Module 2
LESSON
3
Industrial Revolution
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Determine the technological developments during industrial revolution.
Explain the relevance of industrial revolution towards human history.
Introduction:
Good day! Today, you will be exploring the different industrial breakthroughs
during the Industrial revolution.
Activity:
Arrange the following set of letters to come up with three words which is
considered to be one of the greatest invention during Industrial Revolution.
EATMEGINNTWASTE
Analysis:
Upon the completion of the activity with the correct answer of the scrambled
letters. Answer the following question.
1. How does this technology address some basic problem in the society
during the conception of Industrial Revolution? Discuss 2 points of view.
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Abstraction:
Industrial Revolution, the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft
economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. This
process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other
parts of the world. Due to western Europe’s tremendous population growth
during the late 18th century, extending well into the 19th century itself. Between 1750 and
1800, the populations of major countries increased between 50 and 100 percent, chiefly as a
result of the use of new food crops (such as the potato) and a temporary decline in epidemic
disease. Population growth of this magnitude compelled change.
It started early of 18th century in Great Britain, when people there had used up most of
their trees for building houses and ships and for cooking and heating. In their search for
something else to burn, they turned to coal that they found near the surface of the earth.
Soon they were digging deeper to mine it. Their coal mines filled with water that needed to
be removed; horses pulling up bucketful proved slow going. To the rescue came James Watt
(1736–1819), a Scottish instrument-maker who in 1776 designed an engine in which burning
coal produced steam, which drove a piston assisted by a partial vacuum. Its first application
was to more quickly and efficiently pump water out of coal mines, to better allow for
extraction of the natural resource. This engine has been improved and been used for other
industrial application such as mills and mines up to steam boat and steam engine trains. The
following are some important technological inventions that advances human society:
1. Spinning Jenny -The ‘Spinning Jenny’ was an engine for spinning wool or cotton
invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves, who had it patented in 1770. It was a key
development in the industrialization of weaving, as it could spin many spindles at a
time, beginning with eight at a time and increasing to eighty as the technology
improved. Weaving of cloth was now no longer centered in the homes of textile
workers.
2. The locomotive -The first recorded steam railway journey took place on 21 February
1804, when Cornishman Richard Trevithick’s ‘Pen-y-Darren’ locomotive carried ten
tons of iron, five wagons and seventy men the 9.75 miles from the ironworks at
Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal in four hours and five minutes. The journey
had an average speed of c. 2.4 mph.
3. Telegraph - On 25 July 1837 Sir William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone
successfully demonstrated the first electrical telegraph, installed between Euston and
Camden Town in London. In America, the first telegraph service opened in 1844 when
telegraph wires connected Baltimore and Washington D.C. One of the main figures
behind the invention of the telegraph was the American Samuel Morse, who also went
on to develop Morse Code to allow the easier transmission of messages across telegraph
lines.
4. Dynamite - Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, in the 1860s.
Prior to its invention, gunpowder (called black powder) had been used to shatter
rocks and fortifications. Dynamite, however, proved stronger and safer, quickly
gaining widespread use. Alfred called his new invention dynamite, after the ancient
Greek word ‘dunamis’, meaning ‘power.’ He did not want it to be used for military
purposes but, as we all know, the explosive was soon embraced by armies across the
world.
5. The photograph - In 1826, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first
permanent photograph from a camera image. Niépce captured the photograph from
his upstairs window using a camera obscura, a primitive camera, and a pewter plate,
having experimented with various light-sensitive materials.
6. The typewriter -In 1829 William Burt, an American inventor, patented the first
typewriter which he called a ‘typographer’. Only 38 years later, in 1867, the first
modern typewriter was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes. This typewriter,
patented in 1868, featured a keyboard with keys arranged in alphabetical order,
which made the letters easy to find.
7. Electric generator - The first electric generator was invented by Michael Faraday in
1831: the Faraday Disk. Although the machine’s design was not very effective,
Faraday’s experimentation with electromagnetism, including the discovery of
electromagnetic induction soon led to improvements, such as the dynamo which was
the first generator capable of delivering power for industry.
These technologies and many others improves the lifestyle of the families since
livelihood opportunities have been open to the people who are willing to work in factories
where production of materials are massively produced. Because of the increase of
population, the demand for different products and services for a comfortable life that will fit
to the standard of living was also sought by the society. This includes:
1. Glass making - A new method of producing glass, known as the cylinder process, was
developed in Europe during the early 19th century. In 1832 this process was used by the
Chance Brothers to create sheet glass.
2. Paper machine - A machine for making a continuous sheet of paper on a loop of
wire fabric was patented in 1798 by Nicholas Louis Robert.
3. Agriculture - The British Agricultural Revolution is considered one of the causes of
the Industrial Revolution because improved agricultural productivity freed up
workers to work in other sectors of the
4. Economy. Industrial Revolution eventually resulted in precision manufacturing
techniques in the late 19th century for mass-producing agricultural equipment, such
as reapers, binders and combine harvesters.
5. Canals - canals began to be built in the late 18th century to link the major
manufacturing centers across United Kingdom (UK). It proves to be more effective in
bringing products to areas difficult to reach due to roads’ condition.
6. Railways - The rapid introduction of railways followed the 1829 which is a success for
the transport of freight and commodities with minimum delay. Construction of major
railways connecting the larger cities and towns began in the 1830s.
7. Housing - The rapid population growth in the 19th century included the new
industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centers. The critical factor was
financing, which was handled by building societies that dealt directly with large
contracting firms. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure.
