The Beginnings of Industrialization

SETTING THE STAGE

In the United States, France, and Latin America, political revolutions brought in new
governments. A different type of revolution now transformed the way people worked. The Industrial
Revolution refers to the greatly increased output of machine-made goods that began in England in
the middle 1700s. Before the Industrial Revolution, people wove textiles by hand. Then, machines
began to do this and other jobs. Soon the Industrial Revolution spread from England to
Continental Europe and North America.

Industrial Revolution Begins in Britain

In 1700, small farms covered England’s landscape. Wealthy landowners, however, began buying
up much of the land that village farmers had once worked. The large landowners dramatically
improved farming methods. These innovations amounted to an agricultural revolution.

The Agricultural Revolution Paves the Way

After buying up the land of village farmers, wealthy landowners enclosed their land with fences or
hedges. The increase in their landholdings enabled them to cultivate larger fields. Within these
larger fields, called enclosures, landowners experimented with more productive seeding and
harvesting methods to boost crop yields. The enclosure movement had two important results. First,
landowners tried new agricultural methods. Second, large landowners forced small farmers to
become tenant farmers or to give up farming and move to the cities.

Jethro Tull was one of the first of these scientific farmers. He saw that the usual way of sowing
seed by scattering it across the ground was wasteful. Many seeds failed to take root. He solved this
problem with an invention called the seed drill in about 1701. It allowed farmers to sow seeds in
well-spaced rows at specific depths. A larger share of the seeds took root, boosting crop yields.

Rotating Crops

The process of crop rotation proved to be one of the best developments by the scientific farmers.
The process improved upon older methods of crop rotation, such as the medieval three-field
system. One year, for example, a farmer might plant a field with wheat, which exhausted soil
nutrients. The next year he planted a root crop, such as turnips, to restore nutrients. This might be
followed in turn by barley and then clover.

Livestock breeders improved their methods too. In the 1700s, for example, Robert Bakewell
increased his mutton (sheep meat) output by allowing only his best sheep to breed. Other
farmers followed Bakewell’s lead. Between 1700 and 1786, the average weight for lambs climbed
from 18 to 50 pounds. As food supplies increased and living conditions improved, England’s
population mushroomed. An increasing population boosted the demand for food and goods such
as cloth. As farmers lost their land to large enclosed farms, many became factory workers.

Why the Industrial Revolution Began in England

In addition to a large population of workers, the small island country had extensive natural
resources. Industrialization, which is the process of developing machine production of
goods, required such resources. These natural resources included:

•water power and coal to fuel the new machines

• iron ore to construct machines, tools, and buildings
•rivers for inland transportation
• harbors from which merchant ships set sail
In addition to its natural resources, Britain had an expanding economy to support industrialization.
Businesspeople invested in the manufacture of new inventions. Britain’s highly developed banking
system also contributed to the country’s industrialization. People were encouraged by the
availability of bank loans to invest in new machinery and expand their operations. Growing
overseas trade, economic prosperity, and a climate of progress led to the increased demand
for goods.
Britain’s political stability gave the country a tremendous advantage over its neighbors. Though
Britain took part in many wars during the 1700s, none occurred on British soil. Their military
successes gave the British a positive attitude. Parliament also passed laws to help encourage
and protect business ventures. Other countries had some of these advantages. But Britain had
all the factors of production, the resources needed to produce goods and services that the
Industrial Revolution required. They included land, labor, and capital (or wealth).
Inventions Spur Industrialization
In an explosion of creativity, inventions now revolutionized industry. Britain’s textile industry clothed
the world in wool, linen, and cotton. This industry was the first to be transformed. Cloth merchants
boosted their profits by speeding up the process by which spinners and weavers made cloth.
Changes in the Textile Industry
By 1800, several major inventions had modernized the cotton industry. One invention led to
another. In 1733, a machinist named John Kay made a shuttle that sped back and forth on wheels.
This flying shuttle, a boat-shaped piece of wood to which yarn was attached, doubled the work a
weaver could do in a day. Because spinners could not keep up with these speedy weavers, a cash
prize attracted contestants to produce a better spinning machine. Around 1764, a textile worker
named James Hargreaves invented a spinning wheel he named after his daughter. His spinning
jenny allowed one spinner to work eight threads at a time.

At first, textile workers operated the flying shuttle and the spinning jenny by hand. Then, Richard
Arkwright invented the water frame in 1769. This machine used the waterpower from rapid
streams to drive spinning wheels. In 1779, Samuel Crompton combined features of the spinning
jenny and the water frame to produce the spinning mule. The spinning mule made thread that was
stronger, finer, and more consistent than earlier spinning machines. Run by waterpower, Edmund
Cartwright’s power loom sped up weaving after its invention in 1787.

