Era 6: Industrial Revolution

• Industrial Revolution


  Shift from humans made energy to supplemental energy
• Fossil fuels


  • Coal
  • Oil
  • Natural gas
• Fuels formed from means of plants and animals and remained underground
• Fossil fuels and mechanized equipment allowed for mass production of goods
• Cause of the Industrial Revolution

  • Agricultural Revolution
  • Population explosion
  • Energy Revolution
• Agricultural Revolution


  1. New farming methods

  2. Use of machinery over manual labor

  3. Increased agricultural output led to cheaper prices and smaller demand for farming labor
• Population Explosion


  1. Better nutrition, advanced medical knowledge, and decrease infant mortality

  2. Need for jobs led to migration to cities

  3. Greater need for consumer goods
• Energy Revolution


  1. New machines led to mass production

  2. Trees had been depleted over time and a new source of energy was needed

  3. Coal used to fuel steam engines

  4. Water wheels and windmills were further powered through steam engines

  5. New inventions improved products
• Why Britain?


  • Shortage of wood & abundance of coal
  • Capitalism
  • Government support
  • Profits from transatlantic slave trade provided Britain with capital (money) for investment
  • Colonies in the Americas provided land, labor, materials, and markets
  • Strategic location in Atlantic
  • Silver from Americas used to trade with China
  • Social and ideological conditions promoted entrepreneurship
• Why Not China?


  • Coal located in North while economic activity was located in the South
  • Confucian ideals conflicted with change
  • Lack of government support
  • Focus on nomadic attacks
• Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

  • Led to colonization and imperialism
  • Colonies were exploited for resources, labor, and markets
  • World economy & population grew exponentially
  • Led to environmental destruction
  • Increased socioeconomic inequalities
• Child Labor


  1. Industry required more labor

  2. Need for steady income for financial survival due to low-wage jobs

  3. Assigned simple tasks at 1/10th of adult wage

  4. Repetitive & unhealthy labor

  5. 14-hour workday with few breaks and little ventilation

  6. Poorest children were forced into the labor force
• Japan's rigid social hierarchy and literate population

  Japan's economy was in decline due to its agricultural taxation policy
• Japan industrialized


  Out of fear of foreign influence
• Industrialization in Japan


  Led to political chaos over conflict of reform v. tradition
• Meiji Restoration


  Restored the emperor’s power and modernized Japan’s government to model the West
• Challenges faced by Japan during industrialization

  • Lacked coal and other raw materials
  • High tariffs hurt Japanese trade
  • Led to colonization of Korea for resources
  • Government closely tied with industrialization and the economy
• Suffrage


  The right to vote in elections
• Issues with suffrage movements

  • Inability to own property or control finances
  • Desire to break traditional roles due to increasing educational and employment opportunities
  • Lack of protection in the workplace
• Globalization


  Local life is shaped by what is happening in other parts of the world
• Globalization


  Economic, political, and social interconnectedness
• What caused globalization


  1. Agricultural Revolution

  2. People finding other jobs

  3. Industrial Revolution

  4. Capitalism

  5. Imperialism

  6. Transportation

  7. Advancements: railroads

  8. Communication

  9. Advancements: telegraph

  10. World wars and international organizations
• Pros of globalization


  • Decline in poverty
  • Healthier and longer life expectancy
  • Free trade
  • Movement of culture, ideas and technology
• Cons of globalization


  • Only bigger and wealthier countries benefit
  • Loss of jobs to outsourcing
  • Exploitation of labor in low wage countries
  • Environmental degradation
  • Spread of disease
  • Covid-19
• Capitalism in China


  Rise of China
• Great Leap Forward


  An attempt to modernize China rapidly after WWII but failed
• Cultural Revolution and Red Guard


  An attempt to remove capitalism values through destruction of old beliefs and opposition to communism by young teenage boys
• Deng Xiaping's approach to modernize China


  Accepted western influence and capitalist approach to China’s economy, privatization of many sectors and Special Economic Zones to attract foreign investment
• Consequences of China's rise

  • Political corruption
  • Overcrowding
  • Pollution
  • One Child Policy