Unit 3- The Industrial revolution

UNIT 3
IES RASCANYA
4th ESO
Josep Villarroya

UNIT 3 – THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Find about:
- The Industrial Revolution
- The spread of the Industrial Revolution
- Consequences of the Industrial Revolution
- The class system
- The labour movement
Know how to:
- Analyse the work of women and children
- Reflect on how the industrial Revolution changes daily life.

1- The origins of the Industrial Revolution
1.1.- What was the
Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution
was a period of profound
economic and social
changes, caused by
widespread use of
machinery in production.
Agrarian, rural societies
were transformed into
industrial, urban societies.
These changes began in
Britain in the second half of
the 18th century.

The Industrial
Revolution is divided
into two stages:
- The First Industrial
Revolution, which
began around 1760.
- The Second
Industrial Revolution,
which began around
1870.
The Industrial
Revolution was
accompanied by
important changes in
population and
agriculture

1.2.- The demographic
revolution
The English population
grew slowly until the 18th
century as both the birth
rate and the death rate
were high. In the late 18th
century, however, there was
high and sustained
population growth. This
was because the death
rate decreased, while the
birth rate continued to be
high. The death rate
decreased for several
reasons

The death rate decreased for several
reasons:
a) Nutrition. This improved, making
the population ore resistant to illness.
This was possible thanks to
advances in agriculture and changes
in people's diet. Potatoes became a
basic food.
b) Personal and public hygiene.
The use of soap was more
widespread, and people began to
wear cotton clothes, which were
easier to wash. There was better
access to clean drinking water, and
streets were kept cleaner.
Neverthless, these changes took
place very slowly.

c) Public health. In 179,
Edwar Jenner
discovered the vaccine
against smallpox, a
disease with a high
mortality rate (although
the vaccine was not
widely used until the 19th
century). New hostpitals
were also built in this
period.
d) Epidemics, which
had been frequent in the
Early Modern period,
caused fewer deaths due
to improved nutrition,
hygiene and public
health.

Population growth produced increased demand for agricultural
and industrial products. It also meant that more workers were
available to fill all the new jobs in factories.

1.3.- The agricultural
revolution
The increased demand
for food led to innovations
in crop and livestock
farming.
- Farming techniques.
The three-field system of
crop rotation, in which
one field was lay fallow,
was replaced by the four-
field system, also called
the Norfolk system The
land was divided into four
fields, shich alternated
whealt, turnips, barley
and clover.

The nutrients in the soil were not used
up, as clover helped to replenish them.
In addition, turnips and clover were
used to feed livestock. This allowed
farmers to keep more animals, which
increased manure, a natural fertiliser,
in the fields.

In the late 18th century, the wood
plough was replaced by the iron
plough. Later, new farming
machines were introduced:
mechanical seeders, threshers
and harvesters.

- Land ownership
and use. The
liberal revolutions
ended the practice
of the peasants
farming communal
lands under the
authority of a lord
or the Church.
Land became
private property.
The bourgeoisie
bought farmland in
order to profit from
selling its
products.

- Livestock farming. Part
of the land was used to
grow fodder, o food for
livestock. The number of
heads of livestock on each
farm increased.

Primary sector production
increased in the 18th century.
Farmers received greater
income, and were able to save
money. Some invested their
savings in industry or banking.

1.4.- Other factors affecting economic growth
Apart from demographic and agricultural growth, other conditions in
Britain also favoured economic growth.
a) Economic markets. Britain had a helathy domestic market, based
on good infrastructure and the absence of domestic tariffs. It also
sold its products in its numerous colonies around the world. Trade
produced enormous profits, which were invested in new industries.

b) A new mentality.
The British bourgeoisie
was more open to
investment, business
risk and the pursuit of
profit. Parliament
supported these
attitudes with laws that
were favourable to
business and trade.
c) Abundance of iron
and coal. The British
countyside was rich
with iron and coal
deposits, which were
necessary to build and
run the new factories.

