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What is the Industrial Revolution?

The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the period in the 18th and 19th

centuries when Britain was transformed from a predominantly agricultural nation into

the manufacturing workshop of the world. Rapid scientific, technological and

commercial innovations, a rising population, improved transportation and expanding

domestic and international markets provided the context for the development ofthousands of mills, factories, mines and workshops. Mining, engineering and

manufacturing continued to provide employment for millions of people well into the

20th century.

Until the early 18th Century, most people lived off the

land as they had done for countless generations - an

agricultural existence, defined by the harvests and the

seasons, and ruled by a small political and social elite.

But in the 150 years that followed, there was an

unprecedented explosion of new ideas and new

technological inventions which created an increasinglyindustrial and urbanised country. Hundreds of thousands of miles of roads, railways

and canals were built. Great cities appeared and scores of factories and mills sprang

up.

At the heart of the revolution was our use of energy. Coal was the fuel which kick-

started the Industrial Revolution - and Britain was very fortunate to have plenty that

could be easily mined. Wood had been the main source of energy in Britain, used for

fuel in homes and small industries. But as the population grew, so did the demand for

timber. As forests were cut down, wood had to be carried further to reach the towns. It

was bulky and difficult to transport and therefore expensive. Coal was a much more

potent form of power, providing up to three times more energy than wood.

Britain had an advantage over other European countries because its mines were near

the sea, so ships could carry coal cheaply to the most important market - London.

The demand for coal led to deeper and deeper mines and an increased risk of flooding.

In order to keep exploiting this wonder fuel, it was necessary to find a way to pump

water out of the mines. Horse-drawn pumps could only draw water from depths up to

90 feet, limiting the amount of coal that could be mined.

Intellectual Climate

Newcomen and other inventors benefitted from the

intellectual climate. Britain was characterised by thefree expression of new ideas. There was a prolific

exchange of scientific and technological ideas. And

Britain, unlike many European countries, did not suffer

censorship by Church or state. It was the Age of

Reason. The established Christian view, of a world

created by God, was being challenged by one which

conformed to scientifically proven principles of nature.

Alongside the new discoveries was a growing

movement of people, trying to find practical

applications for these new discoveries. Men of action

and men of ideas, industrialists and scientists - often from very different background- met to share their ideas and observations, in what was to be called the Industrial

s

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Enlightenment. They unleashed a wave of free thinking and creativity. Matthew

Boulton owned an engineering works in Birmingham. Together he and James Watt - a

self-taught Scottish scientist - began to manufa

cture more efficient steam engines.

Boulton & Watt became the most important engineering firm in the country, meeting

considerable demand. Initially this came from Cornish mine owners, but extended to

paper, flour, cotton and iron mills, as well as distilleries, canals and waterworks.Eric Svedenstierna, a prominent official of the Swedish Iron Bureau, reported in 1803

his impression that steam engines "are as common in England, and are found in far

greater numbers, as are water and wind mills with us". This sense of progress even

attracted painters to capture potent industrial scenes.

Embargo Act of 1807

After the short truce in 18021803 the European wars resumed and continued until

the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. The war caused American relations with both Britain

and France to deteriorate rapidly. There was grave risk of war with one or the other.

With Britain supreme on the sea, and France on the land, the war developed into a

struggle of blockade and counter blockade. This commercial war peaked in 1806 and1807. Britain's Royal Navy shut down most European harbours to American ships

unless they first traded through British ports. France declared a paper blockade of

Britain (which it lacked a navy to enforce) and seized American ships that obeyed

British regulations. The Royal Navy needed large numbers of sailors, and saw the

U.S. merchant fleet as a haven for British sailors.

The British system of impressments humiliated and dishonoured the U.S. because it

was unable to protect its ships and their sailors. This British practice of taking British

deserters, and often Americans, from American ships and forcing them into the Royal

Navy increased greatly after 1803, and caused bitter anger in the United States. The

anger reached a peak after June 22, 1807, when the British ship Leopard attacked the

American Chesapeake off the U.S. coast, and removed four suspected deserters. This

incident was perceived by Americans as an insult to American honour; combined with

the increased commercial restrictions, it produced a demand for war in the United

States in the summer of 1807.

President Jefferson did not want war, and was convinced that the United States had

the power to coerce the European powers by economic methods rather than war.

Accordingly, in December 1807, Jefferson recommended to Congress an embargo

which would prohibit all American ships from departing for a foreign port. This

measure, which became law on December 22, attempted to end American foreign

trade. Indeed, Congress had already, a few days before, put into effect a no

importation act, originally passed in April 1806, which refused entry to many Britishgoods. Enforcing measures put into effect to ensure that vessels engaged in the coastal

trade would not sail for foreign ports were only partially successful. Some American

vessels traded abroad throughout the Embargo, and smuggling flourished along the

Canadian border.

A case study of Rhode Island shows the embargo devastated shipping-related

industries, wrecked existing markets, and caused an increase in opposition to the

Democratic-Republican Party. Smuggling was widely endorsed by the public, which

viewed the embargo as a violation of their rights. Public outcry continued, helping the

Federalists regain control of the state government in 1808-09. The case is a rare

example of American national foreign policy altering local patterns of political

allegiance. Despite its unpopular nature, the Embargo Act did have some limited,

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unintended benefits, especially as it drove capital and labor into New England textile

and other manufacturing industries, lessening America's reliance on the British.

