Lecture 8: The Industrial Revolution Flashcards
what is coketown
fictional place, setting for Charles Dickens book Hardtimes
this could be anywhere, cotton manufacturing towns that supplied to other parts of England
this idea of Coketown became the classic indictment of all that was wrong with the industrialization; too much machinery, smoke, pollutions everywhere
factory workers in coketowns were called what
factory workers in this town were called “hands”— they basically had only value of working nothing else
this (Hardtimes) was written about a century after the industrial revolution — a key turning point for humanity
why? and what was britains breakthrough
till the 18 century, no country had ever developed an economic system capable of continuous growth. Kingdoms and empires grew but they came to a limit (food production and lands and manufacturing due to size of population)
but from the late 18 century onward britain broke the barriers and created a new economy, achieved self-sustaining growth to promote wealth and productivity
Why was Britain First? (6 reasons)
wool agriculture coal cotton transport the state
why was wool benefitiial
sheep
britain was pretty prosperous as a nation, due to english all industry from 16c onwards
they had lots of land to graze on to produce bettie wool and better cloth
this created lucrative export markets for english cloth
GB’s relative prosperity was built on what
wool
what did the wool lead to
so many spin off jobs and the expansion of london
why did people go to london
GB’s relative prosperity was built on
how did the populations change in london
1500: 50,000; 1700: 600,000
what is photo-industrialization and how did this benefit the people
people started making cloth from their homes to get in on the expansion
this led to the expansion of the industry even more
wages went up, not so so much, but people could afford more than just the bare necessities;
what is another name for proto-industrialization
cottage industry
how did wool stimulate Transatlantic and Indian Ocean trade
they could afford spices and better furniture and better cloth! this increasing demand stimulated the transatlantic and indian trade
the importation of these products (spices and such) added to the importance and size of london and what
some costal port cities
aka London, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow
how was agriculture a factor
increasing ruralization and proto-industrialization meant that an increasing number of farmers were needed to get more land for not only food but also the industry
they had to get more land!
was there an incentive for farmers
Incentives to farmers to produce more
how much did productivity in farming increase by
productivity increased 2.5X between 1500 and 1800
how is the massive productivity increase in agriculture possible
how is this possible?
2 methods—
enclosure;
there method was; the introduction of mixed farming
what is enclosure
this meant replacing the traditional system of open-field farming where each farmer would have certain number of strips in large fields this was replaced with distinct enclosed fields by fences and hedges— this meant less open land/common land where all people could go pick berries and such
this meant hat the more prosperous farmers got more land and the less prosperous were out of a job nd had t move to city and get better jobs and wage
enclosure replaced what
enclosure replaced “open-field” farming;
what is mixd farming
this was the more important one
things like forage crops could be grown on once fallow field lands, returning nutrition to the used lands and it would provide food for the animals and could grow potatoes there
so there was use of all land, didnt have to wait around as soil tried to reestablish itself after one or 2 uses
what did mixed farming do
improved crop yields and livestock.
how was coal a factor
urban demand for coal increasingly ran high
britain was fortunate to be on top of rich coal seams
coal could be mined, inexpensively shipped to the main cities and feed the market
coal was needed in the city
this trade also helped brain produce 80% f the entire european output
need for coal provided a stimulus for mechanical inventions;
need for coal provided a stimulus for mechanical inventions; why was this
coal was so far down below water that the water needed to be pumped out but their old method was ineffective
`what was coal really needed for
Mainly to feed London markets
production increased how much from 16-1800
production increased 60X, 1600-1800
what did Thomas Newcomen do
created the steam engine to remove water from on top of coal
when did Thomas Newcomen have his invention
1712
how many of Thomas Newcomen were in operation by 1800
2,500 in operation by 1800
what did James Watt do
produced a more sophisticated steam engine that operated with much less coal
in partnership with Boulton
they produced steam engines for cotton and iron industries as well
who did James Watt work with
partnership with Matthew Boulton
when did James Watt do his invention
1769
how was cotton a factor
cotton cloth grew more popular
this trade was organized on proto-industrial lines (it was a cottage industry of people spinning and weaving in their homes)
one a point, demand exceeded supply which meant that weavers and spinners could charge more— it took many people to make one cotton cloth
why was cotton so popular
lighter, more comfortable and easier to clean than wool
did the cotton industry expand proto-industrialization
hell yes– people spinning in their homes
was there a bottle neck for spinning
bottleneck for spinning by mid-C18th stimulated invention