2- The First Industrial Revolution
2.1.- From workshop to
factory
Until the 18th century, most
products were made by
artisans in small workshops
using simple tools. Each
artisan made the entire product
by hand.
printer

In Britain in the late 18th century,
several machines were invented that
manufactured proucts much more
quickly. These machines were often
huge and needed to be housed in
large spaces. Consequently,
workshops were replaced by
factories, which were large
buildings in which workers operated
machines.

The first machines were powered by
hydraulic energy, but after James
Watt had invented the steam engine
they became steam-powered, using
coal as an energy source.

With the rise of
factories, industrial
activities were
concentrated in
certain places. The
manufacturing
process changed as
well: each worker
specialised in a
single task in tjhe
production process.
This system is
known as the
division of labour.
Workers had fixed
timetables and
worked at the speed
required by the
machines.

The division of labour
increased productivity: each
worker produced more than
an artisan could in the same
amount of time. Manufacturing
costs decreased, causing the
prices of products decrease
as well.

2.2- The textile industry
The cotton grown in
Britain's colonies
provided Bristish industry
with cheap and abundant
raw material.
The textil industry was
the first to introduce
technical innovation in
spinning (mechanical
spinners developed by
James Hargreaves,
Richard Arkwright and
Samuel Crompton) and
weaving (john Kay's
flying shuttle and
Edmund Cartwright's
mechanical loom).

Mechanical loom

When machines became
steam-powered, British textile
production expanded. In 1800,
approximately 350,000 people
worked in cotton spinning and
weaving factories.
Britisn cotton products were
cheap and wll-made, and they
flooded international markets.
The textile boom also
increased activity in other
sectors, such as agriculture
(which provided raw materials
for textile products) and the
iron industry (which provided
raw materials for factory
machines).

2.3- The iron industry
Until the early 18th
century, most iron used
in Britain was imported
from Sweden, and was
very expensive. I became
cheaper after 1709 when
Abraham Darby invented
a blast furnace to smelt
iron using products
derived from coal, which
was abundant in Britain.

In the late 18th century, Hery Cort
invented a new type of furnace for
making large amounts of wrought
iron. Wrought iron was a stron pure
iron that could be bent easily to
make chains or nails.
Irons manufacturing grew greatly
during the Industrial Revolution,
because there was so much
demand for machines and tools.

2.4- Economic liberalism
The new economic
doctrine of liberalism
spread widely during the
early stages of the
Industrial Revolution. This
was based on the theories
developed by the
Scotsman Adam Smith in
his book, The Wealth of
Nations (1776).

According to Smith, economic activity should be governed by the
principle of economic freedom, that is, freedom to create
companies, hire workers and set the conditions and prices of
products. In his opinion, the guilds of the Old Regime were an
obstacle to economic growth.

Smith argued that the state should not interven in the economy, as
the economy adjusts itself naturally by means of the invisible hand.

This refers to the way prices and salaries are
regulated by the law of the supply and
demand. For example, if there is a high
supply of products or labour and low demand,
prices and salaries go down. On the other
hand, si supply is low and demand is high,
prices and salaries rise.

Adam Smith was in favour
of the division in labour
(in which each worker
specialised in a single
stage of the production
process), as this practice
increased production and
productivity.

3- The tranport revolution
3.1.- Advances in
navigation
British industrial
production grew rapidly.
Fast, safe transport was
necessary to ensure that
factories received
supplies, and that their
products could be
distributed.
Before the 18th century,
road travel was
uncomfortable, slow and
dangerous.

After 1750, new roads were built and
old roads were repaired, but river
travel was still cheaper and safer.
Between 1770 and 1830, numerous
canals were constructed especially
for the transport of high-volume
cargo, such as coal.

776).The steam engine
was soon used in
navigation. In 1807, the
American Robert Fulton
launched the first line of
commercial steamboats.
At first, steamboats were
only used for river travel.
Cliper ships, which were
large, save sailboats,
continued to dominate the
seas.