The water frame, the spinning mule, and the power loom were bulky and expensive machines. They
took the work of spinning and weaving out of the house. Wealthy textile merchants set up the
machines in large buildings called factories. Factories needed waterpower, so the first ones were
built near rivers and streams:
PRIMARY SOURCE A great number of streams . . . furnish water-power adequate to turn many
hundred mills: they afford the element of water, indispensable for scouring, bleaching, printing,
dyeing, and other processes of manufacture: and when collected in their larger channels, or
employed to feed canals, they supply a superior inland navigation, so important for the transit of raw
materials and merchandise. EDWARD BAINS, The History of Cotton Manufacture in Great
Britain (1835)
England’s cotton came from plantations in the American South in the 1790s. Removing seeds
from the raw cotton by hand was hard work. In 1793, an American inventor named Eli Whitney
invented a machine to speed the chore. His cotton gin multiplied the amount of cotton that could
be cleaned. American cotton production skyrocketed from 1.5 million pounds in 1790 to 85 million
pounds in 1810.

Improvements in Transportation
Progress in the textile industry spurred other industrial improvements. The first such development,
the steam engine, stemmed from the search for a cheap, convenient source of power. As early as
1705, coal miners were using steam powered pumps to remove water from deep mine shafts. But
this early model of a steam engine gobbled great quantities of fuel, making it expensive to run.
Watt’s Steam Engine
James Watt, a mathematical instrument maker at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, thought
about the problem for two years. In 1765, Watt figured out a way to make the steam engine work
faster and more efficiently while burning less fuel. In 1774, Watt joined with a businessman named
Matthew Boulton. Boulton was an entrepreneur, a person who organizes, manages, and takes on
the risks of a business. He paid Watt a salary and encouraged him to build better engines.
Water Transportation Steam could also propel boats. An American inventor named Robert
Fulton ordered a steam engine from Boulton and Watt. He built a steamboat called the
Clermont, which made its first successful trip in 1807. The Clermont later ferried passengers up
and down New York’s Hudson River.
In England, water transportation improved with the creation of a network of canals, or human-made
waterways. By the mid-1800s, 4,250 miles of inland channels slashed the cost of transporting both
raw materials and finished goods.
Road Transportation
British roads improved, too, thanks largely to the efforts of John McAdam, a Scottish engineer.
Working in the early 1800s, McAdam equipped road beds with a layer of large stones for drainage.
On top, he placed a carefully smoothed layer of crushed rock. Even in rainy weather heavy wagons
could travel over the new “macadam” roads without sinking in mud.
Private investors formed companies that built roads and then operated them for profit. People called
the new roads turnpikes because travelers had to stop at toll gates (turnstiles or turnpikes) to pay
tolls before traveling farther.

The Railway Age Begins

Steam-driven machinery powered English factories in the late 1700s. A steam engine on wheels—
the railroad locomotive—drove English industry after 1820.
Steam-Driven Locomotives
In 1804, an English engineer named Richard Trevithick won a bet of several thousand dollars. He
did this by hauling ten tons of iron over nearly ten miles of track in a steam-driven locomotive. Other
British engineers soon built improved versions of Trevithick’s locomotive. One of these early railroad
engineers was George Stephenson. He had gained a solid reputation by building some 20
engines for mine operators in northern England. In 1821, Stephenson began work on the world’s
first railroad line. It was to run 27 miles from the Yorkshire coal fields to the port of Stockton on
the North Sea. In 1825, the railroad opened. It used four locomotives that Stephenson had
designed and built.
The Liverpool-Manchester Railroad
News of this success quickly spread throughout Britain. The entrepreneurs of northern England
wanted a railroad line to connect the port of Liverpool with the inland city of Manchester. The
track was laid. In 1829, trials were held to choose the best locomotive for use on the new line. Five
engines entered the competition. None could compare with the Rocket, designed by Stephenson
and his son.
Smoke poured from the Rocket’s tall smokestack, and its two pistons pumped to and fro as they
drove the front wheels. The locomotive hauled a 13-ton load at an unheard-of speed—more than 24
miles per hour. The Liverpool-Manchester Railway opened officially in 1830. It was an immediate
success.
Railroads Revolutionize Life in Britain
The invention and perfection of the locomotive had at least four major effects. First, railroads
spurred industrial growth by giving manufacturers a cheap way to transport materials and finished
products. Second, the railroad boom created hundreds of thousands of new jobs for both railroad
workers and miners. These miners provided iron for the tracks and coal for the steam engines.
Third, the railroads boosted England’s agricultural and fishing industries, which could transport their
products to distant cities.
Finally, by making travel easier, railroads encouraged country people to take distant city jobs. Also,
railroads lured city dwellers to resorts in the countryside. Like a locomotive racing across the
country, the Industrial Revolution brought rapid and unsettling changes to people’s lives.

