Origins of the Industrial Age PDF

Origins of the Industrial Age Why did industrialization begin in western Europe? Why not elsewhere? Western Europe accumulated wealth from fifteenth through eighteenth century This wealth was spread across more classes of people States that had centralized power in hands of strong monarch also cont...

Origins of the Industrial Age Why did industrialization begin in western Europe? Why not elsewhere? Western Europe accumulated wealth from fifteenth through eighteenth century This wealth was spread across more classes of people States that had centralized power in hands of strong monarch also contributed Engaged in military and commercial rivalry Actively promoted industry to manufacture weaponry, ships, etc. Also encouraged commerce for sake of tax revenues Europe’s Population Explosion Several factors led to industrialization, each linked to increase in labor supply eighteenth-century rural population grew enormously Traditional farming system broke up Population explosion did not bring famine, disease, and misery It provided both laborers and consumers of products of economic development By 1914, Europe had 460 million and 200 million others settled throughout world Two major changes in agriculture occurred simultaneously A “green revolution” of new crops New ways of utilizing land and labor Better nutrition meant better health, stronger and taller Europeans Agricultural Revolution Capitalist agriculture, born in England, spread to other areas Powerful forces brought farmers to the marketplace Process of enclosure (claiming previously common land as private) was frequent Dispossessed farmers had to supplement income with weaving, spinning, cottage labor Agricultural revolution of 1700 meant changes in landholding, husbandry By mid-nineteenth century, application of technology to farming increased efficiency Britain First Why did Britain industrialize first? Advantages were not immediately apparent: Netherlands and France were just as wealthy Both had active scientific and intellectual life But there were challenges in both countries: French people had economic obstacles that hampered industrialization French Revolution ironically perpetuated some traditional agricultural/commercial practices Netherlands had sufficient wealth but lacked natural resources (especially coal) Moreover, Britain had several advantages to make it the workshop of the world Labor pool of skilled farmers who could no longer live on the land Large supplies of coal and iron Private capital resources and individual entrepreneurs British state was stable and fostered economic expansion British culture encouraged consumption and permitted social mobility Debt carried little social stigma compared to other societies In England, a fortune accumulated by hard work allowed one to climb the social ladder Technological Advance Cotton Textiles Cotton production was first industry to grow at amazing rate (tenfold in the period from 1760 to 1785) John Kay’s flying shuttle in 1733 allowed weavers to double their output Hargreaves’s spinning jenny (1768) let one work several spindles at once with human energy Richard Arkwright’s spinning machine was powered by water or animals In 1787, Edmund Cartwright developed a power loom Such inventions drastically altered social conditions of the workplace Instead of working at home, workers were moved to factories near waterpower Soon thereafter, steam meant factories could be built anywhere Role emerged for the engineer to build machines and use new power sources Steam Power Roughly the same process took place in steam James Watt’s engine dated from 1760s but was expensive (people were cheaper) Costs of fuel went down thereafter, and steam revolutionized work Weaker, younger, and less-skilled workers could perform the basic tasks Engines replaced people, and workers became “hands” to work machines The New Iron Age Search for better iron showed how one industry prompted change in related ones Until eighteenth century, making iron hadn’t changed much since medieval times Producing iron with steam power required coal Coal mining increased fivefold between 1814 and 1856 Steam engines pumped water and hauled miners in carts to the surface Application of steam technology to mining stoked early industrialization Transportation and Communication Major road building took place in the eighteenth century, especially in England and France Canals were quickly outmoded by railroads, especially steam engines Communication changed as spectacularly as transportation Britain inaugurated penny post in 1840 (though.5 cent cost was very high) First telegraphic message sent from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. in 1844 By 1866, transatlantic cable was operating Systems of roads, canals, rail, and steamships rooted in massive private capital Flow of finance across borders and oceans was matched by flow of labor The Power of Finance After early stages, growth of industrialization required enormous capital In the beginning, family firms dominated industry But outside investment grew steadily from 1860 to World War I (1914) British became international investors who furnished capital for other nations’ industrialization Yet banking families (Barings, Rothschilds) combined finance and blood ties People of same religion/region would often band together for shared capital Banking was risky business, and many nineteenth-century banks failed Financing industry was difficult until there was a safety-net England permitted incorporation in 1844, which protected investors Solving financial acquisition and management was a matter of trial and error, crucial inventions of mind and culture that were as central to industrialization as new technologies Society Transformed Urbanization In nineteenth century, cities grew as centers of manufacturing and industry Most of the shift from rural to urban living occurred in twentieth century However, the process was under way earlier So much growth with so little planning led to urban problems Minimal sanitation No street