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 substituted the mediaeval regulations and led to growth of two systems of thought:

 

1) Economic science                      2) Socialism

 

a)  Adam Smith - Wealth of Nations (1776)

b) Malthus - Essay on Population (1798)

c) Ricardo - Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817)

d) John Stuart Mill - Principles of Political Economy (1848)

 

 

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

1) rapid population growth

2) rural population decrease

 

 

• (par. 4) Decrease in rural population.

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

     2)  the introduction of the enclosures

     3)  the large farms replaced the small ones

• (par. 5) Agricultural advance.

cause — more scientific approach:

e.g.  

quality of breeding cattle

introduction of crop rotation

invention of the steam-plough

agricultural societies

 

 

• (par. 6-7) Growth of industry.

causes;

1)    mechanical inventions in textile industry

e.g.  

Hargreaves - the spinning-jenny (1770)

Arkwright - the water-frame (1769)

Crompton - the mule (1779)

Kelly - the self-acting mule (1792)

most important:

James Watt - steam engine (1769)

Cartwright - power-loom (1785)

 

2)    mechanical revolution in iron industry

e.g.  

the pit-coal to smelt iron (1740-1750)

the steam-engine to blast furnaces (1788)

3)    improved means of communication

e.g.  

Expansion of trade thanks the building of canals (the Grand Trunk canal in 1777 and the Grand Junction canal in 1792)

roads’s improvement under Telford and Macadam

the first railroad (1830)

 

results:   1) expansion of trade

     2) substitution of factory system for domestic system

 

 

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

rise in rents caused by

1) high price of war

2) introduction of an enclosure system

3) consolidation of farms

4) high price of corn

social changes in country life:

• (par. 9) Social changes in manufacturing world: the new class of great capitalist employers made enormous fortunes, so they didn’t take part personally in the work and the relations between them and the working people disappeared.

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:

 

1) a fall in wages

2) the conditions of labour

3) the growth of prices

 

Conclusion:

The Industrial Revolution showed developing and competition may take wealth and innovation but also depression and misery to working people.

 

 

 

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution led to the substitution of competition for the medioeval regulations and led to the development of 2 systems of thoughts in all Europe: Economic science and Socialism.

Economic science tried to understand the laws which regulate the distribution of wealth and Socialism stated equality of people. The first trend of thought had 4 landmarks, each one connected to one of the greatest English economist. The first was Smith, he wrote “ Wealth of Nations” (1776) which investigated the causes of wealth; while Malthus investigated the causes of poverty in his “Essay on Population” (1798). Ricardo wrote “Principles of Political and Economic Taxation” (1817) to ascertain the laws of distribution and a lot of years later Mill wrote “Principles of Political Economy” (1848) in which he showed how wealth should be distributed, indeed he was much influenced by socialism.

The term “Industrial Revolution” is attributed by Arnold Toynbee, the convenient phrase is adopted to describe the transformation from an agrarian and maritime economy to an industrialized economic system. The revolution developed between 1780 and 1790.

The use of innovations to farming methods took to the “agricultural revolution”. The manual labour was replaced by mechanized activities and so many workers moved to towns to look for work; in addition the laws on introduction of enclosures established the closing of open land.  As a consequence the economic and political power was in the tradesmen and financiers’ hands and the rural population decreased, but the new innovations and the rotation on crop allowed to make most products.

The most important innovations of industrial transformation included a process to produce wrought iron.

The cotton industry in Lancashire and the woolen industry in Yorkshire was mechanized by the introduction of Hargreaves’s spinning-jenny, Cartwright’s power-loom, Arkwright’s water frame, Crompton’s mule and Watt’s steam engine.

The steam engines were applied to the locomotives by Stephenson and to steamboats by Fulton.

The new request of fuel to feed steam engines took to build the factories near mines in the North of England, indeed they were reach of coal, whose increased the production between 1759 and 1800.

In 15 years the cotton trade trebled and it has been called its “golden age” (1788-1803)

The growth of industrial system required the developing of communication system to transport the raw materials to factories and for commercial trade. This process was defined the Transportation Revolution: roads were improved and new canals were built (the Grand Junction Canal, the Trunk Canal and the first railroad).

The overseas voyages and colonization of new territories permitted to England to provide raw materials and also to trade with overseas land.

The industrial development took to a rapid growing of population which increased the numbers of workers for factories and consumers. The factories began a place of women and children’s work.

The factory owner had some houses built for their workers, but they lived bad condition indeed there weren’t water or sanitation. Workers began to form clubs to look after their interests. The clubs united themselves in the Trade Union Movement. The factory owners thought it was an attempt to do a revolution so they asked to Parliament to declared them as illegal (1799-1800) but they continued to exist and they were legalized in 1824.

In this period the working people’s misery grew. It was caused by rising of prices, high prices of war, bad conditions of live.

The 18th century was a period of developing which took wealth but also depression and misery indeed the Industrial Revolution brought wealth and innovations but it did not produce well-being.