1)The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

a)Eighteenth-Century Origins

i)IR grew out of a long process of development

(1)Expanding Atlantic economy with mercantilist policies provided growing markets

(2)Canal-building boom, proximity to navigable waterways, no tariffs on shipping made shipping products domestically profitable

(3)English farmers high productivity, continually used new methods- bountiful crops + low food prices, ppl could spend money on other goods

(4) Effective central bank, stable and predictable govt, few economic controls and free market, large class of agricultural laborers formed potential labor force

ii)Industrial Revolution describes burst of inventions and technical changed in many industries, went hand in hand with industrial growth

b)The First Factories

i)Pressure to produce more good led to creation of first factories in the cotton textile industry- tech innovations led to new system of production

(1)Putting-out system limitations began to outweigh advantaged w/ new demand, shortage of thread forced focus on improvement

(2)James Hargreaves invented spinning jenny, Richard Arkwright invented water frame (required large factory with many workers)- new ways to manufacture cotton

ii)Cotton goods, body linen became cheaper, bought by all classes

iii)Ppl in cottage industry freed from search for yarn from part-time spinners, thread could be spun on cottage jenny or obtained from factory

(1)Weavers were very well paid, many agricultural laborers became hand-loom weavers

iv)Working conditions in early factories were worse than cottage weavers and spinners

(1)Young, abandoned children forced to “apprentice” in factories- poor pay, appalling hours, physical punishment, locked up nightly in dormitories

v)First modern factories in textile industry during 1770s and 1780s grew out of putting-out system of cottage production, marked beginning of Industrial Rev.

c)The Problem of Energy

i)If water from rivers and streams had remained primary source of power to factories, growth of cotton industry may have been stunted

(1)Human beings and animals continued to perform most work, man behind the plow or woman spinning could only employ horsepower and human muscle in their labor. Could not produce very much

(2)By 18th century shortage of energy severe, wood in short supply, processed wood (charcoal) used by iron industry in huge demand—industry stagnated

d)The Steam Engine Breakthrough

i)Britain looked toward large coal reserves as alternative to vanishing wood. Had been used for heat, but not to produce mechanical energy

ii)As more coal was produced and mines dug deeper, mines filling with water became an issue- pumping necessary, animals moving mechanical pumps

iii)Thomas Savery in 1698 and Thomas Newcomen in 1705 created steam engines, burned coal to produce steam which then operated a pump

iv)James Watt 1763 saw how inefficient pumps were, invented separate condenser to reduce energy waste, by 1780s had made steam engines practical and commercially successful in Britain

v)Humanity had unlimited power, engineers worked to implement powered equipment. Steam-powered factories replaced water-powered factories- textile industry boomed

vi)Iron industry transformed, ironworkers used unlimited coke in new furnaces, Henry Cort’s inventions allowed for iron in every shape and form

(1)Once scarce and expensive, iron became the cheap, basic, indispensable building block of the economy

e)The Coming of the Railroads

i)Second half of 18th century saw growth of roads, freight expensive to ship, ppl preferred rivers and canals for heavy loads—inventors wanted to use steam

ii)Coal industry had been using rails b/c reduced friction and allowed a heavier load to be pulled

iii)George Stephenson 1825 finally built effective locomotive called Rocket, line btwn Liverpool and Manchester created, later more lines built

iv)Railroad reduced cost and uncertainty of overland shipping, markets became larger and nationwide, large markets encouraged large factories

v)Construction of railroads created demand for unskilled labor, growth of urban workers. Village life seemed dull afterward, many moved to towns

vi)Railroads changed outlook and values of society- power and speed of new age

vii)Joseph M.W. Turner and Claude Monet artists, inventors became celebs

f)Industry and Population

i)1851 Great Exposition held at newly built Crystal Palace. Estimated 20% of world output on industrial goods came from England- first industrial nation

ii)Gross national product increased fourfold, British ppl increased wealth and national income dramatically

iii)Pop boomed from 9 million 1780 to 21 million by 1851, growing population consumed growing production

iv)Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) by Thomas Malthus argued population grows faster than food supply, ppl had to show restraint

v)Davis Ricardo’s “iron law of wages” b/c of pop growth, wages would always sink to subsistence level—economics dubbed “dismal science”

vi)Race btwn economy and total population, outcome in doubt led to pessimism

2)Industrialization in Continental Europe

a)National Variations

i)In 1750 all countries fairly close together in industrialization, Britain only slightly ahead of France

ii)Britain opened up a noticeable lead over all continental countries by 1800, widened as British IR accelerated and reached maturity by 1860

iii)Variations in the timing and in the extent of industrialization in the continental powers and the US are apparent

