essay about the industrial revolution in britain

Industrial Revolution

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• Stephen Davies 2  

A historiographical term or category, referring to a process of economic change and development that took place initially in parts of Britain between 1750 and 1850.

‘Industrial Revolution’ is a historiographic term, created and developed by historians. As such it was created as a label for economic, social, and demographic changes that were seen as having happened at a certain time in a particular part of the planet’s surface. Initially, when the term and the concept were first coined and formulated, the period referred to was roughly 1770–1850 and the place was parts of the British Isles—Scotland and parts of Northern and Midland England in particular. Other parts of the world were seen as having undergone the same experience at a slightly later date (Belgium, parts of Germany and the United States, smaller parts of France). The two words that make up the historiographical term carry certain implications. The word ‘Revolution’ implies a radical change that is abrupt,...

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Davies, S. (2024). Industrial Revolution. In: Warf, B. (eds) The Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25900-5_75-1

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Introduction

Factors that led to britain’s industrialization in the eighteenth century, works cited.

“ Industrial revolution refers to dramatic change in the main sectors of economy such as agriculture, transportation and manufacturing. Industrialization was associated with major benefits such as rise in people’s living standards, increased job opportunities and economic growth, among others.

According to historians, Great Britain was the first nation in the entire globe to industrialize. Industrialization in Britain started in the late eighteenth century. The following essay examines the factors that led to Britain’s industrialization in the late eighteenth century.

By the second part of the eighteenth century, Great Britain was regarded as one of the wealthiest nation across the globe due to industrial revolution. The following factors explain why Industrial revolution occurred in Britain;

Agricultural revolution of the eighteenth century was one of the factors. According to historians, agricultural revolution was characterized by a change in stock breeding and farming methods which in turn enhanced food production in Great Britain. Framers adopted a commercial approach as opposed to the past where they produced food for domestic use.

The large demand of food commodity from London motivated workers to increase their production. Landlordism, which refers to the act of owning large estates, was also a main factor that enhances commercialization of British agriculture. Agricultural revolution helped to lower the food commodity prices in Great Britain.

The cost of labor also lowered as a result of agricultural revolution. British government was therefore in a position to feed its citizens. British families thus, used their disposal incomes to buy manufactured products. Increased food production in Great Britain caused the population to increase. Population growth played a major role in providing the required labor in the new factories.

The other factor which led to Britain’s industrialization in the eighteenth century is the availability of capital for investment. Financial reforms which included introduction of derivatives such as swaps and options also enhanced the industrial revolution in Great Britain. Additionally, the revolution was boosted by the presence of effective central namely Bank of England.

The financial system in the Great Britain was highly effective compared to other European nations like Spain and Italy. The introduction of financial instruments such as bill of exchange made it possible for people to make payments. Political powers in Great Britain were based on economic and technological matters. Thus, the country had a large number of individuals whose main objective was innovation for development (Arnstein 72).

A study which was done by Arnstein (20) suggested that the presence of huge mineral deposits also enhanced industrialization in Great Britain. Britain is a country which is rich in mineral deposits such as iron ore and carbon fuel. Mineral resources played an important role in the manufacturing process. Iron was used in the production of new machineries. The country’s size was relatively smaller and this enhanced transportation of minerals.

The availability of ready market for manufactured goods led to Britain’s industrialization. Availability of ready market ensured that goods from Great Britain were absorbed as fast as they were produced. The country’s exports increased significantly during the late part of the eighteenth century.

During the colonial times, the nation had created an immense colonial empire. The colonial empire made the country to export goods to many parts of the world, compared to its key rivals such as Holland and France. The development of merchant marine made it possible for the country to transport goods throughout the world. Also, Britain’s railroad created a faster and cheaper means of transportation for the manufactured goods.

This had major impacts on the markets as it increased demand for goods and services. Britain’s railroad connected the major towns such as London, Manchester and Liverpool and this helped to spur trade. As a prerequisite to create conducive atmosphere for vibrant economic growth, the British government heavily invested in infrastructural developments.

Among the infrastructural developments that were made include the invention of steam engine. The invention of steam engine also played an important role in enhancing productivity of goods in Great Britain. It facilitated trade in the European region through easier market access by linking Britain with neighboring countries like Spain and Germany. Construction of infrastructural facilities was also enhanced by plenty supply of water from rivers (Arnstein 18).

According to Arnstein (56), Industrialization in Great Britain was also enhanced by the country’s ability to produce goods cheaply. The adoption of machinery in production of goods led to mass production and reduced the cost of production. The invention of flying shuttle led to mass production of yard goods.

In addition, factories were located near rivers and sources of power, which in turn enabled manufacturers to double their output. Great Britain also protected its key industries such as textile by discouraging imports.

The newly created factories provided jobs to thousands of families in Great Britain. In order to ensure that factory machines run at a steady rate, employees were required to work in shifts. Factory managers mainly employed workers from rural areas as they were regarded as hard working. This made people to live near factories and this in turn helped to create new towns.

Arnstein (36) in his study suggested that, the British government made substantial efforts in enhancing industrialization in the late eighteenth century. The government provided investors with a stable business environment. The parliament passed laws which safeguarded private property.

Additionally, Great Britain adopted capitalism form of economy which advocates for private ownership of resources. There were thus, no restrictions on private ownership of resources in England. The government did not intervene with regard to tariffs and taxes. The government also ensured that the credit system was flexible for private investors. The free market economy ensured that individuals’ had rights to own property and dispose off natural resources and man-made resources as they wished.

It also provided the owners of property with the right income, generated from the resources. Workers were also free to enter into any occupation for which they were specialized in. There was the aspect of self interest in pursuit of personal goals. Factories aimed at maximizing production and profits, land owners aimed at achieving maximum rent, workers shifted to occupation which offered the highest rewards and buyers spent their incomes in the way that satisfied the people most.

Industrial revolution in Great Britain in the late part of eighteenth-century was facilitated by factors such as the availability of resources for production, geographical advantages, such as the presence of streams and rivers which provided factories with water, financial reforms which resulted in extra capital for investment, among others. Industrial revolution in Great Britain brought about changes such as technological advancements, mass production, creation of new urban centers and efficient transport systems, among others.

Arnstein, Walter. Britain yesterday and today: 1830 to the present, Edition5 . London: D.C. Health, 1988.

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Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in England and what factors led to the “Great Divergence?