3.2- The railway age
The railway was made possible by two advances of the Industrial
Revolution:
- The steam engine, which was used to power locomotives.
- Iron, the raw material used to build trains and railways.

In 1814, the English engineer George
Stephenson built a steam-powered
locomotive to transport coal between mines. In
1825, the first cargo railway line was built in
England. In 1830, the first public transport
railway was opened, running between Liverpool
and Manchester.

Technical advances
made the railway a fast,
safe and cheap means of
transport. It had a great
impact on
industrialisation.
For example, it prompted
mining by increasing the
demand for coal
consumption, while the
iron industry had to
supply the iron needed to
build trains and railways.
At the same time, the
railway provided a cheap
and efficient way of
getting goods to their
markets.

Railways were built all over the world, including long distance
intercontinental railways. For example, the Trans-Siberian
Railway, built between 1891 and 1905, connected the city of
Moscow in the west of Russia with Vladivostok in the far east.

3.3- The impact of the transport revolution
The new means of tranport were faster and safer, and could carry
bigger loads. They had a massive social and economic impact:
- Trade. Transport times and costs were reduced, which was a great
stimulus to world trade. It also became much easier for people to
travel.

- Specialisation in the world economy. Industrialised countries
specialised in manufacturing and exporting products. The colonies
provided raw materials to industrialised countries.

- Mining, metallurgy and the iron industry. These industries
were strengthened because they provided the raw materials for
building the new means of transport.

- Daily life.
Nutrition
improved, as
food could be
transported
longer
distances. It
became much
easier to
emigrate to a
distant part of
the world.
Global Migration,
1840-1900

4- The Second Industrial Revolution
From about 1870, during
the Second Industrial
Revolution, the
international economy
grew rapidly thanks to
several factors

4.1- New energy
sources and
industries
Two new energy
sources had a fuge
impact:
- Electricity. This
was used in industry
to power machines. It
was also used to
power the electric
railway, underground
trains and trams, and
new forms of
communication like
the telephone and
cinema.

- Petroleum. The
first oil wells were
drilled in 1859.
This energy source
grew in importance
with the invention
of the combustrion
engine, which was
used to power
automobiles.

The iron an stell industry and the
chemical and electrical industries
grew in importance.
- The iron and steel industry. This
industry expanded following the
invention of the converter, which
could produce large amounts of
steel at a low price.
The Bessemer process was the
first inexpensive industrial process
for the mass-production of steel
from molten pig iron. The key
principle is removal of impurities
from the iron by oxidation with air
being blown through the molten
iron.

- The chemical industry.
Raw materials, like petroleum
and rubber, were used to
marke new products, such as
pharmaceuticals, synthetics
(rubber and artificial colours),
and dynamite.

- The electrical industry.
Electricity was produced and
distributed on a large scale.
The United States and
Germany strenghened their
position as leading industrial
powers.

4.2- Large companies and modern banking
When the Industrial Revolution began, most companies were small
and owned by a single persone or familiy. However, family,
businesses generally did not earn enough to buy new machines and
hire more workers.
To solve this problem, corporations were created. In corporations,
the capital of the company is divided into shares. Shares are traded
on the stock market, and whoever buys them participates in the
company as a shareholder.

Banks becamekey institutions.
They lent money to companies
and became intermediaries
between private individuals and
companies. Individuals saved
their money in banks, and
banks invested this money in
industry and other businesses.
This was the birth of financial
capitalism.
The J. P. Morgan
& Company bank
building in
Manhattan in
1915

4.3- New systems of production
In the late 19th century, new systems of production were adopted:
- Taylorism. The engineer Frederick W. Taylor invented a production
process, which was divided into small tasks that were timed. Each
worker specialised in a certain task and was paid according to the
work they completed.

- The assembly
line was used by
the businessman
Henry Ford in his
automobile
factories. Products
were passed from
one worker to the
next along an
assembly line.
This eliminated
the time that a
worker wasted
between tasks and
increased their
output.

