Activities

Complete the following notes. They will give you an outline of the information contained in the passage. The main points, relations of cause-effect, illustrations etc. are clearly indicated in the text by logical connectors. Look out for them. 

•  (par. 1) The Industrial Revolution brought radical changes in nineteenth century England and in the western world. The essence of the Industrial Revolution was the substitution of competition for the medieval regulations and it led to growth of two systems of thought:

1) Economic science                      2) Socialism

• (par. 2-3) Facts of Industrial Revolution. 

• (par. 4) Decrease in rural population.

causes:     1)  the destruction of the common-field system of cultivation

     2)  the enclosures of common and waste lands

     3)  the consolidation of small farms into large

• (par. 5) Agricultural advance.

cause - more scientific approach:

e.g.  

• (par. 6-7) Growth of industry.

causes;

mechanical inventions in textile industry

e.g.  

most important:

mechanical revolution in iron industry

e.g.  

improved means of communication

e.g.  

results:   1) introduction of factory system

     2) substitution of factory system for domestic system

• (par. 8) Revolution in distribution of wealth:

rise in rents caused by

social changes in country life:

• (par. 9) Social changes in manufacturing world: there was the development of canal system and the growth of the factory system which caused the expansion of trade.

consequences:

 1) over-production and depression 

2) cash-nexus (regulated human relationships and relations of production)

3) class conflict.

• (par. 10) Misery of working people often caused by:

Conclusion:

The Industrial Revolution is a period to indicate a radical change within the English society. It allows the development of a part of people but at the same time it brought misery for other people.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

"Industrial Revolution" is a phrase to describe the change from an agrarian and maritime economy to an industrialized economic system which started in Britain around 1780s. The term first appeared in 1830s but it came into general use only after the lectures given by the 19^th century historian Arnold Toynbee; he thought that the term "revolution" was appropriate to describe the radical transformation in Britain. Afterwards the Industrial Revolution influenced all over the world.

The Industrial Revolution led to the substitution of competition for the mediaeval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth and to the growth of two opposite system of thoughts: Economic Science and Socialism. Economic Science tried to understand the laws which regulated the laws of production and distribution of wealth and it had four treatises as chief landmarks. The first one is Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations of  1776 in which he investigated the causes of wealth. The second one is Malthus' Essay on population of 1798 in which he studied the cause of poverty. The third one is Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation of 1817 in which he studied the laws of distribution of wealth. The fourth one is John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy of 1848 in which he studied how wealth should be distributed and so you can see in his ideas the influence of Socialism.

In addition, it caused also radical changes in the fields of agriculture, manufacture, commerce and society.

At the end of the 18^th century Britain was a predominantly rural society; the application of technology to farming methods caused an Agricultural Revolution which was linked to the Industrial Revolution.  Farming became a more mechanical activity and so the need for manual labour decreased. As a consequence lots of agricultural workers went into the towns of North England, where there were mines and factories, in search of work. The decrease of rural population were also caused by the destruction of common field system of cultivation, by the enclosures, which marked the beginning of the private properties and by the consolidation of small farms into large. At the same time there were also great agricultural innovations; for example the breed of cattle was improved, rotation of crops was introduced , the steam plough was invented and agricultural societies were instituted. However with the emigration of workers into the towns the balance of the economic and political power shifted from the landed gentry in favour of the urban mercantile classes.

Besides there was the growth of industry; for example there were innovations within textile industries like Hargreaves' spinning jenny of 1770, the water frame, invented by Arkwright the year before, Crompton's mule of 1779 and the self acting mule invented by Kelly in 1792 but not brought into use until Roberts improved it in 1825. However the most important innovations were Cartwright's power loom of 1785, which mechanized the cotton industry in Lancashire and later the woolen industry in Yorkshire and James Watt's steam-engine of 1769, that was later applied to steamboats and locomotives and revolutionized transport. As a consequence inn 15 years the cotton trade trebled and it has been called its "golden age" (1788-1803) and there was the Transport Revolution; waterways, roads, railways, bridges were built in order to bring raw materials to factories and send finished goods to market and so there was an increase in commerce.

Meanwhile the iron industries had been equally revolutionized by the invention of smelting pit coal brought into use between 1740 and 1750 and by the application in 1788 of the steam engine to blast furnaces. So the amount of iron doubled itself.

So there was the introduction of a factory system that substituted a domestic system. The factory became the main new unit of the system; it concentrated production in one place and imposed a discipline on workers; among workers women and children were badly treated.

Moreover the Revolution had completely changed the British society, spreading the difference between the rich and the poor and bringing to a Social Revolution. The land farmers began to form a rich class and they ceased to work and live with their employers, as well as factory owners made enormous fortunes by owning factories and taking no part in the work of them. Factory owners built houses for their workers although these were badly built without sanitation and water. However on the other hand, these changes had opposite effects on the condition of the workman; he felt all the burden of high prices, while his wage was falling day by day. This was caused by the high price of War, the high price of corn, during the Corn Laws, the consolidation of farm and the rental of land. So by the end of 18^th century there was the birth of Trade Union Movement, formed by workers who fought to improve working conditions and for higher wages. They were judged illegal in 1799 -1800 by the Parliament but they continued to exist in secret until 1824 when they were legalized.

Finally, you can notice that the Industrial Revolution had only increasing the spread between the rich and the poor, without producing all-man well-being.