In a little over a century from around 1750 to 1850 Britain went from being a largely pastoral, farming population to a country of industrialized cities and factories. This tremendous transition, usually referred to as the Industrial Revolution, marked a big turning point in history as it was the first time a country was able to escape from the Malthusian constraints and experience large continuous economic growth and massively increase productivity. However, while there is great consensus for when the Industrial Revolution took place and that it first occurred in Britain, there is heavy debate over its origins and why Britain was first. Although, this essay will acknowledge the wide and complex variety of possible explanations, it will focus on institutions as they have played a crucial role as a foundation for the Industrial Revolution to take place in Britain. The British institutions were important in creating a more egalitarian society, supporting economic growth and encouraging technological innovation and the industrialization that eventually occurred around the world significantly explains the great inequality among nations today. This essay will refer to institutions as sets of informal and formal rules and organizations that impact the distribution of power, and by aggregations of ethics, morals, procedures and guidelines stabilize interaction (Hall, 1986, North, 1990; Peters & Pierre, 1998; Wiens, 2012). Firstly, this essay will argue that British institutions played an extensive part in decreasing the powers of the executives as education increased and a growing middle class emerged which resulted in a relatively freer and more equal society than elsewhere in the world. Secondly, institutions were imperative for Britain’s economic growth and for the maintenance of comparatively high wages at the time. Thirdly, high wages, as well as institutions such as the patent system, guilds and commons motivated industries and individuals to innovate. Lastly, the great inequality among nations in the world today can be highly explained by the onset of industrialization around the world. COURSE: 1003GIR Globalization the Asia-Pacific & Australia. 10.09.12

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Industrial Revolution

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 27, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The Industrial Revolution was a period of scientific and technological development in the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies—especially in Europe and North America—into industrialized, urban ones. Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be produced in mass quantities by machines in factories, thanks to the introduction of new machines and techniques in textiles, iron making and other industries.

When Was the Industrial Revolution?

Though a few innovations were developed as early as the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution began in earnest by the 1830s and 1840s in Britain, and soon spread to the rest of the world, including the United States.

Modern historians often refer to this period as the First Industrial Revolution, to set it apart from a second period of industrialization that took place from the late 19th to early 20th centuries and saw rapid advances in the steel, electric and automobile industries. 

Spinning Jenny

Thanks in part to its damp climate, ideal for raising sheep, Britain had a long history of producing textiles like wool, linen and cotton. But prior to the Industrial Revolution, the British textile business was a true “cottage industry,” with the work performed in small workshops or even homes by individual spinners, weavers and dyers.

Starting in the mid-18th century, innovations like the spinning jenny (a wooden frame with multiple spindles), the flying shuttle, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster and required less time and far less human labor.

More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and abroad, where the British Empire’s many overseas colonies provided a captive market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also adopted new innovations.

Chief among the new techniques was the smelting of iron ore with coke (a material made by heating coal) instead of the traditional charcoal. This method was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material, enabling Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in response to demand created by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the later growth of the railroad industry. 

Impact of Steam Power 

An icon of the Industrial Revolution broke onto the scene in the early 1700s, when Thomas Newcomen designed the prototype for the first modern steam engine . Called the “atmospheric steam engine,” Newcomen’s invention was originally applied to power the machines used to pump water out of mine shafts.

In the 1760s, Scottish engineer James Watt began tinkering with one of Newcomen’s models, adding a separate water condenser that made it far more efficient. Watt later collaborated with Matthew Boulton to invent a steam engine with a rotary motion, a key innovation that would allow steam power to spread across British industries, including flour, paper, and cotton mills, iron works, distilleries, waterworks and canals.

Just as steam engines needed coal, steam power allowed miners to go deeper and extract more of this relatively cheap energy source. The demand for coal skyrocketed throughout the Industrial Revolution and beyond, as it would be needed to run not only the factories used to produce manufactured goods, but also the railroads and steamships used for transporting them.

When a Horse Raced Against a Locomotive During the Industrial Revolution

An 1830 battle between steam and horse power marked the moment when the Industrial Revolution changed transportation forever.

The Original Luddites Raged Against the Machine of the Industrial Revolution

Uprisings against a new economic structure imposed by the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the insult "luddite."

The Spies Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution

From water‑powered textile mills, to mechanical looms, much of the machinery that powered America's early industrial success was "borrowed" from Europe.

Transportation During the Industrial Revolution

Britain’s road network, which had been relatively primitive prior to industrialization, soon saw substantial improvements, and more than 2,000 miles of canals were in use across Britain by 1815.

In the early 1800s, Richard Trevithick debuted a steam-powered locomotive, and in 1830 similar locomotives started transporting freight (and passengers) between the industrial hubs of Manchester and Liverpool. By that time, steam-powered boats and ships were already in wide use, carrying goods along Britain’s rivers and canals as well as across the Atlantic.

Banking and Communication in the Industrial Revolution

In 1776, Scottish social philosopher Adam Smith , who is regarded as the founder of modern economics, published The Wealth of Nations . In it, Smith promoted an economic system based on free enterprise, the private ownership of means of production, and lack of government interference.

Banks and industrial financiers soon rose to new prominence during this period, as well as a factory system dependent on owners and managers. A stock exchange was established in London in the 1770s; the New York Stock Exchange was founded in the early 1790s.

The latter part of the Industrial Revolution also saw key advances in communication methods, as people increasingly saw the need to communicate efficiently over long distances. In 1837, British inventors William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the first commercial telegraphy system, even as Samuel Morse and other inventors worked on their own versions in the United States.

Cooke and Wheatstone’s system would be used for railroad signaling, as the speed of the new steam-powered trains created a need for more sophisticated means of communication.

Labor Movement 

Though many people in Britain had begun moving to the cities from rural areas before the Industrial Revolution, this process accelerated dramatically with industrialization, as the rise of large factories turned smaller towns into major cities over the span of decades. This rapid urbanization brought significant challenges, as overcrowded cities suffered from pollution, inadequate sanitation, miserable housing conditions and a lack of safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, even as industrialization increased economic output overall and improved the standard of living for the middle and upper classes, poor and working class people continued to struggle. The mechanization of labor created by technological innovation had made working in factories increasingly tedious (and sometimes dangerous), and many workers—including children—were forced to work long hours for pitifully low wages.

Such dramatic changes and abuses fueled opposition to industrialization worldwide, including the “ Luddites ,” known for their violent resistance to changes in Britain’s textile industry.

Did you know? The word "luddite" refers to a person who is opposed to technological change. The term is derived from a group of early 19th century English workers who attacked factories and destroyed machinery as a means of protest. They were supposedly led by a man named Ned Ludd, though he may have been an apocryphal figure.

In the decades to come, outrage over substandard working and living conditions would fuel the formation of labor unions , as well as the passage of new child labor laws and public health regulations in both Britain and the United States, all aimed at improving life for working class and poor citizens who had been negatively impacted by industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution in the United States

The beginning of industrialization in the United States is usually pegged to the opening of a textile mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793 by the recent English immigrant Samuel Slater. Slater had worked at one of the mills opened by Richard Arkwright (inventor of the water frame) mills, and despite laws prohibiting the emigration of textile workers, he brought Arkwright’s designs across the Atlantic. He later built several other cotton mills in New England, and became known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

The United States followed its own path to industrialization, spurred by innovations “borrowed” from Britain as well as by homegrown inventors like Eli Whitney . Whitney’s 1793 invention of the cotton gin (short for “engine”) revolutionized the nation’s cotton industry (and strengthened the hold of slavery over the cotton-producing South).

By the end of the 19th century, with the so-called Second Industrial Revolution underway, the United States would also transition from a largely agrarian society to an increasingly urbanized one, with all the attendant problems.

