Industrial RevolutionName: - MR. BEST WORLD HISTORY



Industrial RevolutionName:Why Britain?The process of mechanization began more than 2000 years ago with the invention of the water wheel. With the water wheel, you could draw power from a river and thus save your own labor by relying on the power of gravity to drive your machinery. All societies of Eurasia embraced this technology by 500 AD but it did not lead to an industrial revolution. Only a tiny handful of industries were mechanized and none produced the sort of economy we would call industrial. The closest it came was in China during the Song Dynasty.But the actual Industrial Revolution happened in Britain from 1780-1840. It is uncertain why Britain was the first to experience this revolution but Britain certainly had a lot of advantages. Politically, Britain was already free from the power of landlords and monarchs, whose strength had been broken in the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution. Economically, Britain had all of the American Colonies to draw wealth from as well as a large percentage of people already involved in manufacturing (rather than growing). Agriculturally, Britian had adopted a system of huge farms that had driven poor farmers to bankruptcy—simultaneously making British agriculture more efficient and freeing up a large labor pool to fill the coming factories.Describe the impact of the waterwheelWhen was the Industrial Revolution?In what country?List that country’s advantages:Effects of the First Industrial RevolutionThe First Industrial Revolution was a revolution in pretty much only 3 industries: cotton textiles, iron, and coal. Few other industries were in any significant way improved. But this small part of the British economy completely shook the entire world.Those who invested in the first cotton mills made extraordinary amounts of money. Investments of a hundred pounds could pay off tens of thousands in just a few years. And thus emerged a new class of super wealthy capitalists. These men entered government and built an economy that we remember today as Laissez Faire Capitalism—with no regulations, no worker rights or protections, no minimum wages or maximum hours, and the legal power to force people to work.The industrial revolution can be viewed from the perspective of the nation or the perspective of the people. From the view of the nation, the revolution built an unstoppable juggernaut. The British economy crushed all others. By 1850, no one anywhere on Earth could compete with British cotton goods. The British economy was so much more effective that Britain was able to easily pay for the wars that meanwhile bankrupted France and lead to France’s revolution.How did the First Industrial Revolution affect the economy?Describe the new industrial economyHow did the Industrial Revolution help Britain?Misery of the RevolutionBut from the perspective of people, the revolution was misery. Their farms bankrupt, peasants moved in their tens of thousands to bleak, smoke-choked mill towns where they lived in crushing poverty. Sewers in worker housing was terrible. Typhus and consumption killed millions. Life expectancy dipped below 30 for the first time since the Roman Era. Most men could not find work and instead turned to alcohol to ease their depression. Alcoholism became a national issue for the first time in history. Meanwhile, wives and children were brought into the factory where they were paid less than a quarter of what men were paid. With no safety precautions, people were often mangled in the machines. If they could no longer work, they were fired. Thousands died at work. One iron foundry supposedly rarely had a day where one person did not die. If you died, your family was not compensated.The revolution also caused misery abroad. Unchained speculators poured out of Britain and sowed misery upon the world. American slavery was reinforced and went from a minor part of the US economy to the sort of enormous industry that would drive the Civil War. British colonies in India were reshaped into slave colonies in all but name. Indian cities were depopulated, it’s people moved out into the country to grow cotton for the British factories. British imperialists funded business-driven conquests in Africa, secretly smuggled slaves in the Middle East and Caribbean, and began illegal drug empires in Asia. In Ireland, the British capitalist government let millions die of famine—blocking aid before it “made the Irish too reliant on handouts.”What was life like for average working folk?How were places beyond Britain affected by the Industrial Revolution?ReformMany recognized the problems with the new industrial-capitalist system but there was no meaningful alternative. You could either get with the revolution or become an outdated backwater dwarfed by the power of your neighbors. And so all Europe and most of America plunged into the industrial nightmare.But people did eventually fight back. Unions of workers formed. They were made illegal, put down by police and even the army. Bosses fought them tooth and nail. But they perservered and by 1900, many unions were powerful enough to win rights for their workers. Progressives and socialists of the 1880s-1920s fought the brutal and unsafe conditions of workplaces. Gathering enough support in Europe and America, they were able to create lasting change. Children were removed from factories. Public schools were set up. Work hours were limited. Safety conditions set. Bosses made responsible for those who died in their factories.After 1920, the gains of the revolution spread. Wealth of the average worker skyrocketed. The Middle Class ballooned into the dominant class of all European and American countries. Education became available to everyone. Nowadays it is hard to look at the revolution as anything but positive but it was not the revolution that produced those benefits, but the fight that came thereafter.Why did no county effectively oppose the industrial revolution?How did things change for the workers?How did things change after 1920?psst ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download