The Beginnings of Industrialization PDF

The Beginnings of Industrial ization SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY The changes that began in Industrial factors of lhe Industrial Revolution started Britain paved the way for Revolution production in England and soon spread to modern in...

The Beginnings of Industrial ization SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY The changes that began in Industrial factors of lhe Industrial Revolution started Britain paved the way for Revolution production in England and soon spread to modern industrial societies. enclosure factory other countries. crop rotation entrepreneur industrialization SETTING THE STAGE In the United States, France, and Latin America, politi- cal revolutions brought in new governments. A different type of revolution now transformed the way people worked. The Industrial Revolution refers to the greatly increased output of machine-made goods that began in England in the middle 1700s. Before the Industrial Revolution, people wove textiles by hand. Then, machines began to do this and other jobs. Soon the Industrial Revolution spread from England to Continental Europe and North America. Industrial Revolution Begins in Britain In 1700, small farms covered England's landscape. Wealthy landowners, how- ever, began buying up much of the land that village farmers had once worked. u ::1~:t2ttt·'."! The large landowners dramatically improved farming methods. These innova- Use the graphic organizer 1 tions amounted to an agricultural revolution. online to take notes on important events in The Agricultural Revolution Paves the Way After buying up the land of vil- Britain's industrialization. lage farmers, wealthy landowners enclosed their land with fences or hedges. The increase in their landholdings enabled them to cultivate larger fields. Within these larger fields, called enclosures, landowners experimented with more productive seeding and harvesting methods to boost crop yields. The enclosure movement had two important results. First, landowners tried new agricultural methods. Second, large landowners forced small farmers to become tenant farm- ers or to give up farming and move to the cities. Jethro Tull was one of the first of these scientific farmers. He saw that the usual way of sowing seed by scattering it across the ground was wasteful. Many seeds failed to take root. He solved this problem with an invention called the seed drill in about 170 I. It allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths. A larger share of the seeds took root, boosting crop yields. Rotating Crops The process of crop rotation proved to be one of the best devel- opments by the scientific farmers. The process improved upon older methods of crop rotation, such as the medieval three-field system. One year, for example, a farmer might plant a field with wheat, which exhausted soil nutrients. The next year he planted a root crop, such as turnips, to restore nutrients. This might be followed in tum by barley and then clover. The Industrial Revolution 283 ► An English farmer plants his fields in the early -. 1700s using a seed drill. -~:: :1--~-- -~----~ ;;r;~-:- _··:.-.:~ "-'=-··,.;..';.~;~~=~~:· Livestock breeders improved their methods too. In the 1700s, for example, Robert Bakewell increased his mutton (sheep meat) output by allowing only his best sheep to breed. Other farmers followed Bakewell 's lead. Between I 700 and 1786, the average weight for lambs climbed from 18 to 50 pounds. As food sup- plies increased and living conditions improved, England's population mushroomed. An increasing population boosted the demand for food and goods such as cloth. As farmers lost their land to large enclosed farms, many became factory workers. I) ~ Howdidpoptf Why the Industrial Revolution Began in England In addition to a large popula- lation growth lpil' the Industrial tion of workers, the small island country had extensive natural resources. Revolution? Industrialization, which is the process of developing machine production of goods, required such resources. These natural resources included water power and coal to fuel the new machines iron ore to construct machines, tools, and buildings rivers for inland transportation harbors from which merchant ships set sail In addition to its natural resources, Britain had an expanding economy to support industrialization. Businesspeople invested in the manufacture of new inventions. Britain's highly developed banking system also contributed to the country's indus- trialization. People were encouraged by the availability of bank loans to invest in new machinery and expand their operations. Growing overseas trade, economic prosperity, and a climate of progress led to the increased demand for goods. Britain's political stability gave the country a tremendous advantage over its neighbors. Though Britain took part in many wars during the 1700s, none occurred on British soil. Their military successes gave the British a positive attitude. Parliament also passed laws to help encourage and protect business ventures. Other countries had some of these advantages. But Britain had all the factors of pro- duction, the resources needed to produce goods and services that the Industrial Revolution required. They included land, labor, and capital (or wealth). Inventions Spur Industrialization In an explosion of creativity, inventions now revolutionized industry. Britain's textile industry clothed the world in wool, linen, and cotton. This industry was the first to be transformed. Cloth merchants boosted their profits by speeding up the process by which spinners and weavers made cloth. Changes in the Textile Industry As you will learn in the feature on textile tech- nology on page 285, by 1800, several major inventions had modernized the cotton industry. One invention led to another. In 1733, a machinist named John Kay made a shuttle that sped back and forth on wheels. This flying shuttle, a boat-shaped piece 284 Chapter 9  History.·: Depth -----------------------~---~--~~---- Inventions in America In the United States, American inventors worked at making railroad·travel more comfortable, inventing adjustable upholstered seats. They also revolutionized agriculture, manu- facturing, an~ comm~nications: 1831 Cyru"s McCormick's reaper boosted American wheat. prod!,lction. 1837 Samuel F. B. Morse, a New England painter, first sent electrical ~ignals over a telegraph. 1851 I. M. Singer_improl(ed the sewing machine by inventing a foot treadl_e (see photograph). 1876 ·scottish-b~rn in~entor Alexander Graham Bell patented the te_lephone. · '7i" hmhsocialstudi es.com INTERNET ACTIVITY Go online to create a photo exhibit on American invehtions·of · the 19th century. Include the name of the inv_ ento! and the date vyith each photograp_ h. of wood to which yarn was attached, doubled the work a weaver could do in a day. Because spinners could not keep up with these speedy weavers, a cash prize attracted contestants to produce a better spinning machine. Around 1764, a textile worker named James Hargreaves invented a spinning wheel he named after his daughter. His spinning jenny allowed one spinner to work eight threads at a time. At first, textile workers operated the flying shuttle and the spinning jenny by hand. Then, Richard Arkwright invented the water frame in 1769. This machine used the waterpower from rapid streams to drive spinning wheels. In 1779, Samuel Crompton combined features of the spinning jenny and the water frame to produce the spinning mule. The spinning mule made thread that was stronger, finer, and more consistent than earlier spinning machines. Run by waterpower, Edmund --=r summarizill Cartwright's power loom sped up weaving after its invention in 1787.