By the mid-19th century, industrialization was well-established throughout the western part of Europe and America’s northeastern region. By the early 20th century, the U.S. had become the world’s leading industrial nation.

How the Industrial Revolution Fueled the Growth of Cities

The rise of mills and factories drew an influx of people to cities—and placed new demand on urban infrastructures.

7 Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution

While the Industrial Revolution generated new opportunities and economic growth, it also introduced pollution and acute hardships for workers.

8 Groundbreaking Inventions from the Second Industrial Revolution

The period between the late 1800s and the early 1900s saw a boom in innovations that would take the world by storm.

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Historians continue to debate many aspects of industrialization, including its exact timeline, why it began in Britain as opposed to other parts of the world and the idea that it was actually more of a gradual evolution than a revolution. The positives and negatives of the Industrial Revolution are complex.

On one hand, unsafe working conditions were rife and environmental pollution from coal and gas are legacies we still struggle with today. On the other, the move to cities and ingenious inventions that made clothing, communication and transportation more affordable and accessible to the masses changed the course of world history.

Regardless of these questions, the Industrial Revolution had a transformative economic, social and cultural impact, and played an integral role in laying the foundations for modern society. 

Photo Galleries

Robert C. Allen, The Industrial Revolution: A Very Short Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007  Claire Hopley, “A History of the British Cotton Industry.” British Heritage Travel , July 29, 2006 William Rosen, The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention . New York: Random House, 2010 Gavin Weightman, The Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World, 1776-1914 . New York: Grove Press, 2007 Matthew White, “Georgian Britain: The Industrial Revolution.” British Library , October 14, 2009 

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Timeline of the Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution took place between the eighteenth century and the mid-nineteenth century, and changed the landscape and infrastructure of Britain forever…

Jessica Brain

The Industrial Revolution took place from the eighteenth century up until the mid-nineteenth century, marking a process of increased manufacturing and production which boosted industry and encouraged new inventions ad innovations.

1600- The formation of the East India Company . The joint-stock company would later play a vital role in maintaining a trade monopoly that helped increase demand, production and profit. The company helped Britain compete with its European neighbours and grow in economic and trading strength.

1709- Abraham Darby leases the furnace which he successfully uses for the first time. Darby was able to sell 81 tons of iron goods that year. He would become a crucial figure in industry, discovering a method of producing pig iron fuelled by coke rather than charcoal.

1712- Thomas Newcomen invents the first steam engine.

1719- The silk factory is started by John Lombe. Located in Derbyshire, Lombe’s Mill opens as a silk throwing mill, the first successful one of its kind in England.

1733- The simple weaving machine is invented by John Kay known as the Flying Shuttle. The new invention allowed for automatic machine looms which could weave wider fabrics and speed up the manufacturing process.

1750- Cotton cloths were being produced using the raw cotton imported from overseas. Cotton exports would help make Britain a commercial success.

1761- The Bridgewater Canal opens, the first of its kind in Britain. It was named after Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater who commissioned it in order to transport the coal from his mines in Worsley.

1764- The invention of the Spinning Jenny by James Hargreaves in Lancashire. The idea consisted of a metal frame with eight wooden spindles. The invention allowed the workers to produce cloth much quicker thus increasing productivity and paving the way for further mechanisation.

1764- Scottish inventor James Watt is commissioned to carry out repairs to a Thomas Newcomen steam engine and quickly recognises ways that it can be modified to operate much more efficiently. By changing the way the cylinder was heated and cooled the amount of coal used in heating the water to produce the steam could be reduced by more than 60%.

1769- James Watt was granted his first British patent (No. 913) for the unique design of his new steam engine. To quantify the enormous power of his new engines, James Watt also invented a new unit of measurement: The Horsepower. James Watt’s steam engines would literally set the world in motion… through the introduction of steam powered railway locomotives and steam ships… transportation would be completely revolutionised. His steam engines would also go on to power the new mills that were starting to appear in the Industrial North.

1769- The yarn produced by the new Spinning Jenny was not particularly strong but this soon changed when Richard Arkwright invented the water frame which could attach the spinning machine to a water wheel.

1774- The English inventor Samuel Crompton invented the Spinning Mule which would combine the processes of spinning and weaving into one machine, thus revolutionising the industry.

1779- The inventor Richard Arkwright became an entrepreneur and opened a cotton spinning mill using his invention of the water frame. In the same year, on the 9th October a group of English textile workers in Manchester rebelled against the introduction of machinery which threatened their skilled craft. This was one of the initial riots that would occur under the Luddite movement .

1784- The ironmaster, Henry Cort came up with the idea for a puddling furnace in order to make iron. This involved making bar iron with a reverberating furnace stirred with rods. His invention proved successful for iron refining techniques.

1785- The power loom was invented, designed the previous year by Edmund Cartwright, who subsequently patented the mechanised loom which used water to increase the productivity of the weaving process. His ideas would be shaped and developed throughout the years in order to create an automatic loom for the textile industry.

1790- Edmund Cartwright produced another invention called a wool combing machine. He patented the invention which arranged the fibres of wool.

1799- The Combination Act received royal assent in July, preventing workers in England collectively bargaining in groups or through unions for better pay and improved working conditions.

1800- Around 10 million tons of coal had been mined in Britain.

1801- Richard Trevithick , a mining engineer and inventor drove a steam powered locomotive down the streets of Camborne in Cornwall. He was a pioneer of steam-powered transport and built the first working railway locomotive.

1803- Cotton becomes Britain’s biggest export, overtaking wool .

1804- The first locomotive railway journey took place in February, the Trevithick invention successfully hauled a train along a tramway in Merthyr Tydfil.

1811- The first large-scale Luddite riot took place in Arnold, Nottingham resulting in the destruction of machinery.

1812- In response to the riots, Parliament passed a law making the destruction of industrial machines punishable by death.

1813- In a one day trial, fourteen Luddites were hanged in Manchester.

1815- Cornish chemist Sir Humphrey Davy and English engineer George Stephenson both invented safety lamps for miners.

1816- The engineer George Stephenson patented the steam engine locomotive which would earn him the title of “Father of the Railways”.

1824- The repeal of the Combination Act which was believed to have caused irritation, discontent and gave rise to violence.

1825: The first passenger railway opens with Locomotion No.1 carrying passengers on a public line.

1830- George Stephenson created the first public inter-city rail line in the world connecting the great northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool. The industrial powerhouse and landlocked city of Manchester could now quickly access the world through the Port Of Liverpool . Cotton arriving from plantations in America would supply the textile mills of Manchester and Lancashire, with the finished cloth returned to Liverpool and exported throughout the British Empire.

1833- The Factory Act is passed to protect children under the age of nine from working in the textile industry. Children aged thirteen and over could not work longer than sixty nine hours a week.

1834 – The Poor Law was passed in order to create workhouses for the destitute.

1839- James Nasmyth invents the steam hammer, built to meet the need for shaping large iron and steel components.

1842- A law applied to miners, banning children under the age of ten as well as women from working underground.

1844- The law states children younger than eight are banned from working. In the same year Friedrich Engels publishes his observations of the impact of the industrial revolution in “The Condition of the Working Class in England”.