lighting Wretched housing Poor transportation Scant security Rich and poor alike suffered in filthy, dangerous environment (worse for poor) By the mid-nineteenth century, wealthiest inhabitants were moving to suburbs with gardens Writers criticized industrial cities (Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool) Described stench, filth, inhuman crowding, poverty, immorality Charles Dickens, George Sand, and Émile Zola depicted industrial urban horror In England, parliamentary reports and press finally forced some regulation Continental states were less committed and slower to control urban conditions Changes in Social Structure Industrial Revolution destroyed old division of clergy, nobility, and commoners New industry/commerce created bourgeoisie of traders, capitalists, etc. Stressed the virtues of work, thrift, ambition, and caution By the end of the nineteenth century, bourgeois politicians held highest offices in western Europe Wealthy bourgeoisie emulated the aristocracy, buying estates, arranging marriages Industrialization sharpened the distinction between middle and laboring classes Laborers encompassed different economic levels: Rural laborers (farmers, cottage workers) Miners City workers, etc. Rural workers responded violently to harsh conditions by destroying machinery In England, “Luddites” raided farms to break machinery In France, workers dropped wooden shoes (sabots) into equipment (sabotage) Three distinctions among city workers Artisans (largest group until 1850s) Factory workers (newest, most rapidly growing group) Servants (numerous in the capitals) Workers in middle- or upper-class homes were at employers’ mercy Working-Class Life Life was difficult for nineteenth-century workers Many men moved to cities without their families until they could support them Others were single men or women who could not find work in villages In the mines, men, women, and children hacked out the coal Faced cave-ins, explosions, and deadly fumes Factory workers were little better off Factories were dirty, hot, unventilated, and often dangerous Housing was overcrowded, dirty, and badly built They had few links to their surroundings, no social connections However, they could make lives for themselves and marry and have families Many workers developed a life around the pub or café; rarely traditional church On Sundays, workers drank and danced, took off “Holy Monday” to recover Gin drinking was denounced on all sides In England, workers attended revivals and churches with a message for them Industrial workers rarely protested conditions with violence Lacked political/economic rights, yet rarely broke machines like rural laborers Workers’ political agitation made slight progress in first half of nineteenth century Mutual aid societies and cooperatives were formed to help each other Self-help organizations often developed into unions In England, unions were legalized in 1825 but could not strike In the 1850s, highly skilled workers joined in a single craft union However, most workers not organized during much of nineteenth century Relief and Reform Why were there so many poor people in so much misery with all the new wealth? Gap between rich and poor seemed greater than ever before Britain was the first nation to face the worsening condition of the poor Parliamentary investigations documented the suffering for all to see Socialists, utilitarians, and practical reformers called for change A series of acts and regulations emerged, though change was slow English Factory Acts (1802) limited hours of labor By 1833, children under thirteen could not work more than 9 hours a day Acts also required children to attend school for 2 hours a day However, the state did not provide funding for those schools At first, workers resented the regulations because family income needed children’s wages Ten-hour day for adult workers was not enacted until 1874 In 1834, reform of Poor Law (from Elizabeth’s reign) tried to differentiate between “deserving” and “undeserving” poor Prevailing idea that poverty was the fault/responsibility of the poor Established a prisonlike workhouse for those who were truly desperate Families were separated by age and sex, hardly fed, and farmed out as labor for a pittance Yet need was so great that in the 1840s, there were not enough workhouses available Continental states more quickly accepted idea of state intervention Historians argue that standards of living actually improved during eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Higher wages, greater opportunities, and more choices available However, rapidity of change caused great hardship in terrible conditions Machines destroyed crafts and displaced the craftsmen 1,000,000 Irish farm laborers starved during famine of 1840s Émigré workers faced brutal conditions in other countries, such as the U.S. Such conditions continued later in the century and globally in the twentieth century Industrialism in Perspective Like the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution modernized Europe Industrialization brought new groups to the forefront Cities/factories eclipsed agriculture villages and handicraft manufacturing Geography of the world changed with dams, canals, roads, railroads, etc. Aristocratic power and values declined as bourgeoisie rose People were judged more frequently by talent or income rather than by birth Ultimately, industrialization became a force for democracy as vote was extended Industrialization also hastened secularization of European life Separated from traditional communal ties, workers drifted away from religion Historians see several phases of Industrial Revolution One from 1750–1850 in western Europe One from mid-nineteenth century including the United States One in the early twentieth century Another within the last 50 years Industrialization made possible the highest standard of living in human history Western states were able to extend their power and influence globally In the twenty-first century, the world is still engaged in the process of industrialization