Industrial Revolution Flashcards
Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Britain and America first?
There were a great amount of resources. The geographical landscape of Britain. The political freedoms in Britain. Colonies provided raw materials that were able to be manufactured in the mother country, Britain.
What were the main resources that influenced the industrial revolution during this time in Britain?
Coal and Iron
What was the industrial revolution?
The industrial revolution was a period of time where goods started to get manufactured by machines instead of by hand.
What was the political climate like during this time in Britain?
It was very free and this allowed people to share ideas freely and spread their ideas.
How did the political climate in Britain affect the Industrial Revolution?
The political climate in Britain affected the Industrial Revolution because there were no laws that prohibited ideas spreading. This made an environment in Britain that allowed for people to get together and discuss these ideas freely. This lead to ideas spreading.
How did the spread of enlightenment ideas contribute to the Industrial Revolution?
Ideas started to spread and this lowered the need for a mercantilist society. The ideas that were spread during the enlightenment supported a more open and competitive economic environment. This eventually lead to more people moving to cities and this started the industrial revolution. This also was the start of the middle class.
What was steam power? Why was it important?
Steam power was made by a steam engine and it was used to power factories. It would heat up water and it would turn into steam. This would turn a wheel and that would fuel the coal mining machines that would fuel the factories and homes, especially in London. It was important because it required less manpower and this resulted in lower prices because employers did not have to pay as many employers.
What did the colonies in the Americas, Asia, and Africa provide that continues the development of the Industrial Revolution?
The colonies provided two things; raw goods and naval bases. They provided raw goods and those were converted into the manufactured goods that were made in industrial factories.
It also gave them naval bases. During this time, Britain’s navy was the best in the world and this was because of these bases in their colonies. They would allow the ships to refuel and restock supplies and this gave them an advantage to the other countries like France.
How did the colonies contribute to the growth of wealth in Britain?
They had an extensive trading network that allowed for them to have access to many different raw goods and this grew the wealth in Britain. This also started to make a middle class in Britain because people started to invest in goods.
What is the “consumer revolution”?
There was more money in the economy and that lead to the middle class who had extra money to spend. They became consumers and this lead to more goods being produced.
How did the middle class in Britain grow during this time?
More people were able to open factories and less people were working on farms (Agricultural Revolution). This lead to people who had extra money to spend, also known as the middle class.
What types of manufactured goods grew in importance during this time?
Tobacco, rice, tea, sugar, gold & silver.
How did Britain’s transportation systems grow and develop during this time?
At the start of the industrial revolution, people would maintain the roads in front of their house and if one person did not maintain their road, it lead others to follow suit. This was making it harder for trade to happen on land because the roads were in such bad conditions.
Eventually when the government realized how bad the roads were getting, they made laws that allowed for people to own roads and fine people to travel on them. The better your road was, the more people travel on it. This allowed for a very intricate and complex network of roads.
