28-09-2021

1 THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
LESSON 1

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For thousands of years, people lived in small farming villages. Villagers had always grown their
own food and made all the goods they needed, like clothes. Beginning in the mid-1700s in Great
Britain, the Industrial Revolution changed everything. People started to buy food, clothes, and
other goods from stores, just like we do today.
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Over the years, farming in Europe had been changing. People had invented new ways to farm
that made farming easier and more efficient. As a result, it took fewer workers to grow more
food. During the same time period, Europe’s population grew. It was no longer possible for
everyone to earn a living working on a farm. So, many people moved to cities looking for work.
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The Industrial Revolution started in Britain’s textile, or cloth, industry. British merchants had
been importing cotton from India since the 1600s. This raw cotton was spun into thread and
then woven into cloth. The merchants wanted to expand the cotton industry in England. They
developed a system in which raw cotton was sent out to peasant families. Workers would spin
and weave the cotton and then send it back to the merchants. Because the families worked in
their homes, this production method was called cottage industry.

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Under this system, production was slow. Inventors came up with ways to make spinning and
weaving cloth faster. They invented tools like the spinning jenny, which spun many threads at
one time, and the water-powered loom, which wove cloth quickly. With the invention of these
machines, it did not make sense for people to work at home. Some machines were powered by
water, so they had to be built next to rivers. Others were too big to be kept in people’s homes.
So, manufacturers built large sheds where they kept the machines. Spinners and weavers came
to work in these factories instead of working at home.

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How did the Industrial Revolution begin?
The Industrial Revolution was the great increase in production that began in England during the
18th century.
The Industrial Revolution began with an agricultural revolution. In the early 1700’s, large
landowners in Britain bought much of the land that had been owned by poorer farmers. The
landowners collected these lands into large fields closed-in by fences or hedges. These fields
were called enclosures. Many of the poor farmers who lost their lands became tenant farmers.
Others gave up farming and moved to the cities.
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New farm methods made farmers more productive. For example, Jethro Tull invented a seed drill
that made planting more efficient.
The increase in farm output made more food available. People enjoyed better diets. The
population of Britain grew. Fewer farmers were needed to grow food. More people began to
make goods other than food. The growth in the number of people in cities to work in factories
helped create the Industrial Revolution.
For several reasons, Britain was the first country to industrialize. Industrialization is the process

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of developing machine production of goods. Great Britain had all the resources needed for
industrialization. These resources included coal, water, iron ore, rivers, harbors and banks. Britain
also had all the factors of production that the Industrial Revolution required. These factors of
production included land, labor(workers) and capital (wealth).

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What inventions helped change business?
The Industrial Revolution began in the textile industry. Several new inventions helped businesses
make cloth and clothing more quickly. Richard Arkwright invented the water frame in 1769. It
used water power to run spinning machines that made yarn. In 1779, Samuel Compton invented
the spinning mule that made better thread. In 1787, Edmund Cartwright developed the power
loom. The power loom was a machine that sped up the cloth-making process.
These new inventions were large and expensive machines. Business owners built large factories
to house and run these machines. These factories were built near rivers because these machines
needed water-power to run them.

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Improvements in Transportation: The Railway Age Begins
The invention of the steam engine in 1705 brought in a new source of power. The steam engine
used fire to heat water and produce steam. The power of the steam drove the engine. Eventually
steam-driven engines were used to run factories.
At the same time, improvements were being made in transportation. Robert Fulton, an
American, invented the first steam-driven boat. This invention allowed people to send goods
more quickly over rivers and canals.

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Starting in the 1820’s, steam brought a new burst of industrial growth. George Stephenson, a
British engineer, set up the world’s first railroad line. It used a steam-driven locomotive. Soon,
railroads were being built all over Britain. The railroad boom helped business owners move their
goods to market more quickly. It created thousands of new jobs in several different industries.
The railroad had a deep effect on British society. For instance, people could now travel
throughout the country more quickly.