusts constructing new roads
• The first successful steam powered locomotive was created by George Stephenson


  1830
• Effects of the Railroad System

  1. New Jobs created

  2. Boosted agriculture and fishing industries

  3. People able to take distant city jobs

  4. People able to travel further distances

  5. Spurred further Industrial Growth: Transport raw materials to manufacture, Transport finished goods to sell
• Working conditions in factories involved long hours of monotonous work, often dangerous due to machinery, with women and children employed in textile and mining industries
• Political Reforms in English Society included the Great Reform Act of 1832, aimed at giving more political representation to the developing middle class
• The decline of landed aristocracy and the rise of the middle class were significant socio-economic changes during the Industrial Revolution
• Mechanization replaced workers as the revolution progressed, leading to urbanization and rural pauperism
• The Rocket was able to travel thirty mph and complete the run in one hour and thirty minutes
• The rise of trade unions was a response to difficult, dangerous, and monotonous work environments in factories
• Pauperism, Workhouses, & Unemployment were addressed through the Poor Laws of 1834, leading to challenges and corruption scandals
• Locomotives became the primary mode of transportation for goods and people
• Disease & Public Health concerns led to public health reforms and the creation of the Public Health Act in 1848
• Social Changes

  • Development and growth of cities, Improved status and earning power of women, Increase in leisure time, Population increases, Problems – economic insecurity, increased deadliness of war, urban slums, etc., Science and research stimulated
• Economic Changes


  • Expansion of world trade, Factory system, Mass production of goods, Industrial capitalism, Increased standard of living, Unemployment
• The Rocket was a part of a competition to build a railroad line from Liverpool to Manchester
• Early Movements Against Industrialization

  • Luddites, Swing Riots of 1830
• Factory Wages in Lancashire, 1830

  • See table for Male and Female Wages based on age groups