British Industrial Revolution

• Before 1750, Britain was mainly an agricultural society with small, localized manufacturing.
• Workdays were dictated by sunrise and sunset.
• Companies dealing with iron, coal, cotton, and wool were the first to experience the Industrial Revolution.
• Hygiene was poor, with contaminated water and extremely poor air quality.
• Britain had an extensive merchant fleet and global trade routes, including involvement in the slave trade.

Start of the Industrial Revolution

• Factories and mills became viable, requiring large workforces for machine operation and mass production.
• Steam and electricity facilitated travel, drawing people from rural areas to cities.
• Industrialization caused a major shift, with 80% of the British population residing in urban centers, a stark contrast to the 80% rural population in 1750. This shift is known as Urbanization.
• The expansion of cities and industries led to the rise of the 'middle class'.
• Britain industrialized faster than the Netherlands and France due to abundant resources like iron and coal, and a larger population.
• The Dutch primarily focused on fishing, and France experienced a revolution in the 1790s, slowing their industrial development.

Rise of the British Empire

• The British Empire conquered numerous colonies, gaining access to diverse materials.
• Britain possessed a superior army, aiding in maintaining control over its colonies.
• Major British cities were often located near coal mines.
• The invention of railways provided affordable travel, which therefore the population could grow.

Reasons for British Industrial Primacy

• Britain's abundance of coal resources was unmatched by other European powers.
• They had a strong naval presence, enabling waterborne trade.
• "The East India Company" was Britain’s largest trading company.
• Britain's stable government and protection of individual rights fostered innovation.
• A sound economy and banking system supported new experiments and factory construction.

The Agricultural Revolution

• Agricultural changes from the mid-1600s, driven by the food demands of a increasing population, set the stage for the Industrial Revolution.
• Forests were cleared, marshes drained, and pastures converted to crop fields, expanding farmland by 30% over 100 years.
• Over 4,000 Enclosure Acts consolidated small plots into large, privately owned farms, ending communal farming practices.
• Displaced farmers migrated to cities and became the industrial workforce.
• Charles Townshend's ‘four-field crop rotation system’ in 1730 improved soil fertility.
• New machinery (seed drills, reapers, threshers) and fertilizer use increased farming efficiency and profits in the early to mid-1800s.
• Robert Bakewell's selective animal breeding resulted in stronger livestock for meat and wool.

Developments in Cotton, Wool and Iron Production

• Manufacturing was initially based in family-run workshops known as 'cottage industries'.

Cotton and Wool Production

• John Kay created the 'Flying Shuttle' in 1773, increasing loom efficiency and reducing labor needs.
• In 1765, James Hargreaves invented the 'Spinning Jenny', able to spin 8 threads at once.
• Richard Arkwright's 'Water Frame' in 1768 was an improved, water-powered version of the Spinning Jenny.
• The 'Spinning Mule,' invented by Samuel Crompton in 1779, combined features of earlier inventions to spin multiple yards of yarn from a single power source.
• Britain became the center of cotton production, importing raw cotton from India and the US by the mid-1760s.
• Steam power allowed mills to be located in cities, moving away from water wheel power.
• Skilled weavers were replaced by machine operators.
• Workers commonly worked up to 16 hours a day for low pay, with women and children frequently hired due to lower wages.
• Working conditions in factories were typically poor.

Iron Production

• Before the Industrial Revolution, smelting iron required substantial charcoal use.
• Wood supplies for charcoal were dwindling.
• Abraham Darby's 'coke', created by baking coal, was invented in 1709.
• By 1796, Britain produced 125,000 tonnes of iron.
• The first practical use for steam engines was pumping water out of deep coal and iron mines in 1698.

Developments In Transport

• Richard Trevithick created the first steam locomotive in 1801, initially used on roads.
• Trevithick drove the first steam-powered locomotive on rails in 1804.
• George Stephenson invented ‘Stephenson's Rocket’ in 1829, it became the first commercial steam engine .

Steam Ships

• The American Robert Fulton created the first commercial steam ship in 1807.
• Steamships were crossing the Atlantic Ocean using solely steam power by 1838.
• Steamships replaced sailboats and reduced cargo space due to coal storage needs, they were faster and more reliable.

The Internal Combustion Engine

• Belgian engineer Etienne Lenoir invented the basis for all Internal Combustion Engines in 1859.
• The engine sucked coal gas and air into a cylinder, that was ignited, pushing a metal piston that turned a wheel
• German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach experimented with gasoline as a new fuel.
• Daimler first used gasoline in 1885 to power a wooden bike called the Daimler Reitwagen.
• Karl Benz invented the first gasoline powered car called the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in the following year.
• Henry Ford used the 'assembly line technique' to mass produce affordable cars.
• The ICE was developed into a light, powerful engine, which was capable of flying a small plane in 1903.

Other Improvements and Innovations

• Roads were poorly maintained in Britain in the early 1700s.
• Turnpike trusts managed some roads, collecting tolls for maintenance.
• Industrialists advocated for better roads.
• By the 1830s, over 1,000 turnpike trusts led to improved roads and faster travel.
• The Ironbridge (1779) was designed by Thomas Pritchard and built by Abraham Darby.
• Parliament approved 438 new railway lines during Railway Expansion (1844-1846).
• Increased iron demand and 200,000 men were employed to lay tracks due to employment growth.
• More than 40 million train journeys were made in Britain in 1848.
• Railways made holiday travel more common and improved access to fresh commodities.
• Railways needed strong, reliable bridges to carry cargo.
• The demand for railway bridges increased iron production.
• Over 100 canals were built across Britain, linking major rivers for transport.
• Canals enabled horse-drawn barges to transport goods.
• Coastal shipping was replaced canals, canals made transport faster which consequently lower coal prices.
• Cheaper coal led to rapid growth in cotton mills and increased profits for mill owners.

