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In the 250 years since it began, the Industrial Revolution has spread from Britain to the rest of Europe, to North America, and around the globe. 4. Industrial-age travelers moved rapidly between countries and countries and continent by train or steamship. Urgent messages flew along telegraph wires. New inventions and scientific “firsts” poured out each year. Between 1830 and 1855, for example, an American Dentist used an anesthetic, or drug that prevents pain during surgery; and American inventor patented the first sewing machine; a French physicist measured the speed of light; and a
Hungarian doctor introduced antiseptic methods to reduce the risk of women dying in childbirth. 5. During the sass, people began to harness new sources of energy. One vital power source was coal, used to develop the steam engine. In 1 712, inventor Thomas Newcomer had developed a steam engine powered by coal to pump water out of the mines. About 1 769, a Scottish engineer James Watt improved on Newcomer’s engine. Watts engine would become a key power source of the Industrial Revolution. The Dairy family of Chalkboard pioneered new methods of producing iron.
In 1709, Abraham Dairy used coal o smelt iron, or separate iron from its ore. When he discovered that coal gave impurities that damaged the iron, Dairy found a way to remove the impurities from coal. These experiments led him to produce better-quality and less expensive iron. Page 202#3-5 3. The four factors that helped bring about the Industrial Revolution were: resources, new technology, economic conditions, and political and social conditions. Britain had large supplies of coal to power steam engines. It also had plentiful iron to build the new machines.
In addition to natural resources, a labor supply was necessary. In the sass, Britain had plenty of skilled mechanics that were eager to meet the growing demand for new, practical inventions. Technology was a very important part of the Industrial Revolution, but it did not cause it. Trade from a growing overseas empire helped the British economy prosper. Beginning with the slave trade, the business class accumulated capital, or wealth to invest in enterprises such as shipping, mines, railroads, and factories. Britain had a stable government that supported economic growth.
It built a strong navy to protect its empire and overseas trade. Although the upper class tended to look down on business people, it did not reject the wealth produced by the new entrepreneurs. 4. The Industrial Revolution took hold in Britain’s largest industry, textiles. In the 16005, cotton cloth imported from India had become popular. British merchants tried to organize a cotton cloth industry at home. They developed putting out system, in which raw cotton was distributed to peasant families who Spun it into thread and then wove the thread into cloth.
Skilled artisans in the towns then finished and dyed the cloth. Inventors came up with a string of remarkable devices that revolutionized the British textile industry. 5. As production increased, entrepreneurs needed faster and cheaper methods of moving goods some place to place. Some capitalists invested in turnpikes, which were privately built roads that charged a fee to travelers who used them. Others had canals dug to link rivers or connect inland towns with costal ports. Engineers also built stronger Bridges and upgraded harbors to help the expanding overseas trade.
The great revolution in transportation, however, was the invention id the steam locomotive. It was the invention that made possible the growth Of the railroads. Other inventors applied steam power to improve shipping. Age 207#3-5 3. The Industrial Revolution brought rapid arbitration, or the movement of people to cities Changes in farming, soaring population growth, and an ever- increasing demand for workers led masses of people to migrate from farms to cities. Almost overnight, small towns around coal or iron mines mushroomed into cities.
Other cities grew up around the factories that entrepreneurs built in once-quiet markets towns. The British market town of Manchester numbered 1 7,000 people in 1 7505. Within a few years, it exploded into a center of the textile industry. Populations soared to 40,000 by 780 and 70,000 by 1801. Visitors described the “cloud odd coal vapor that polluted the air, the pounding noise Of steam engines, and the filthy stench Of its river. 4. A) The heart of the new industrial city was the factory. There, the technology of the machine age imposed a harsh new way of life on workers.
The factory system differed greatly framework. In rural villages, people worked hard, but their work varied according to the season. In factories, workers faced a ridged schedule set by the factory whistle. ‘M/while the engine runs,” said and observer, “people must work-??men, women, and children are yoked together tit iron and steam. ” Working hours were long. Shifts lasted from 12 to 16 hours. Exhausted workers suffered accidents from machines that had no safety devices. They might lose a finger, a limb, or even their lives.
Workers were exposed to other dangers, as well. Coal dust destroyed the lungs of miners, and textile workers constantly breathed air filled with lint. If workers were sick or injured, they lost their jobs. B) Employers often preferred to hire women workers rather than men. They thought women could adapt more easily to machines and were easier to manage than men. More important, hey were able to pay women less than men, even for the same work. Factory work created special problems for women. Their new jobs took them out Of their homes for 12 hours or more a day.
They then returned to crowded slum tenements to feed and clothe their families, clean, and cope with sickness and other problems. Family life had been hard for poor rural cottagers. In industrial towns, it was even grimmer. 5. Reformers pressed for laws to improve working conditions. Workers’ organization called labor unions won the right to bargain with employers for better wages, hours, and working conditions. Eventually, working-class men mined the right to vote, which gave them political power.
Despite all the social problems created by the Industrial Revolution, the industrial age did bring material benefits. As demand for mass-produced grew, new factories opened, creating more jobs. Wages rose so that workers had enough left after paying rent and buying food to by a newspaper or visit a music hall. As the cost of railroad travel fell, people could visit family in other towns. Industrialization has spread around the world today. Often, it begins with great suffering. In the end, however, it produces more material benefits for more people.