1847- New law stating limited working hours of women and children in textile factories to ten hours a day.

1848- The impact of industrialisation and creation of cities leads to a cholera epidemic across towns in Britain.

1850- With just 2 per cent of the world’s population Britain produces around half of the world’s manufactured goods.

1851-Rural to urban migration results in over half the population of Britain now residing in towns.

1852- The British shipbuilding company Palmer Brothers & Co opens in Jarrow. The same year, the first iron screw collier, the John Bowes is launched.

1860- The first iron warship, HMS Warrior is launched.

1861-62- With a lack of raw materials due to the American Civil War, mill closures and mass unemployment results in the Great Lancashire Cotton Famine .

1867- The Factory Act is extended to include all workplaces employing more than fifty workers.

1868- The TUC (Trade Unions Congress) is formed.

1870- Forster’s Education Act which takes the first tentative steps at enforcing compulsory education.

1875- New law prohibited boys from climbing chimneys to clean them.

1912- The industry of Great Britain reaches its peak, with the textile industry producing around 8 billion yards of cloth.

1914- World War One changes the industrial heartlands, with foreign markets setting up their own manufacturing industries. The golden age of British industry has come to an end.

The sequence of events placed Britain as a major player on the global stage of trade and manufacturing, allowing it to become a leading commercial nation as well as marking a huge turning point in Britain’s social and economic history.

Jessica Brain is a freelance writer specialising in history. Based in Kent and a lover of all things historical.

Published: 28th February 2019.

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Descriptive Essay: The Industrial Revolution and its Effects

The Industrial Revolution was a time of great age throughout the world. It represented major change from 1760 to the period 1820-1840. The movement originated in Great Britain and affected everything from industrial manufacturing processes to the daily life of the average citizen. I will discuss the Industrial Revolution and the effects it had on the world as a whole.

The primary industry of the time was the textiles industry. It had the most employees, output value, and invested capital. It was the first to take on new modern production methods. The transition to machine power drastically increased productivity and efficiency. This extended to iron production and chemical production.

It started in Great Britain and soon expanded into Western Europe and to the United States. The actual effects of the revolution on different sections of society differed. They manifested themselves at different times. The ‘trickle down’ effect whereby the benefits of the revolution helped the lower classes didn’t happen until towards the 1830s and 1840s. Initially, machines like the Watt Steam Engine and the Spinning Jenny only benefited the rich industrialists.

The effects on the general population, when they did come, were major. Prior to the revolution, most cotton spinning was done with a wheel in the home. These advances allowed families to increase their productivity and output. It gave them more disposable income and enabled them to facilitate the growth of a larger consumer goods market. The lower classes were able to spend. For the first time in history, the masses had a sustained growth in living standards.

Social historians noted the change in where people lived. Industrialists wanted more workers and the new technology largely confined itself to large factories in the cities. Thousands of people who lived in the countryside migrated to the cities permanently. It led to the growth of cities across the world, including London, Manchester, and Boston. The permanent shift from rural living to city living has endured to the present day.

Trade between nations increased as they often had massive surpluses of consumer goods they couldn’t sell in the domestic market. The rate of trade increased and made nations like Great Britain and the United States richer than ever before. Naturally, this translated to military power and the ability to sustain worldwide trade networks and colonies.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution and migration led to the mass exploitation of workers and slums. To counter this, workers formed trade unions. They fought back against employers to win rights for themselves and their families. The formation of trade unions and the collective unity of workers across industries are still existent today. It was the first time workers could make demands of their employers. It enfranchised them and gave them rights to upset the status quo and force employers to view their workers as human beings like them.

Overall, the Industrial Revolution was one of the single biggest events in human history. It launched the modern age and drove industrial technology forward at a faster rate than ever before. Even contemporary economics experts failed to predict the extent of the revolution and its effects on world history. It shows why the Industrial Revolution played such a vital role in the building of the United States of today.

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Industrial Revolution and Technology

Whether it was mechanical inventions or new ways of doing old things, innovations powered the Industrial Revolution.

Social Studies, World History

Steam Engine Queens Mill

The use of steam-powered machines in cotton production pushed Britain’s economic development from 1750 to 1850. Built more than 100 years ago, this steam engine still powers the Queens Mill textile factory in Burnley, England, United Kingdom.

Photograph by Ashley Cooper

It has been said that the Industrial Revolution was the most profound revolution in human history, because of its sweeping impact on people’s daily lives. The term “industrial revolution” is a succinct catchphrase to describe a historical period, starting in 18th-century Great Britain, where the pace of change appeared to speed up. This acceleration in the processes of technical innovation brought about an array of new tools and machines. It also involved more subtle practical improvements in various fields affecting labor, production, and resource use. The word “technology” (which derives from the Greek word techne , meaning art or craft) encompasses both of these dimensions of innovation. The technological revolution, and that sense of ever-quickening change, began much earlier than the 18th century and has continued all the way to the present day. Perhaps what was most unique about the Industrial Revolution was its merger of technology with industry. Key inventions and innovations served to shape virtually every existing sector of human activity along industrial lines, while also creating many new industries. The following are some key examples of the forces driving change. Agriculture Western European farming methods had been improving gradually over the centuries. Several factors came together in 18th-century Britain to bring about a substantial increase in agricultural productivity. These included new types of equipment, such as the seed drill developed by Jethro Tull around 1701. Progress was also made in crop rotation and land use, soil health, development of new crop varieties, and animal husbandry . The result was a sustained increase in yields, capable of feeding a rapidly growing population with improved nutrition. The combination of factors also brought about a shift toward large-scale commercial farming, a trend that continued into the 19th century and later. Poorer peasants had a harder time making ends meet through traditional subsistence farming. The enclosure movement, which converted common-use pasture land into private property, contributed to this trend toward market-oriented agriculture. A great many rural workers and families were forced by circumstance to migrate to the cities to become industrial laborers. Energy Deforestation in England had led to a shortage of wood for lumber and fuel starting in the 16th century. The country’s transition to coal as a principal energy source was more or less complete by the end of the 17th century. The mining and distribution of coal set in motion some of the dynamics that led to Britain’s industrialization. The coal-fired steam engine was in many respects the decisive technology of the Industrial Revolution. Steam power was first applied to pump water out of coal mines. For centuries, windmills had been employed in the Netherlands for the roughly similar operation of draining low-lying flood plains. Wind was, and is, a readily available and renewable energy source, but its irregularity was considered a drawback. Water power was a more popular energy source for grinding grain and other types of mill work in most of preindustrial Europe. By the last quarter of the 18th century, however, thanks to the work of the Scottish engineer James Watt and his business partner Matthew Boulton, steam engines achieved a high level of efficiency and versatility in their design. They swiftly became the standard power supply for British, and, later, European industry. The steam engine turned the wheels of mechanized factory production. Its emergence freed manufacturers from the need to locate their factories on or near sources of water power. Large enterprises began to concentrate in rapidly growing industrial cities. Metallurgy In this time-honored craft, Britain’s wood shortage necessitated a switch from wood charcoal to coke, a coal product, in the smelting process. The substitute fuel eventually proved highly beneficial for iron production. Experimentation led to some other advances in metallurgical methods during the 18th century. For example, a certain type of furnace that separated the coal and kept it from contaminating the metal, and a process of “puddling” or stirring the molten iron, both made it possible to produce larger amounts of wrought iron. Wrought iron is more malleable than cast iron and therefore more suitable for fabricating machinery and other heavy industrial applications. Textiles The production of fabrics, especially cotton, was fundamental to Britain’s economic development between 1750 and 1850. Those are the years historians commonly use to bracket the Industrial Revolution. In this period, the organization of cotton production shifted from a small-scale cottage industry, in which rural families performed spinning and weaving tasks in their homes, to a large, mechanized, factory-based industry. The boom in productivity began with a few technical devices, including the spinning jenny, spinning mule, and power loom. First human, then water, and finally steam power were applied to operate power looms, carding machines, and other specialized equipment. Another well-known innovation was the cotton gin, invented in the United States in 1793. This device spurred an increase in cotton cultivation and export from U.S. slave states, a key British supplier. Chemicals This industry arose partly in response to the demand for improved bleaching solutions for cotton and other manufactured textiles. Other chemical research was motivated by the quest for artificial dyes, explosives, solvents , fertilizers, and medicines, including pharmaceuticals. In the second half of the 19th century, Germany became the world’s leader in industrial chemistry. Transportation Concurrent with the increased output of agricultural produce and manufactured goods arose the need for more efficient means of delivering these products to market. The first efforts toward this end in Europe involved constructing improved overland roads. Canals were dug in both Europe and North America to create maritime corridors between existing waterways. Steam engines were recognized as useful in locomotion, resulting in the emergence of the steamboat in the early 19th century. High-pressure steam engines also powered railroad locomotives, which operated in Britain after 1825. Railways spread rapidly across Europe and North America, extending to Asia in the latter half of the 19th century. Railroads became one of the world’s leading industries as they expanded the frontiers of industrial society.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — British Industrial Revolution — Why Did the Industrial Revolution Begin in England?>