- Mass production. Ford's use of the assembly line prepared the
way for massa production. Numerous identical parts of an item
were manufactured before all the different parts were brought
together to assemble the final product. In this way, large quantities
of goods could be made at reduced production costs.

As business was
nowcarried out on a
much larger scale,
extremely large of
amounts of capital were
required. Different types
of corporate groups
emerged from mergers
and agreements between
companies:
a) Cartel
b) Holding company
c) Trust

a) Cartel.
This is an
association
of
companies
in the same
line of
business
who reach
an
agreement
to control
production
and
distribution,
and to set
prices.

b) Holding company. This
type of company controls
other companies because it
owns most of their shares.

c) Trust. This is an association of companies that all together cover
all the stages in the manufacture of a product. Their goal is to
control the market and eliminate competition.

Governments sometimes
had to pass laws to
regulate cartels and trusts
because they created
unfaier monopolies.

5- The spread of the Industrial Revolution
5.1.- The
Industrial
Revolution in
Europe
In Europe, early
industrial
development
mainly took
place in the north
and the north-
west. There was
little
industrialisation
in the rest of
Europe:

- Belgium was the first country after
Britain to industrialise. It benefitted
from abundant natural resources, a
tradition of craftsmanship, French
investment in coal mines, and
government suport for railway
buiding. The main industries were
textiles, and iron and steel.

- Germany. Before German
unification in 1871,
industrialisation was solwed
down by existence of many
small states. The
Zollverein (1834), a
customs union of several
states, was an attempt to
overcome trade barriers
and create a large domestic
market. In Germany, there
was an alliance between
nobles and the industrial
bourgeoise, while the state
played a role in promotig
industrial development. The
main industries were iron
and steel, and metallurgy.
BASF-
chemical
factories
(Ludwigs
hafen,
Germany,
1881)
Zollverein | German customs union | B

- France. Industrialisation began between about 1830 and 1850.
France did not become as industrialised as Britain because of a
number of factors, such as the survival of many small independent
farmers, the importance of traditional artisanal activity, and slow
population growth.
- Sweden had an important iron industry.

5.2- Industrialisation in the United States
In the late 19th century, the United States became a great industrial
power due to several factors:
- Extensive agricultural production. Land was abundant and labour
was scarce, leading to rapid mechanisation in agriculture.

- Abundant natural
resources. These
included iron, coal and
petroleum.
- Specialised
production. The
industrial north was
supplied with cotton from
the agrarian south, and
food products from the
west.

- A large domestic market. This was
aided by the rapid construction of a
railway network that ran from coast to
coast.
- Innovation. Technical advances, new
systems of production and new types of
companies were adopted quickly.

5.3- Japan under
Emperor Meiji
In the mid-19th century,
Japan had been in
isolation for centuries.
Then, in the Meiji period
(1868-1912), Emperor
Meiji ended feudalism and
brought Japan into the
Industrial Age.

Japan became
industrialised in the
late 19th and the
early 20th
centuries. In Japan,
respect for tradition
was combined with
the incorporation of
modern technology.
Japan opened itself
to foreign influence
with the training of
Japanese
technicians in
western
universities, and
the arrival of
foreign consultants.

Japanese
industrialisation was
driven by the state,
which built
industries and
railways and
supported private
businessmen. In the
late 19th century,
large industrial
corporations were
formed under family
control. Theses
corporations
dominated several
industries as well as
the railway sector.

The main industries in Japan were textiles, whose products were
exported, and heavy industry, which was connected to Japanese
military expansion.

5.4- Russia
Russian
industrialisation began
in the late 19th century,
and was driven by
several factors: state
investment in heavy
industry and the
railway; foreign
investment, especially
in basic industry and
mining; and state
protectionism, which
heavily taxed imports in
order to favour the
growth of Russian
industry.

