The Industrial Revolution Changes in Manufacturing Labor Village
The Industrial Revolution
Changes in Manufacturing & Labor
Village Farming • Prior to the IR most people lived in small country villages • Land was UNFENCED • Wealthy controlled land; peasant families rented land
Village Farming • Small families because of high infant death rate • Harsh working conditions • LOW life expectancy (40 years)
Domestic System • Early industries in Europe: coal, glass, iron, clothing (textiles) • Mid 1700 s; wool became extremely popular in Europe • Increase in DEMAND
Domestic System • Merchants hired farming families to produce woolens in their homes
Domestic System • Depended on a network of workers • Each did a segment of • Provided income during the work hard times
Why Great Britain?
Why Great Britain? • In Britain, wealthy landowners started the Enclosure Movement
Why Great Britain? • The Enclosure Movement: • Landowners fenced off lands • Led to greater efficiency & more successful farming practices • Forces small farmers to move into the cities
Why Great Britain? • The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain because it had the Factors of Production
Why Great Britain? • Capital $$$/wealth to invest in labor, machines & raw materials • Natural Resources harbors, rivers, iron and coal
Why Great Britain? • Large Labor Supply better farming techniques led to more food which led to population growth • Entrepreneurs risk takers who started new businesses • Also, Britain’s gov’t was supportive
Why Great Britain? • The textile industry was one of the first to become mechanized (powered by machines) in Britain • This created a huge demand for cotton imports from Britain
Why Great Britain? Inventions like flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, and Eli Whitney’s cotton gin helped to meet this demand
Factory System • Machines were too LARGE & too COSTLY for the domestic system • Required more space & more workers
Factory System • Production needed to be centralized • Thus, the Factory System (brings workers and machines together under the control of managers) was introduced
The Spread of the Industrial Revolution
Industrialization Spreads • Industrialization spread out of England to the United States in the early to mid 1800 s • Spread to continental Europe; Belgium and Germany industrialize first
Industrialization Changes Life
Transportation • Technology in textile industry spurred progress in other industries • Improvements in transportation like the steam engine and the railroad system allowed for more efficient transportation of people and materials
Living Conditions • Growth of factory system caused urbanization – city building and the movement of people to cities • Most urban areas doubled in size, some even more!
Living Conditions • Because cities grew rapidly, they were not well planned and living conditions were poor • Not sanitary or safe • Sickness was widespread
Working Conditions • To increase production, factory owners tried to keep their machines running as many hours as possible • The average worker spent at least 14 hours a day at their job, 6 days a week
Working Conditions • Women and children were employed because they were the cheapest source of labor • Factories and coal mines were very dangerous
Social Class • Social mobility caused the emergence of the middle class (factory owners, merchants, bankers) • Middle class lifestyle: domestic servants, men work, women stay at home
Social Class • The laborers made up the working class • Saw little improvement in living and working conditions between 1800 -1850
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