Why Did The Industrial Revolution Begin in England?>

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Published: Sep 7, 2023

Words: 752 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

1. access to natural resources, 2. technological innovation, 3. capital accumulation, 4. agricultural revolution, 5. political stability and legal framework, 6. trade and markets.

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The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution , the period in which agrarian and handicraft economies shifted rapidly to industrial and machine-manufacturing-dominated ones, began in the United Kingdom in the 18th century and later spread throughout many other parts of the world. This economic transformation changed not only how work was done and goods were produced, but it also altered how people related both to one another and to the planet at large. This wholesale change in societal organization continues today, and it has produced several effects that have rippled throughout Earth ’s political, ecological, and cultural spheres. The following list describes some of the great benefits as well as some of the significant shortcomings associated with the Industrial Revolution.

Pro: Goods Became More Affordable and More Accessible

Factories and the machines that they housed began to produce items faster and cheaper than could be made by hand. As the supply of various items rose, their cost to the consumer declined ( see supply and demand ). Shoes , clothing , household goods, tools , and other items that enhance people’s quality of life became more common and less expensive. Foreign markets also were created for these goods, and the balance of trade shifted in favor of the producer—which brought increased wealth to the companies that produced these goods and added tax revenue to government coffers. However, it also contributed to the wealth inequality between goods-producing and goods-consuming countries.

Pro: The Rapid Evolution of Labor-Saving Inventions

The rapid production of hand tools and other useful items led to the development of new types of tools and vehicles to carry goods and people from one place to another. The growth of road and rail transportation and the invention of the telegraph (and its associated infrastructure of telegraph—and later telephone and fiber optic —lines) meant that word of advances in manufacturing, agricultural harvesting, energy production, and medical techniques could be communicated between interested parties quickly. Labor-saving machines such as the spinning jenny (a multiple-spindle machine for spinning wool or cotton) and other inventions, especially those driven by electricity (such as home appliances and refrigeration) and fossil fuels (such as automobiles and other fuel-powered vehicles), are also well-known products of the Industrial Revolution.

Pro: The Rapid Evolution of Medicine

The Industrial Revolution was the engine behind various advances in medicine . Industrialization allowed medical instruments (such as scalpels, microscope lenses, test tubes, and other equipment) to be produced more quickly. Using machine manufacturing, refinements to these instruments could more efficiently roll out to the physicians that needed them. As communication between physicians in different areas improved, the details behind new cures and treatments for disease could be dispersed quickly, resulting in better care.

Pro: Enhanced Wealth and Quality of Life of the Average Person

Mass production lowered the costs of much-needed tools, clothes, and other household items for the common (that is, nonaristocratic) people, which allowed them to save money for other things and build personal wealth. In addition, as new manufacturing machines were invented and new factories were built, new employment opportunities arose. No longer was the average person so closely tied to land -related concerns (such as being dependent upon the wages farm labor could provide or the plant and animal products farms could produce). Industrialization reduced the emphasis on landownership as the chief source of personal wealth. The rising demand for manufactured goods meant that average people could make their fortunes in cities as factory employees and as employees of businesses that supported the factories, which paid better wages than farm-related positions. Generally speaking, people could save some portion of their wages, and many had the opportunity to invest in profitable businesses, thereby growing their family “nest eggs.” The subsequent growth of the middle class in the United Kingdom and other industrializing societies meant that it was making inroads into the pool of economic power held by the aristocracy . Their greater buying power and importance in society led to changes in laws that were updated to better handle the demands of an industrialized society.

Pro: The Rise of Specialist Professions

As industrialization progressed, more and more rural folk flocked to the cities in search of better pay in the factories. To increase the factories’ overall efficiency and to take advantage of new opportunities in the market, factory workers were trained to perform specialized tasks. Factory owners divided their workers into different groups, each group focusing on a specific task. Some groups secured and transported to the factories raw materials (namely iron , coal , and steel ) used in mass production of goods, while other groups operated different machines. Some groups of workers fixed machines when they broke down, while others were charged with making improvements to them and overall factory operation.

As the factories grew and workers became more specialized, additional teachers and trainers were needed to pass on specialized skills. In addition, the housing, transportation, and recreational needs of factory workers resulted in the rapid expansion of cities and towns. Governmental bureaucracies grew to support these, and new specialized departments were created to handle traffic, sanitation, taxation, and other services. Other businesses within the towns also became more specialized as more builders, physicians, lawyers, and other workers were added to handle the various needs of the new residents.

Con: Overcrowding of Cities and Industrial Towns

The promise of better wages attracted migrants to cities and industrial towns that were ill-prepared to handle them. Although initial housing shortages in many areas eventually gave way to construction booms and the development of modern buildings, cramped shantytowns made up of shacks and other forms of poor-quality housing appeared first. Local sewerage and sanitation systems were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of people, and drinking water was often contaminated. People living in such close proximity, fatigued by poor working conditions, and drinking unsafe water presented ideal conditions for outbreaks of typhus , cholera , smallpox , tuberculosis , and other infectious diseases. The need to treat these and other diseases in urban areas spurred medical advances and the development of modern building codes, health laws, and urban planning in many industrialized cities.