6- The effects of industrialisation
5.1.- Population growth
Throughou the 19th century, European population grew quickly.
Europe's population doubled, from around 200 million inhabitants in
1800 to just 400 million in 1900.

There were two main
causes for this growth:
- The death rate
decreased due to an
improved food supply,
medical advances, and
improvements in public
hygiene. For example,
there was better sewage,
rubish collection and
available drinking water,
while numerous new
hospitals were built. In
Western Europe, life
expectancy at birth
increased from 35 years
in 1800 to 50 years in
1900.

- The birth rate
remained high in most of
Europe until the 1870s.
As a result of the
Industrial Revolution
many people had
improved economic
prospects; they got
married younger and had
more childre.

6.2- An age of migration
The Industrial Revolution
caused farm work to
become increasingly
mechanised, and made
cities the centres of
production.
Many peasants migrated
to cities ein search of
work, which led to
intense urbanisation in
Europe. In 1800, only
10% of the population
lived in cities, but the late
19th century, the
proportion was 40%

At the time, cities did not have the capacity to absorb all of Europe's
growing rural population. As a result, 60 million Europeans
emigrated to other continents between 1800 and 1924. The
transport revolution made this large-scale movement of people
possible.

Two phases of transoceanic migration can be distinguished:
- Up to 1870, most emigrants were British and northern European.
- Between 1870 and 1914, many emigrants were Italian, Spanish,
Greek and Turkish.

Most Europeans
migrated to
America,
especially to the
United States
(which received
almost 60% of
European
emigrants), as
well to Canada,
Brazil and
Argentina.
Others migrated
to Australia and
New Zealand.

7- The class system
7.1.- A new society
Under the Old Regime,
the three estates were
distinguished by their
birth and privileges. In
contrast, industrial
society was divided
into three social
classes:
- the upper social
class, which consisted
of the aristocracy and
the high bourgeoisie;
- the middle class;
- and the lower class.

In theory, each could move from one class to another, but many
people's economic circumstances made this impossible.
Industrial society was based on the principle of judicial equality.
Men were judged by the same laws and courts, and there were few
legal barriers preventing them from holding public office.

However, in practice there was
great inequality. Women were
subordinate to men (either to
their fathers or husbands).
Economic inequality seprated
those had property and financial
resources from those who did
not.

7.2- The decline of the
aristocracy
In the 19th century, the
aristocracy lost dominance
when its rights over the peasants
were abolished, and it began to
pay taxes. Moreover, the wealth
of most aristocrats was still
based on land ownership so they
did not benefit from business
expansion.
However, until the 20th century,
many aristocrats still held leading
positions in government, justice
and the military. They maintained
a luxurious lifestyle that the
bourgeoisie imitated.

7.3- The emergence of the bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie became the most powerful class in industrial society.
Industrialists and bankers formed the 'high boureoisie'. Businessmen,
high officials and lawyers belonged to the bourgeoisie.

The bourgeoisie lived in new
neighbourhoods on the
outskirts of cities, with
comfortable homes
surrounded by gardens and
parks. Leisure activities such
as the theatre, the opera and
horse racing became
popular.
Members of the bourgeoisie
often attributed their wealth
to their 'bourgeoisie
values', such as hard work,
making saving and enjoying
the security of family life. In
many countries, the
bourgeoisie made religion a
strong feature of public life.

7.4- The middle class
A large middle class for petite
bourgeioisie emerged in the 19th
century industrial cities. This was a
very diverse class of all the people
in the middle layer of the society,
thus, it included tradesmen,
shopkeepers, artisans, teachers,
and mid-level government officials
and army officers.
Many middle class people owned
poperty although they were less
wealthy than the bourgeoisie. They
were often fairly wll educated thanks
to the expansion of schools and
training colleges in the 19th century.

