pt1 industrial rev

• The Agricultural Revolution

  1. Wealthy landowners bought up land of village farmers

  2. Enclosed land with fences or hedges

  3. Cultivated larger fields using new seeding and harvesting methods

  4. Experimented to discover more productive farming methods

  5. Passed Enclosure Acts to seize unowned land (the Commons)

  6. Sold seized land which was then fenced off and declared private property
• Results of the Agricultural Revolution


  • Landowners continued to use scientific research to create innovative agricultural farming practices
  • Large landowners forced small farmers to sell off their land and come work for them, or give up farming and move to the cities
• Jethro Tull


  One of the first scientific farmers who created a seed drill to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths, boosting crop yields
• Crop Rotation


  Improving on the medieval Three-Field System, dividing fields into four parts and rotating different crops each growing season to maximise field space and regenerate the soil
• As food supplies increased and living conditions improved, England's population increased dramatically
• As farmers lost their land, they became factory workers
• Britain's Advantages for the Industrial Revolution

  • Water power and coal to fuel the machines
  • Iron ore to construct machines, tools, and buildings
  • Rivers for inland transportation
  • Harbors from which merchant ships set sail
• Britain's Economic Strength & Stability

  • Expanding economy to support industrialization
  • Highly developed banking system that contributed to industrialization
  • Growing overseas trade, economic prosperity, and a climate of progress contributed to increased demand for goods
  • Political stability with no wars on British soil
• Factors of Production

  • Land
  • Labor
  • Capital (wealth)
• Inventions Spur Technological Advances in the Textile Industry

  1. John Kay's flying shuttle doubled the work a weaver could do in a day

  2. James Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny allowed one spinner to work 8 threads at a time

  3. Richard Arkwright's Water Frame used water power to drive spinning wheels
• Impact of Textile Inventions

  • Took the work of spinning and weaving out of the house
  • Wealthy textile merchants set up machines in small sheds then large factories near water power
• As factory owners became wealthier


  They built bigger houses further away from the factory
• As factory owners' children grew up detached from the workers


  They became more focused on profits and increased worker hours while paying them less
• Tenements


  Large buildings made of small apartments, with usually one bathroom per floor that would be shared, built near factories for the growing number of people looking for work
• Overcrowding was the norm in the tenements as multiple families would share a 1-2 bedroom apartment to afford the rent
• Tenement living had a significant psychological effect on people due to the lack of personal space
• Enclosure Acts:  A series of laws in which the government could seize unowned land, called the Commons, which were large fields upon which anyone could farm. Once this land was sold, it could be fenced off and declared private property. This caused two important results: landowners continued to use scientific research to create innovative agricultural farming practices. Large landowners forced small farmers to sell off their land and come work for them, or give up farming and move to the cities.