Con: Pollution and Other Environmental Ills

With relatively few exceptions, the world’s modern environmental problems began or were greatly exacerbated by the Industrial Revolution. To fuel the factories and to sustain the output of each and every type of manufactured good, natural resources (water, trees, soil, rocks and minerals, wild and domesticated animals, etc.) were transformed, which reduced the planet’s stock of valuable natural capital. The global challenges of widespread water and air pollution , reductions in biodiversity , destruction of wildlife habitat, and even global warming can be traced back to this moment in human history. The more countries industrialize in pursuit of their own wealth, the greater this ecological transformation becomes. For example, atmospheric carbon dioxide , a primary driver of global warming, existed in concentrations of 275 to 290 parts per million by volume (ppmv) before 1750 and increased to more than 400 ppmv by 2017. In addition, human beings use more than 40% of Earth’s land-based net primary production, a measure of the rate at which plants convert solar energy into food and growth. As the world’s human population continues to grow and more and more people strive for the material benefits promised by the Industrial Revolution, more and more of Earth’s resources are appropriated for human use, leaving a dwindling stock for the plants and animals upon whose ecosystem services (clean air, clean water, etc.) the biosphere depends.

Con: Poor Working Conditions

When factories sprung up in the cities and industrial towns, their owners prized production and profit over all else. Worker safety and wages were less important. Factory workers earned greater wages compared with agricultural workers, but this often came at the expense of time and less than ideal working conditions. Factory workers often labored 14–16 hours per day six days per week. Men’s meager wages were often more than twice those of women. The wages earned by children who worked to supplement family income were even lower. The various machines in the factory were often dirty, expelling smoke and soot, and unsafe, both of which contributed to accidents that resulted in worker injuries and deaths. The rise of labor unions, however, which began as a reaction to child labor, made factory work less grueling and less dangerous. During the first half of the 20th century, child labor was sharply curtailed, the workday was reduced substantially, and government safety standards were rolled out to protect the workers’ health and well-being.

Con: The Rise in Unhealthy Habits

As more cheap labor-saving devices become available, people performed less strenuous physical activity. While grueling farm-related labor was made far easier, and in many cases far safer, by replacing animal power and human power with tractors and other specialized vehicles to till the soil and plant and harvest crops, other vehicles, such as trains and automobiles , effectively reduced the amount of healthy exercise people partook in each day. Also, many professions that required large amounts of physical exertion outdoors were replaced by indoor office work, which is often sedentary. Such sedentary behaviors also occur away from work, as television programs and other forms of passive entertainment came to dominate leisure time. Added to this is the fact that many people eat food that has been processed with salt and sugar to help with its preservation, lower its cooking time, and increase its sweetness. Together, these lifestyle trends have led to increases in lifestyle-related diseases associated with obesity , such as heart disease , diabetes , and certain forms of cancer .

Essay on Industrial Revolution

Students are often asked to write an essay on Industrial Revolution in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Industrial Revolution

What was the industrial revolution.

The Industrial Revolution was a big change in how things were made. Before, people made goods by hand at home. Then, machines in big buildings called factories started doing this work. This change began in Britain in the late 1700s and spread to other countries.

Changes in Technology

New machines could spin thread much faster than by hand. The steam engine was also invented. This could power machines and move trains and ships. These inventions made making things and moving them around quicker and cheaper.

Impact on People

Many people left farms to work in factories in cities. Life became hard for these workers. They worked long hours for little money. But, more goods were made, and over time, people’s lives improved as new jobs were created.

Global Effects

The Industrial Revolution changed the world. Countries with factories got rich and powerful. They used resources from other places to make goods. This led to big changes in trade and made some countries very wealthy.

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250 Words Essay on Industrial Revolution

What was the industrial revolution.

The Industrial Revolution was a big change in the way things were made. Before this time, people made goods by hand at home or in small shops. Around the late 18th century, this changed. Machines began to do the work in big factories. This started in Britain and then spread to other parts of the world.

Changes in Industry

Machines could make things faster and cheaper than humans could by hand. This meant more products could be made and more people could buy them. Steam engines powered these machines, and coal was the fuel. This led to a rise in coal mining and iron production.

Life During the Revolution

Because of factory work, cities grew as people moved there for jobs. This was a big shift from life on farms. Working in factories was hard, and many worked long hours for low pay. The air and water got dirty from the factories, too.

Impact on Society

The Industrial Revolution changed life a lot. Travel became easier with trains and steamships. Communication got better with inventions like the telegraph. People’s lives improved with new goods and technology. But, there were also bad parts, like child labor and pollution.

500 Words Essay on Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a time of big change in how people worked and lived. It started in the late 1700s and went on until the early 1800s. Before this period, most goods were made by hand, and people lived in small villages and worked on farms. But during the Industrial Revolution, machines began to do the work that people and animals used to do. This change began in Britain and then spread to other countries, including the United States and parts of Europe.

New Inventions

One of the most important parts of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of new machines. These machines could make things faster and cheaper than before. For example, the spinning jenny allowed one worker to make several threads at the same time, and the steam engine could power different kinds of machines. Because of these inventions, factories were built where many machines could work together. This was much different from the old way of making things at home or in small workshops.

Life in Factories

Transportation changes.

The Industrial Revolution also changed how goods and people moved from place to place. The steam locomotive made it possible to build railways, which could transport goods and people much faster than horses and carts. Ships also got steam engines, which made travel across oceans quicker and easier. This meant that goods could be sold far away, and it was easier for people to move to new places.

The Industrial Revolution had a big impact on society. It made some people very rich, especially those who owned the factories. But many workers lived in poor conditions and did not get much money. Over time, this led to new laws to protect workers and improve their lives.

Changes in Agriculture

Farming also changed during the Industrial Revolution. New machines like the seed drill and the mechanical reaper made farming more efficient. This meant fewer people were needed to work on farms, so they went to work in the factories instead.

The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change. It made life different in many ways, from how people made things to how they lived and worked. It was not always easy or good for everyone, but it led to the modern world we know today. We still feel the effects of these changes in our daily lives, as the new ways of making and doing things that started back then continue to shape our world.

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The Textile Industry in the British Industrial Revolution

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During the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), textile production was transformed from a cottage industry to a highly mechanised one where workers were present only to make sure the carding, spinning, and weaving machines never stopped. Driven by the desire to cut costs, a long line of inventors ensured that machine factories were cheaper, faster, and more reliable than ever before.

The adoption of machines, typically powered by water wheels and then steam engines, meant that many skilled textile workers lost their employment, which led to protest movements such as those by the Luddites. Although new, less skilled jobs were created, the poor working conditions in the textile mills helped form the trade union movement and spur governments to pass laws that protected the well-being of those who ensured the machines kept on spinning.

The Evolution of the Textile Industry

Traditionally, yarn and cloth were bought from spinners and weavers who worked in their own homes or in small workshops. It was common for a family to divide the work, with children washing and then carding the wool, women spinning the yarn using a manual spinning wheel, and men weaving the cloth using a hand-powered loom.