The middle class shared
'bourgeois values' with the
bourgeoisie, like the idea that
work and savings were the key
to acquiring wealth. They did their
best to have their children
educated. In politics, the middle
class supported reforms that
would allow them to participate
fully in political life.
Not everyone had much free
time, but there were cafes,
casinos and social clubs. Both
women and men were great
readers, and the writing of
popular authors like Charles
Dickens was widely serialised in
journals each month.

7.5.- The lower class
Much of the population
did not benefit from the
wealth created by the
Industrial Revolution:
a) Peasants
b) Proletariat
c) House servants

- Peasants still formed
the majority of the
population in the 19th
century, but their
conditions varied greatly
from region to region.
In some parts of
northern and western
Europe, they owned
plots of land.
In the south, there were
more day labourers,
who worked on estates
using basic tools and
earned low wages.
In central and eastern
Europe, peasants were
still serfs until the mid-
19th century.

- The proletariat was the
name given to workers
who only possessed their
labour, which they
exchanged for a salary.
Workers performed tasks
which required little skill.
They received very low
salaries, which they
barely survived on.
Children left school at a
young age to star working
and support the family;
with little education, they
could not change their
position in society. These
children often worked 12
or more hours a day.

- House servants were also members of the lower class. They earned
very low salaries and lived in the attics of the houses that they worked
in. Servants worked more than 12 hours a day, and only had one
afternoon off a week.

8- The labour movement
8.1.- Early labour
movement
The Industrial
Revolution began in
Britain, which was
where workers first
organised themselves
into groups to pressure
factory owners and
governments. Working
together in harsh
conditions, workers saw
the labour movement
as the only way to
improve their situation.

- Luddism. In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, new
technologies made silled workers lose their jobs in the textile industry.
In response, some of them destroyed factory machines. This
developed into the Luddite movement (which was named after a
legendary Enghish figure called Ned Ludd)

- Chartism was the first organised labour movement with political
goals. Between 1838 and 1848, this movement had millions of
supporters and presented its People's Charter to the British
Parliament. The movement demanded labour rights and universal
suffrage, as at that time workers could not vote.

- Trade unions. At the begginning of the 19th century workers formed
mutual aid societies, which helped members in case of illness or
unemployment.

The right of assembly was first granted in Great Britain in 1824, and
after that, the first trade unions appeared. These associations of
workers demanded better salaries, shorter work days, an end to child
labour, etc. Their main means of pressure was the strike, in which
worlers refused to work until certain demands were met.

8.2.- Marxism and anarchism
Marxism is named after one of its
founders, the German phiplopher Karl
Marx. Together with Friedrich Engels,
Marx published the Communist
Manifiesto in 1848.

According to Marxism, there was a class struggle between opressors
an the opressed in industrial societies.
The bourgeoisie were the oppressors because they owned the means
of production and exploited workers for profit. The oppressed were the
workers, who sold their only possession, their labour

Marx proposed a revolution in order to destroy capitalism and give
power to workers. There would first be a stage of proletarian
dictatorship, in which the state would control society. Then, a
communist society could be established, without social classes or
private property of the means o production.At that point, the state
would disappear.
Marx also thought that labour parties and trade unions should
participate in politics. In consequence, socialist parties were
developed from 1875.

The Frenchman Pierre-
Joseph Proudhon ant
the Russian Mikhail
Bakunin were the
founders of anarchism.
Anarchists oppossed
any form of state, and
hoped to replace it with
voluntay associations.
They believed in
collective use of
property, and they
rejected political parties
and elections. Instead,
they favoured trade
unions and strikes as
revolutionary
instruments.

8.3.- The workers' internationals
In 1864, labour organisations created the first International
Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International.
It soon disappeared because of disagreements between socialists and
anarchists.

In 1889, a few socialist leaders founded the Socialist International
(or Second International) to coordinate Marxist labour organisations.
This organisation created well-known labour symbols, such as
International Workers' Day on 1st May of each year.
Over time, pressure from the labour movement helped to achieve
social advances in many countries, such as a shorter work day or
restrictions on child labour.

Unit 3- The Industrial revolution

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