industrial revolution

• The Industrial Revolution was an increase in production brought about by the use of machines and characterized by the use of new energy sources
• The Industrial Revolution began around 1750 and occurred across most of the earth, but it started in Europe, especially Britain
• Innovations of the Industrial Revolution

  1. Invention of the flying shuttle

  2. Invention of the Spinning Jenny and water frame

  3. Mechanization using water power

  4. Development of the steam engine
• The Newcomen steam engine was used to clear water out of mines, which led to more coal to power more steam engines
• James Watt's improved steam engine made possible railroads, steamboats, and more efficient cotton mills
• Chemicals like sulfuric acid were used for the first time to bleach cloth, made possible by lead production
• All these factors came together to make more yarn that could be spun and bleached faster and cheaper than ever before
• It is difficult to determine why the Industrial Revolution happened first in Europe, especially Britain
• Eurocentric reasons proposed for why the Industrial Revolution happened first in Europe

  • Cultural superiority argument
  • Europe had a culture of science and invention
  • Freer political institutions and strong property rights
  • Small population requiring labor-saving inventions
• These Eurocentric reasons also apply to China and India, which were at a similar level of industrial production in 1800
• Advantages Britain had over China and India


  • Abundant and cheap coal supplies
  • Higher wages, making it economically efficient to use machines
• Indian cotton production helped spur British industrialization by creating a high demand for cotton textiles that British manufacturers invested in machines to meet
• The Industrial Revolution was a world phenomenon, not just a European one