Expansion of factories and mass production

• Technology developments around the 1850s made skilled workers less valuable.
• Cotton became Britain's main export, surpassing wool.
• Production centers became factory towns, with worker housing nearby.
• Manchester's population grew significantly between 1777 and 1851.
• Salaries increased from £22 in 1750 to £44 in 1860.
• Children and men were payed less.
• Factories were unsafe.
• Workers endured long hours, unsanitary areas, and extreme temperatures until parliamentary reform began to regulate working conditions.
• Henry Ford created the assembly line to mass produce cars, while maintaining high wages and kept car prices low.

Working Conditions

Britains ‘dark, satanic’ Mills

• The Industrial Revolution improved living standards at a high cost.
• Industrialists and the middle class benefited the most.
• Many people left rural life for industrial cities, but faced long hours and poor living conditions.
• By 1871, 60% of people in Britain worked in manufacturing, compared to 40% in 1801.
• Factory workers faced harsh conditions, low wages, and long hours due to profit prioritization of owners.
• No government regulations existed initially.
• Families suffered due to long workdays and children had limited education.
• Poet William Blake coined the term "Dark Satanic Mills" to describe factory conditions.
• Child workers couldn’t attend school due to long work hours, evening and Sunday schools were also ineffective.

Short Term Impacts of the Industrial Revolution

• The population of England and Wales increased from 5.5 million in 1750 to 32.5 million by 1900.
• 54% of the European population lived in major towns and cities in 1981.
• New urban settlements with improved infrastructure replaced overcrowded rooming houses.
• Improvements in agriculture reduced failing crops and helped reduce famine.
• Sport, mass entertainment, railways, and telephones were encouraged.

The emergence of socialism and trade unions

• Trade Unions are a long term effect of the Industrial Revolution.
• Urbanization led to new social classes and divisions.
• Workers demanded better conditions and wages.
• Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels gained popularity among working class people.
• Karl Marx claimed that the Industrial Revolution was driven by 'Capitalism', this led to the beginning of 'Socialism'.
• British Parliament reformed the 'Poor Law Amendment' act in 1834, the act stated that any poor or homeless people had to enter a government workhouse, but workhouses were poor and workers were made to work extremely hard.
• Reform Bills in 1832 extended the right to vote to all men aged 21+ (except criminals).
• In 1838 a group published the People’s Charter, this gave rise to ‘Chartism’.
• Chartism was the idea of workers rights, like ventilation and fair wages.
• Unions are associated with all jobs; unions used strength in numbers to demand better rights for workers.
• Friendly Societies were a form of Trade Unions, workers paid to join these clubs and the small pay was used when one member got sick.
• The Combination Act of 1799 and 1800 banned Trade Unions.
• Trade Unions were reinstated after 1825.
• Robert Owen established ‘Grand National Consolidated Trade Union; he banned child labour, good housing for workers, fair wages, and sick pay.
• The Factory Acts enforced rights for children which included children under the age of 9 could not work, no child under 13 can work more than 48 hours a week and children 14-18 could only work up to 69 hours a week. Children also had to receive 2 hours of schooling

Long Term Effects of the Industrial Revolution

• Historians often mark the beginning of World War I in 1914 as the end of the Industrial Revolution.
• Rapid population growth was a short and long term effect
• British colonies were exploited for cheap resources leaving them impoverished .
• The Industrial Revolution significantly impacted environment and left the world dependant on fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.
• By the mid 1900s, atmosphere and environment had taken a hit and management would have to begin
• Rivers were also badly polluted including the river Thames.
• By 1933, salmon could not be found in the river Thames because pollution.
• The Building Acts of 1844 and 1847 improved sanitation by dumping more sewage into the river.
• The toxic river water was still being provided as drinking water for many.
• This led to four serious outbreaks of cholera between 1831 and 1866.
• The situation of pollution was bad.
• Land was polluted and runoff of these chemicals led to the contaminated rivers.
• Deforestation led to the soil to be unstable and infertile.
• The trees that used to live there absorbed rainwater, the disappearance of trees led to more landslides and floods.
• 'Smellbourne' was caused by Household wastes which were dumped in open drains and were flowing through the streets.
• The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was established to build an underground sewerage system and a treatment plant
• The system was activated in February of 1898

Key Words

• Rural/Agrarian Economy: rural-based production, consumption, and sale of agricultural goods.
• Subsistence Farming: growing crops or raising livestock for only one’s purpose.
• Mechanisation: introduction of machines or automatic devices into a process, place or activity
• Urbanisation: increase of people living in towns and cities
• Capitalism: economic and political system controlled by private owners for profit.
• Urban Planning: carefully planned development of cities, better than unregulated
• Socialism: advocates that the means of production should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
• Social Reformers: A person who tries to change something such as a law or social system
• Communism: social organization in which all property is owned by the community and everyone contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

🍫The Cadbury’s: Making worker’s lives and working conditions better

Notes:

• The Cadbury family created Bournville because of inspiration from the Quacker Religion.
• It provided loyalty, so several generations would work in the factories.
• Fresh air was provided for employees unlike in the city.
• There were swimming pools and sports grounds, as well as a school for families.
• Bournville was made to get rid of poverty.
• There would be no alcohol in Bournville.
• Women had to quit after marriage and Women men worked in the factories, and women would take care of the house.
• Children worked in Cadbury

Extra Notes

• The Industrial Revolution lasted from 1750 to 1900 (roughly)
• Steam and coal powered machinery replaced manual labour.
• This made agriculture and industry more efficient, leading to the introduction of CAPITALISM, the current economic system.
• Factories led to the rise of major cities, increasing people living in Manchester.
• Incomes increased