Social effects

The Industrial Revolution, while resulting in a global sense of the world economy,

nonetheless took a hard toll upon the common people. In every country, farmers andworkers lost their jobs and were exploited. The machines that helped poor countries

stand beside the mighty still had many detrimental effects, particularly on society. The

movement had many positive effects, and was a necessary step in world progress, but

its cons cut deep into the lives of many. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

had a negative impact on social living standards, resulting in child labour, population

shifts, and unsafe working and living conditions.

Before the Industrial Revolution, less than 10 percent of all European people lived in

cites. The majority of people lived in the countryside, farming. Life was based in the

earth, and upon agricultural production. British farmers were for the most part

subsistence farmers, living off of the food they produced and caring little for money.

There was a limited cottage industry, in which middle class entrepreneurs suppliedraw materials to many households in the countryside. In return, these households,

after churning out finished home-made products, sold back these finished items at

discount prices to the entrepreneurs. Then, to complete the cycle, the entrepreneurs

sold these goods at markets in cities.

Life was hard in those times: a bad harvest could force a family into starvation, and a

cold winter could kill the herd animals that people depended on. Diseases and

epidemics were common, and farmers were always subject to the whims of cruel

monarchs and harsh taxes. The onset of the Industrial Revolution in the long run was

able to create safe jobs and stable environments to live in, but the standards of living

during the Revolution dropped precipitously. Men were forced into the role of

machines, mindlessly placing piece after piece into position in assembly lines. Even

their small amounts of freedom were limited to the overcrowded, over polluted towns

they called home.

The Reasons for Migration

As the number of factories and industrial workplaces grew, people began migrating

from the rural areas towards these places of employment. People were attracted to the

idea of a more lucrative, stable job. Farmers sons left for the shiny new towns that

soon dotted Britain, seeking their fortune. With the population explosion in Britain

resulting from the Revolution, and the promises of industrial wealth, these new townsquickly became overcrowded, unsanitary cities. Englands population was growing at

almost 1 percent per year, and it showed. London was one of the worst centres of

overpopulation: at the start of the 1800s it contained about a fifth of the countries

population. By 1851, it housed around half of the population.

These new industry-based towns were unsanitary, overcrowded, and dull. Chimney

and factory smoke blocked out the light to the homes, so citizens were forced to

scurry around like rats in the dark. Soot and smog covered the streets like snow, made

by burned coal smoke of the steam engines. All the towns were dirty and unhealthy:

as there was no sewage system, rubbish and human waste was often just dumped into

the street, and laid there until it decomposed. These towns smelled awful and were

breeding grounds for disease. In 1832, a massive outbreak of cholera killed over31,000 people. Luckily, no massive plague surfaced, but still more lives were snuffed

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out by the likes of typhus, smallpox, and dysentery The death rate in these towns was

much higher than the birth rate: the only thing that kept these industrial towns alive

was a constant influx of people from the country.

With this onslaught of fear and anger came the inevitable organization of the uprising.

A mysterious man called Ned Ludd took charge of these riots, and organized themfrom a base in Sherwood Forest, much like the mystical bandit Robin Hood. These

bands of employed and unemployed ravagers called themselves the Luddites, after his

name. After 1808, when the Minimum Wage Bill was defeated in the House of

Commons, these men began to take action. The Luddites acted almost as guerilla

fighters, and attacked undefended factories and cottages, destroying the delicate

machinery within.

In 1812, employers started to take aggressive actions against the vandals, and several

Luddites were killed in the retaliation. This in turn led to the organized murder of one

of the employers. At this point, Parliament stepped in, and passed legislature that

declared the destruction of certain machines punishable by death. After the Luddites

were exposed and captured, many were sent to prison colonies, or put to death. Themovement had been crushed, but small flickers of life moved on.

This hatred for machines and loss of life and profit is one of the negative effects of the

Revolution. Employees were forced out of their jobs by machines, and then took

physical revenge upon them. Technophobia gripped all workers, and mixed the fear of

dismissal into every workday. Men transformed into roaming bandits, only living to

destroy the things that had stolen their livelihood. The Luddites were both an example

of the layoffs that took place during the Revolution, and the after-effects that occurred

after the initial industrialization.

Entire generations were broken into pieces by the faults and pains of factory work.

Hundreds of thousands died from horrible living conditions, and childrens lives were

burned out simply for the sake of a quota. In 18th and 19th century Britain, it was not

uncommon to see a limbless man, begging for food or money, crippled by the industry

that was his former livelihood. Instead of freedom from nature, the Revolution

brought slavery based in monotony, and man soon accepted his lower place in life.

Societal living standards were forced down in the sake of progress. The Revolution,

had it been more carefully monitored, could have sidestepped these growing pains.

The British government should have acted earlier to protect its people, and it failed

the mass populace.

The results of these dark times were important to the global economy, and the British

common labourer recovered. People accepted these new burdens, and the IndustrialRevolution marched on. Technological advances were made, and eventually, the

Factory Acts put in place by Parliament lessoned the severity of factory conditions.

As Unions were formed and laws put in place to protect workers, the fear that

permeated daily life soon wore away, and the birthing horrors of the Revolution were

forgotten in favour of its wondrous effects.