Summary:
Time Period and Context:
*The Industrial Revolution began in England in the mid-1700s and spread to Europe and North
America.
*It followed political revolutions and led to the transformation of the way people worked and
produced goods.
Agricultural Revolution:
*Wealthy landowners bought land from small farmers and introduced new farming methods
(enclosures).
*Jethro Tull invented the seed drill in 1701, improving crop yields.
*Crop rotation and better livestock breeding (e.g., Robert Bakewell) improved food production.
Reasons for Industrialization in England:
*England had a growing population, natural resources (coal, iron ore, rivers, harbors), and political
stability.
*Britain’s expanding economy and banking system encouraged investment and entrepreneurship.
Key Inventions:
Textile Industry:
*John Kay invented the flying shuttle (1733).
*James Hargreaves created the spinning jenny (1764).
*Richard Arkwright invented the water frame (1769), and Samuel Crompton invented the
spinning mule (1779).
*Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom (1787).
*Cotton Gin: In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, boosting cotton production in the U.S.
Transportation Developments:
*James Watt improved the steam engine in 1774.
*Robert Fulton built the first successful steamboat (1807).
*John McAdam improved road surfaces in the early 1800s with macadam roads.
Railroads:
*Richard Trevithick developed the first steam-powered locomotive in 1804.
*George Stephenson built the first railway line in 1825 and designed the Rocket locomotive
(1829), which led to the success of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway (1830).
Impact of Railroads:
Railroads facilitated industrial growth, created jobs, boosted agriculture and fishing, and improved
mobility.

QUESTIONNAIRE
Fill in the blank:
cotton gin cottage enclosure enclosure England eight
industry movement movement
laws
higher- Liverpool John Kay James Watt Robert 1830
quality iron Fulton
Stockton steam engine Steam spinning Steamboat textile
jenny industry
Thomas
Newcomen

1. The Industrial Revolution began in __________ in the middle 1700s.

2. The Liverpool-Manchester Railway opened in __________.
3. The first railroad line, built by George Stephenson, ran from __________ to __________.
4. The spinning jenny, invented by James Hargreaves, allowed one person to spin __________
threads at once.
5. The __________ engine was used to power trains and ships during the Industrial Revolution.
6. ____________________ machine powered by coal, making it possible to locate factories anywhere,
including away from rivers.
7. The ability to produce ________________ helped increase industrialization because better
machines could be built from iron.
8. ___________ invention that improved thread production.
9. In 1712, ______________________ built the first steam engine.
10. In 1712, _________________________ built a better steam engine.
11. _____________________ invented the flying shuttle.
12. Eli Whitney invented the _____________________ in 1793.
13. In 1807, John Fulton developed the first __________________________.
14. The first successful steamboat was built by __________ in 1807.
15. ____________________ built the first paddle-wheel steamboat.
16. ____________________ production done by individuals in their homes.
17. The ________________________kept peasants from using common lands for their animals to graze and
forced many peasants to move to towns to find jobs in factories.
18. ____________________ the fencing of meadows and fields, which kept peasants from using them for
grazing and forced many to move to towns for work.
19. ____________________ caused British peasants to move to towns.
20. The ________________________in England met its last major challenge to full mechanization with the
development of improvements to the steam engine.

True or False:
1 The Agricultural Revolution in England began after the Industrial Revolution. ____
________________________________________________________________
2 The flying shuttle was invented by James Hargreaves. ____
________________________________________________________________
3 Richard Arkwright invented the water frame in 1779. ____
________________________________________________________________
4 James Watt improved the steam engine to make it faster and more efficient. ____
________________________________________________________________
5 The Industrial Revolution began in France in the middle 1700s. ____
________________________________________________________________
6 The Industrial Revolution had no impact on the lives of farmers. ____
________________________________________________________________
7 The invention of the Rocket locomotive was an important milestone in the ____
development of railways.
________________________________________________________________

Multiple Choice:
1. Who invented the seed drill in 1701?
a. Robert Bakewell b. Jethro Tull c. James Watt d. James Hargreaves
2. What was the primary function of the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney in 1793?
a. To clean cotton by b. To power steam c. To increase the d. To mass produce
removing seeds engines speed of weaving clothing
3. Which invention helped improve road transportation in the early 1800s?
a. The cotton gin b. Macadam roads c. The spinning mule d. The light bulb
4. What was one major advantage of the railroad system?
a. It brought apart the b. It replaced the use c. It allowed faster d. It made
states of steam engines in communication transporting goods
factories. between countries. cheaper and faster.
 5. What was a key reason why Britain was able to industrialize?
a. It had no military b. It had no banks or c. It had an abundant d. It had a democratic
conflicts. financial institutions. supply of coal and government
iron.

Matching:
_____ 1. James Watt a. Powered machines in factories
_____ 2. Eli Whitney b. Flying Shuttle
_____ 3. John Kay c. Allowed spinning of finer, stronger threads
_____ 4. George Stephenson d. Spinning Mule
_____ 5. Steam Engine e. Steam Engine
_____ 6. Spinning Mule f. Increased cotton production
_____ 7. Rocket Locomotive g. Cotton Gin
______ 8. Cotton Gin h. Improved train transportation