The Economic Revolution

Government Policy

Laissez-Faire Government Policy

• English parliament– 2 main parties• Tories – rich landowners• Whigs – represented the middle-class business people

• The business people (the Whigs) caused the government to follow a ‘laissez-faire’ policy

Laissez-Faire Government Policy

• What was it?– The idea that business and industry are as free as

possible from government regulation– Thought that competition and self-interest would

provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people (motivation)

Laissez-Faire Government Policy

• Positives– Motivated business people– Allowed industries to be bigger

• Negatives– Business owners wanted to keep the wage paid to

workers as low as possible to increase their profits

New Technologies – Textile Industry

• Textile industry– All cloth used to be made from plant or animal

fibres– Britain’s climate good for sheep; enclosure meant

larger herds– High quality wool could be harvested cheaply and

turned into cloth in nearby communities– In demand in other countries

New Technologies - Textile Industry

• Wanted to branch out into other materials such as cotton

• Inventions– Led to efficiency and less

of a need for human labor

– Large factories began to form

InventionsInvention Inventor Significance

Flying Shuttle John Kay •Had large looms that could be operated by one person (needed two people before)•Made weaving faster

Spinning Jenny James Hargreaves •Allowed a spinner to spin off a number of threads at the same time•One spinner could do the work of several spinners

Water Frame Richard Arkwright •A method of spinning yarn using rollers•It improved the strength of yarn being spun

Mule Samuel Crompton •Combined the features of the Water Frame and the Spinning Jenny

Steam

• Power for industries used to come from running water to power water wheels– Problem – only good if the factory was small

• Steam engine was produced– More practical and efficient– Produced power with very little waste

Iron and Coal Industries

• Iron Industry– Abraham Darby invented a way to make better

cast iron• It was easier and cheaper to make than other metal

products• It had many uses• Large cast-iron factories were built

Iron and Coal Industries

• Coal Industry– Abraham Darby used a form of coal (coke) to make

better iron– Everyone burned coal for heat (cheap fuel)– Many people worked in coal mines

The Transportation Revolution

Roads• Turnpike system– Sections of roads were built by private companies

who charged a fee (toll) for people to use them• Macadam Roads– Roads made from 3 layers of graded stone (largest

stone on bottom, fine granite gravel on top – no mud buildup because of the slope)

Canals

• Linked rivers together throughout Great Britain

• Reduced the cost of shipping by 75%

Railways• 1829 – George and

Robert Stephenson built a locomotive called the “Rocket”

• Could pull a small train• Fastest man made

transport system at the time

• Railways became the most important means of transportation by the end of the 1800s