Industrial revolution

Question 1

What does the term industrialist revolution mean?

Answer 1

The two words describe the process by which in the mid 18th and 19th centuries technological change created a revolution for society by changing transport, manufacturing and working patterns.

Question 2

Who first used the phrase ‘industrial revolution?

Answer 2

This phrase was first used by the historian Edward Toynbee in 1883.

Question 3

Is revolution really the right word to describe the process?

Answer 3

Since he first created the phrase in 1833 it has been argued that change was slower then Toynbee thought and was not really a ‘revolution’ but more of a slow change that affected some people much more than others.

Question 4

Essay plan for what does the term industrial revolution mean?

Answer 4

Introduction
Developments in iron production
First machines and factories
The rise of steam power
Developments in transport
Social change
Conclusion

Question 5

What could the industrial revolution not have taken place without?

Answer 5

Developments in the production of iron.

Question 6

How had iron been produced in the past?

Answer 6

Before 1700 iron was produced by smelting, heating iron ore and limestone with burning charcoal. This produced ‘pig iron’ which was quite brittle. Also charcoal was expensive to produce.

Question 7

What break through did Abraham Darby make?

Answer 7

In 1707 Abraham Darby discovered that sulphur could be removed from coal (sulphur weakens iron) and so a cheaper more plentiful source of carbon was found.

Darby established an ironworks in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire.

Question 8

What type of new source of energy was discovered to power engines?

Answer 8

Steam.

Abraham Darby’s son learned of a primitive steam engine in Dudley near Birmingham.

This technology replaced bellows powered by a water wheel to make iron.

Question 9

What break through in iron making did Henry Cort make?

Answer 9

.In 1784 Henry Cort made a further break through in iron technology producing wrought iron from pig iron which was easier to work with than cast iron.

Question 10

‘Why were these break throughs in iron extraction significant?

Answer 10

The possibility of creating larger machines and structures (bridges, buildings) was created.

Question 11

What developments in machines happened in the eighteenth century in machines to weave textiles?

Answer 11

In 1733 John Kay invented a weaving loom with a mechanised ‘flying shuttle’.

By 1764 James Hargreaves invented the ‘spinning jenny’ which produced large amounts of thread in a very small amount of time.

Richard Arkwright improved the ‘spinning jenny’ and set up in Derbyshire in 1769.

England became a very important centre for textile manufacture.

Question 12

How was steam power developed as an important rising technology in these years?

Answer 12

In 1712 Thomas Newcomen invented a steam engine to pump water out of mines.

James Watt improved on this and in 1773 went into partnership with Matthew Boulton. They went on to make 500 working steam engines in total.

Steam power increasingly replaced wind and water power during this period.

Question 13

What changes were made in transport in the early nineteenth century?

Answer 13

The transport network was changed hugely during the 1800s by the establishment of canals and railways and the improvement in the road network.

Question 14

What important developments were there in canal building in this period?

Answer 14

There was a boom in canal-building in the late 18th/early 19th centuries.

About £20 million was invested in canal-building between 1755 and 1835.

Famous canal-builders were James Brindley and Thomas Telford.

By 1850, the canal network covered 4,000 miles.

Canals allowed raw materials and goods to be transported more easily therefore reducing the cost of products and improving distribution.

Question 15

What important developments were there in railway building in this period?

Answer 15

The first railway was the Stockton and Darlington Railway (1825).

George Stephenson built the first commercial steam train the Rocket in 1829.

There was a ‘Railway Mania’ in the 1840s. £3 billion was spent building the railways between 1845 and 1900.

By 1870 there were 16,000 miles of line.

Question 16

What important developments were there in road building in this period?

Answer 16

Thomas Telford and John Macadam developed better roads, with firm foundations, drainage and a smooth surface.

After 1750, Turnpike Trusts were set up to improve main roads, for which they charged a toll.

Question 17

What effects did they changes in industry have for ordinary people?

Answer 17

These changes had huge social consequences for ordinary people.

Towns and cities grew at an enormous rate where the new factories had been established. They were extremely crowded. People were housed in hastily constructed buildings with limited sewerage and water supplies.

In 1750, only about 15 per cent of the population lived in towns. By 1900 it was 85 per cent.

Question 18

What effects did the growing industrial towns have on people’s health?

Answer 18

Life expectancy in the cities was very low as they were prone to outbreaks of typhoid, cholera and tuberculosis.

Question 19

Conclusion paragraph for: ‘what does the term the industrial revolution mean’

Answer 19

In conclusion during the period from 1750 to 1900 there were radical development in technology, crucially in the production of iron.

The economy of the England changed from agricultural to industrial.

Energy sources moved from water and wind power to steam engines.

Transport and communications were vastly improved. The population grew approximately 260% in this time and people migrated from the countryside to the cities.

The overall change was profound but it is important to remember that change was slow and that some parts of the country would have experienced very little change at all.