Production was greatly speeded up in 1733 when John Kay invented the flying shuttle, used to pull thread horizontally (weft) across longitudinal threads (warp) on a weaving frame. The shuttle, knocked across the worked material by a hammer, also permitted wider textiles to be made. The problem now was how to spin more yarn to keep pace with the faster weaving stage. The traditional spinning wheel was an efficient machine but could only spin one thread at a time. Consequently, inventors attempted to create machines that could spin multiple threads simultaneously. This would allow one operator to effectively do the work of several people. In addition, if many machines were all put in one place – a factory or mill – then production costs could be further reduced. As in many other areas of the Industrial Revolution, it was the lure of making more money that drove the move away from manual to machine labour.

There were many inventors and machines that pushed the textile industry forwards during the Industrial Revolution, but the most important include:

• The Spinning Jenny by James Hargreaves (1764)
• The Water Frame by Richard Arkwright (1769)
• The Spinning Mule by Samuel Crompton (1779)
• The Power Loom by Edmund Cartwright (1785)
• The Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney (1794)
• The Roberts' Loom by Richard Roberts (1822)
• The Self-Acting Mule by Richard Roberts (1825)
• Howe Sewing Machine by Elias Howe (1844)

Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny

James Hargreaves (1720-1778) invented the spinning jenny (machine) in Lancashire in 1764 (patented in 1770). The machine – essentially a spinning frame containing multiple spindles – could spin eight cotton threads at the same time, and so the potential to dramatically speed up production and cut labour costs attracted business owners. Hargreaves soon improved his jenny so that a single machine could spin 120 threads simultaneously. This evolution more than made up for the higher cost of a jenny compared to a traditional spinning wheel (70 shillings against one shilling). By 1788, factories across Britain were using over 20,000 spinning jennies. There was no going back to the old cottage industry of isolated workers in their homes, especially as many of the machines used large water wheels for their power.

Traditional textile workers immediately saw the threat of Hargreaves' jenny and smashed any examples they could find and, in some cases, even burnt down factories. Meanwhile, jennies were introduced to France directly from Lancashire from 1771, although they did not quite take off as they had in Britain, despite the French state subsidising their adoption. The reason may be due to wages being lower in France and so the expensive machines were a less attractive proposition for entrepreneurs. The same could also be true for India , where labour was cheaper still and where the jenny was largely ignored.

Arkwright's Water Frame

Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), a Lancashire wigmaker, created the first water frame, a device patented in 1769. Arkwright was crucially assisted by his friend John Kay, a clockmaker (not the flying shuttle inventor) who, over a period of five years, helped him perfect the right materials to use in the machine and the gears that made it work efficiently, replacing the more cumbersome system of levers and belts. As the economic historian R. C. Allen notes, "without watch-makers, the water frame could not have been designed" (204). Britain was at the forefront of watchmaking technology, and this again explains why it was here and not in other countries where the early textile machinery was pioneered. Not coincidentally, perhaps, the heart of the British clock industry was in Lancashire, precisely where the mechanised textile industry took off.

Arkwright's water frame was a cotton-spinning machine where rollers performed the task that fingers and thumbs once had. It was an improvement on the spinning jenny since it produced much finer and stronger yarn. An early version was powered by a single horse and could spin 96 spindles at once. As the fully-developed machine in Arkwright's factory in Cromford on the River Derwent (far away from any textile workers for his own safety and that of his machines) was powered by a water wheel, it could run indefinitely and more smoothly than hand-worked machines.

The 1771 version of Arkwright's water frame had 129 spindles and was operated by women since skilled male textile workers were no longer needed. The factory model of Cromford with its machines, layout, rationalised production process, provision of power on multiple floors, and full-time operations was copied in factories across the north of England , with Arkwright making a fortune by insisting buyers order no fewer than 1,000 of his machines at a time (or more accurately, the right to build them). The Cromford factory model was copied, too, in the United States and Germany. Arkwright also greatly improved his wealth by inventing a carding machine (patented in 1775), an invention that provided better quality source material for the spinning machines. The carding machine actually cut labour costs far more than the water frame.

Crompton's Spinning Mule

Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule in 1779, an improved combination of Hargreaves' jenny and Arkwright's water frame that made finer and more uniform yarn. The machine could measure up to 46 metres (150 ft) in length and massively increased the number of available spindles. A single machine could have 1,320 spindles but was complex and needed three workers to operate it. The invention was a huge success, and by the 1790s, they were steam-powered. A single factory might have 60 of the machines, and soon there were 50 million mule spindles spinning away in Lancashire.

Cartwright's Power Loom

The next development was the power loom weaving machine, invented by Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823) in 1785. Cartwright was a former clergyman, and he was inspired to create the water- and then steam-powered loom after visiting a factory in Derbyshire. The fully automated machine only needed a single worker to change the full spindles every seven minutes or so. Cartwright's machine doubled the speed of cloth production but was not all that efficient; subsequent inventors worked on this problem with success, but Cartwright's theoretical principles were sound, and he himself never stopped improving his invention. The power loom was first used effectively in factories owned by Richard Arkwright. Textile factories across the country soon equipped themselves with hundreds of power looms. The British government awarded Cartwright £10,000 in 1809 in thanks for the significant contribution the power loom made to British industry. In 1821, Cartwright was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Whitney's Cotton Gin

As the methods of the spinners had to keep up with those of the weavers, so, too, those who supplied the raw cotton had to increase their production to meet the booming demand. Eli Whitney (1765-1825) from Massachusetts, USA, moved to a cotton plantation in Georgia where he created a way to efficiently separate the sticky seeds from cotton balls. Whitney's Cotton Gin ('gin' meaning 'machine') was invented in 1794 and was powered by horses or water wheels. It pulled raw cotton through a comb mesh where a combination of revolving metal teeth and hooks separated it and removed the troublesome seeds. A single cotton gin could process up to 25 kg (55 lbs) of cotton every day. Just like Crompton and Cartwright, Whitney's invention was a victim of its own success and was so widely copied that he made little money from it himself, despite registering it with the patent office. As cotton production rocketed, so more and more slaves were used on the cotton plantations to pick the cotton balls that fed the insatiable gins. Cotton was exported far and wide. In Britain in 1790, cotton accounted for 2.3% of total imports; by 1830, that figure had rocketed to 55%. British textile mills worked the raw material and exported it out again with such success that cotton textiles accounted for half of Britain's total exports in 1830.

Now, all three branches of the textile industry – raw material production, spinning, and weaving – could be fully mechanised, but still, the search for efficiency and great profits spurred on the inventors. Textile manufacturing was now big business despite the high costs to set up a machine factory, around £15,000 in 1793 (over $2 million today). As Allen notes, "Cotton was the wonder industry of the Industrial Revolution" (182).