(1)Belgium rich in iron and coal, led in adopting Britain’s new technology

(2)France developed factories gradually, overshadowed by rise of Germany and US

iv)All European states managed to raise industrial levels in the 18th century, most of non-Western world deindustrialized during same period

b)The Challenge of Industrialization

i)18th century time of agricultural improvement, pop increase, foreign trade, cottage industry

ii)At first British industry only slightly ahead of continent, upheavals (begin with French Rev.) on continent disrupted trade, created inflation, and fostered social anxiety—continent further behind Britain in 1815 than 1789

iii)Widening gap made it harder for other countries to follow in GB’s footsteps

(1)Brit tech very advanced, very few engineers outside England understood it

(2)Steam power had grown expensive, ppl had difficulty finding money to invest

(3)Shortage of laborers used to working in factories, govt slow to encourage

iv)After peace in 1815, continent began to face up to Brit challenge

(1)rich tradition of putting out enterprise, capitalists, skilled urban artists-gave ability to adapt and survive in changing market conditions

(2)Did not have to develop their own advanced tech, “borrow” new GB tech

(3)Strong, independent governments which did not fall under foreign political control, could fashion economic policies to serve own interests

c)Agents of Industrialization

i)British tried to keep their technical secrets to themselves, illegal for artisans and mechanics to leave country

(1)William Cockerill established factories, skilled, technical workers escaped Britain to join him bringing latest plans and secrets

(2)British technicians and skilled workers power force in spread of early industrialization

ii)Talented entrepreneurs such as Fritz Harkort took great effort to match British industry thru large investments and imports. Illustrates great efforts to duplicate British achievements but also the difficulty of the task

iii) Government helped business ppl in continental countries

(1)Tariff protection against imports, built roads and canals

(2)Bore cost of building railroads, Belgium unified network stimulated development of heavy industry

(3)German journalist Friedrich List National System of Political Economy (1841)- industry utmost importance b/c manufacturing means of increasing ppls well being, nationalist, industry defended nation

(a)Railroad builing, tariffs to protect infant industries. customs union to trade btwn German states w/o tariffs. Economic nationalism

iv)Banks played a larger role, used to avoid industrial involvement as too risky

(a)Belgain banks became incorporated, limited liability- could not lose more than what shareholder originally invested- attracted shareholders

(b)Mobilized investment resources, promoted industrial development

(c)Credit Moblier of Paris (bank)- Isaac and Emile Pereire- build railroads across France and Europe

(2)Combined efforts of skilled workers, entrepreneurs govts, industrial banks all meshed successfully until crash of 1873

3)Capital and Labor

a)The New Class of Factor Owners

i)Constant battle to cut production costs and stay afloat, profits reinvested

ii)Early industrialists benefited from tremendous amount of opportunity, but as factories and firms grew larger opportunities declined

iii)Formal education for sons and meals became more important as a means of success and advancement, but was very expensive

iv)Britain by 1830, France and Germany by 1860- industrialists more likely to have inherited their well-established enterprises

v)Widening gap btwn themselves and their workers- class consciousness

b)The New Factor Workers

i)Conditions of workers generally improved after 1850, England b4 1850 special

ii)William Blake, William Wordsworth poets + critics of early factories, Luddites handicraft workers who attacked factories in N England

iii)Malthus and Ricardo: workers would earn only enough to stay alive

iv)Friedrich Engels Condition of the Working Class in England 1844- influential charge of middle-class exploitation of workers and increasing worker poverty. “I charge the English middle class w/ mass murder, wholesale robbery…”

v)Only after 1820 did real wages rise substantially, by 1850 there was considerable improvement- yet it was hard won and slow in coming

c)Conditions of Work

i)First factories were cotton mills in 1770s, work unappealing to cottage workers

ii)Cottage workers used to setting own tempo, whole family worked together, worked in spurts. Factory work monotonous—great reluctance and fear

iii)Cottage workers reluctance prompted early mill owners to turn to abandoned children who were badly children and overworked

(1)1802 pauper apprenticed banned by Parliament, factories moved to urban areas where they used steam as opposed to rivers in countryside

iv)Modified system by carrying over working traditions to factories

(1)Came and worked at mills and mines as a family unit, made surroundings more tolerable, children and adults worked same long hours side by side

(2)Adult workers not interested in regulating child labor at first

v)Some enlightened employers and social reformers against child labor

(1)Robert Owens testified 1816 on evils of child labor- stunted growth, deformed limbs, decreased ability to learn

(2)Factory Act of 1833-regulated factory work day for children, mandatory elementary education

(3)Factory act broke pattern of while family working together b/c efficiency standards required workers take shifts

vi)Many manufacturers and builders hired workers thru subcontractors whose relationship with workers was closer and more personal

d)The Sexual Division of Labor

i)Family employment carried over into early factories, but collapsed as child labor was restricted. New sexual division of labor slowly rose

ii)man emerged as primary wage earner, woman found limited job opportuntities and focused on housework, childcare, craftwork

iii)Virtually no occupation open to women paid a wage sufficient for a person to live independently, en dominated better paying and promising jobs

iv)Reasons for sexual division

(1)