Roberts' Loom

The first cast-iron loom powered by steam was invented by Richard Roberts (1789-1864) in 1822. Using iron instead of wood (as in Cartwright's loom) meant that the machine did not warp, and so the tension of the yarns was kept constant. There were now much fewer instances of yarns snapping or becoming so loose they got tangled in the machinery. This meant that the production of woven cloth was faster than ever.

The inventors kept on improving the machines, both in Britain and in other countries. From the 1790s, the British government prohibited the export of machinery to safeguard its competitive advantage, but, nevertheless, machines were smuggled out and used to set up mills in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The machines were more efficient than ever, and this meant that, despite the capital outlay required to acquire them, they became profitable even in places with much lower labour costs than in Britain.

A notable addition to a textile factory's repertoire was the calico (cheap cotton material) printing machine of c. 1780, which permitted patterned textiles to be made using pre-punched cards. The Frenchman Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) developed a machine that could create patterned silk fabric around 1800, also using pre-cut cards. The Jacquard loom was adopted almost everywhere textiles were made.

Roberts' Self-Acting Mule

Richard Roberts continued to work on mechanised looms, and he came up with something new in 1825. Roberts' creative spirit was perhaps driven by self-interest since, once again, weaving had leapt forward thanks to his loom and spinning could not keep up and supply the yarns the weavers needed. This limited sales of the Roberts Loom. Roberts created a spinning machine that could run with very little input from humans, meaning they could run around the clock. The machine used gears, cranks, and a guide mechanism to ensure that yarn was always placed exactly where it should be and that spindles turned at varying speeds depending on how full they were (hence the machine's 'self-acting' name). Roberts' loom and mule combined provided mill owners with exactly what they had wanted: a factory floor with as few humans in it as possible.

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By 1835, around 75% of cotton mills were using steam power, and there were well over 50,000 power looms being used in Britain. A steam-powered factory did not need to be located near a water source, so better sites could be chosen close to natural resources like coal. With ever more versatile, cheaper, efficient, and reliable machines, the textile industry had become almost completely automated, certainly to the extent that machine operators no longer needed any textile skills. Skilled workers lost their jobs to semi-skilled labourers, but there were more of the latter than the former thanks to the growth in the textile industry.

The British mechanized textile industry could now better its main rival India in production, and so exports boomed. Labour in India was cheap, but the British machines were faster, producing in 2,000 hours what an Indian 'factory' needed 50,000 hours to achieve. In short, the British "cotton mill of 1836 was so efficient that it could out-compete hand spinning anywhere in the world" (Allen, 187).

Howe's Sewing Machine

Elias Howe (1819-1867) invented a new type of sewing machine in Cambridge in the United States in 1844 (patented in 1846). It was the first machine to use the lockstitch (where there are two threads put in the cloth, one from below and one from above). The lockstitch made textiles much stronger since even if the thread broke the whole line of stitches did not unravel. The machine was far quicker than a person sewing by hand – 640 stitches per minute compared to the average of 23 by hand. Consequently, "a calico dress took around six and a half hours to make by hand but just under an hour by machine. The clothing industry was completely revolutionised" (Forty, 149). There were soon imitation companies, notably that owned by Isaac Merritt Singer, who was obliged to pay royalties to Howe and give him a share in I. M. Singer and Co., a company which went on to become one of the leading sewing machine manufacturers, selling some half a million machines each year by 1870. Howe kept on developing his idea, making smaller machines and adding a power source from a foot pedal, which meant that the textile industry went full circle, and once again, people had the opportunity to produce clothes and other textiles in their own homes.

Consequences: The Luddites

Machines meant textile products were cheaper to buy for everyone, and supply industries like the cotton plantations and coal mines boomed. The increase in the number of factories meant many new jobs were created, albeit largely unskilled work. The populations of cities and towns like Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Halifax increased ten times over in the 19th century as people in the countryside flocked to cramped and unsanitary urban centres to find work.

The arrival of machines put a lot of skilled textile workers out of a job, and many protested violently against the loss of their livelihood or the reduction in their wages. In the great manufacturing cities of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Nottinghamshire between 1811 and 1816, a new protest group emerged, the Luddites, named after their mythical leader Ned Ludd, aka King Ludd. The Luddites broke into factories and smashed the machines that had taken away their jobs. The Establishment fought back. Handsome cash rewards were offered for information on or for the capture of Luddites, and the army was called in to protect factories and their owners. Those protestors who were caught faced harsh penalties that included hanging or deportation to Australia.

Working Conditions & Trade Unions

Workers in textile mills had to put up with difficult conditions. Not only were the machines noisy and sometimes dangerous when they failed (falling heavy parts and shuttles flying out like missiles with alarming regularity), but in order to keep the cotton thread supple and strong, the atmosphere in a factory was deliberately kept warm and damp. Such conditions meant that many workers suffered health problems, particularly with their lungs.

A working day in a factory was long, typically 12 hours and included night work as factories and their machines worked around the clock. Many employers preferred women and children to men as they were cheaper. Children were employed, too, because they could crawl under the machines to clear up cotton waste and prevent hanging threads clogging the machinery, all too often a lethal task. As money and efficiency became the obsession of many mill owners, workers were increasingly pressured to work faster and not cause delays in production. There were fines for workers with dirty hands or those who took too long on a toilet break.

All of these negatives meant that workers eventually grouped together to protect their interests. Trade unions were formed to try and curb the greater abuses from unscrupulous employers. Unions collected funds to help those who were ill or injured and so unable to work or be paid. Owners did not like these limits on their profits, and the government banned trade unions between 1799 and 1824, but the movement to protect workers could not be stopped indefinitely.

Several acts of Parliament were passed from 1833 to try, not always successfully, to limit employers' exploitation of their workforce and lay down minimum standards. New regulations included the minimum age children could work, the length of shifts, the prohibition of night work for women and children, the obligation for owners to build protective screens for the more dangerous machines, and the appointment of government inspectors. Textile factories offered valuable employment, but they remained noisy, dangerous, and unhealthy places to spend most of one's waking hours in. The poet William Blake's 1808 description of factories as "dark satanic mills" (Horn, 52), sadly, remained apt long after the Industrial Revolution had passed.

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Bibliography

• Allen, Robert C. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective . Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Armstrong, Benjamin. Britain 1783-1885 . Hodder Education, 2020.
• Dugan, Sally & Dugan, David. The Day the World Took Off. Channel 4 Book, 2023.
• Forty, Simon. 100 Innovations of the Industrial Revolution. Haynes Publishing UK, 2019.
• Hepplewhite, Peter. All About. Wayland, 2016.
• Horn, Jeff. The Industrial Revolution. ABC-CLIO, 2016.
• Shelley et al. Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain . PEARSON SCHOOLS, 1970.
• Yorke, Stan. The Industrial Revolution Explained& Massive Wheels. Countryside Books, 2005.

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Cartwright, Mark. " The Textile Industry in the British Industrial Revolution ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified March 01, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2183/the-textile-industry-in-the-british-industrial-rev/.

Cartwright, Mark. " The Textile Industry in the British Industrial Revolution ." World History Encyclopedia . World History Encyclopedia, 01 Mar 2023. Web. 04 Sep 2024.

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Industrial Revolution

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