Britain: Birthplace
of the Industrial Revolution
Before
the advent of the Industrial Revolution, most people resided in small, rural
communities where their daily existences revolved around farming. Life for the
average person was difficult, as incomes were meager, and malnourishment and
disease were common. People produced the bulk of their own food, clothing,
furniture and tools. Most manufacturing was done in homes or small, rural
shops, using hand tools or simple machines.
A
number of factors contributed to Britain’s role as the birthplace of the
Industrial Revolution. For one, it had great deposits of coal and iron ore,
which proved essential for industrialization. Additionally, Britain was a
politically stable society, as well as the world’s leading colonial power,
which meant its colonies could serve as a source for raw materials, as well as
a marketplace for manufactured goods.
As
demand for British goods increased, merchants needed more cost-effective
methods of production, which led to the rise of mechanization and the factory
system.
Innovation and
Industrialization
The
textile industry, in particular, was transformed by industrialization. Before
mechanization and factories, textiles were made mainly in people’s homes
(giving rise to the term cottage industry), with merchants often providing the
raw materials and basic equipment, and then picking up the finished product.
Workers set their own schedules under this system, which proved difficult for
merchants to regulate and resulted in numerous inefficiencies. In the 1700s, a
series of innovations led to ever-increasing productivity, while requiring less
human energy. For example, around 1764, Englishman James Hargreaves (1722-1778)
invented the spinning jenny (“jenny” was an early abbreviation of the word
“engine”), a machine that enabled an individual to produce multiple spools of
threads simultaneously. By the time of Hargreaves’ death, there were over
20,000 spinning jennys in use across Britain. The spinning jenny was improved
upon by British inventor Samuel Compton’s (1753-1827) spinning mule, as well as
later machines. Another key innovation in textiles, the power loom, which
mechanized the process of weaving cloth, was developed in the 1780s by English
inventor Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823).
Developments
in the iron industry also played a central role in the Industrial Revolution.
In the early 18th century, Englishman Abraham Darby (1678-1717) discovered a
cheaper, easier method to produce cast iron, using a coke-fueled (as opposed to
charcoal-fired) furnace. In the 1850s, British engineer Henry Bessemer
(1813-1898) developed the first inexpensive process for mass-producing steel.
Both iron and steel became essential materials, used to make everything from
appliances, tools and machines, to ships, buildings and infrastructure.
The
steam engine was also integral to industrialization. In 1712, Englishman Thomas
Newcomen (1664-1729) developed the first practical steam engine (which was used
primarily to pump water out of mines). By the 1770s, Scottish inventor James
Watt (1736-1819) had improved on Newcomen’s work, and the steam engine went on
to power machinery, locomotives and ships during the Industrial Revolution.
Transportation and
the Industrial Revolution
The
transportation industry also underwent significant transformation during the
Industrial Revolution. Before the advent of the steam engine, raw materials and
finished goods were hauled and distributed via horse-drawn wagons, and by boats
along canals and rivers. In the early 1800s, American Robert Fulton (1765-1815)
built the first commercially successful steamboat, and by the mid-19th century,
steamships were carrying freight across the Atlantic. As steam-powered ships
were making their debut, the steam locomotive was also coming into use. In the
early 1800s, British engineer Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) constructed the
first railway steam locomotive. In 1830, England’s Liverpool and Manchester
Railway became the first to offer regular, timetabled passenger services. By
1850, Britain had more than 6,000 miles of railroad track. Additionally, around
1820, Scottish engineer John McAdam (1756-1836) developed a new process for
road construction. His technique, which became known as macadam, resulted in
roads that were smoother, more durable and less muddy.
Communication and
Banking in the Industrial Revolution
Communication
became easier during the Industrial Revolution with such inventions as the
telegraph. In 1837, two Brits, William Cooke (1806-1879) and Charles Wheatstone
(1802-1875), patented the first commercial electrical telegraph. By 1840,
railways were a Cooke-Wheatstone system, and in 1866, a telegraph cable was
successfully laid across the Atlantic. The Industrial Revolution also saw the
rise of banks and industrial financiers, as well as a factory system dependent
on owners and managers. A stock exchange was established in London in the
1770s; the New York
Stock Exchange was founded in the early 1790s. In 1776, Scottish social
philosopher Adam Smith (1723-1790), who is regarded as the founder of modern
economics, published “The Wealth of Nations.” In it, Smith promoted an economic
system based on free enterprise, the private ownership of means of production,
and lack of government interference.
Quality of Life
during Industrialization
The
Industrial Revolution brought about a greater volume and variety of
factory-produced goods and raised the standard of living for many people,
particularly for the middle and upper classes. However, life for the poor and
working classes continued to be filled with challenges. Wages for those who
labored in factories were low and working conditions could be dangerous and
monotonous. Unskilled workers had little job security and were easily
replaceable. Children were part of the labor force and often worked long hours
and were used for such highly hazardous tasks as cleaning the machinery. In the
early 1860s, an estimated one-fifth of the workers in Britain’s textile
industry were younger than 15. Industrialization also meant that some
craftspeople were replaced by machines. Additionally, urban, industrialized
areas were unable to keep pace with the flow of arriving workers from the
countryside, resulting in inadequate, overcrowded housing and polluted,
unsanitary living conditions in which disease was rampant. Conditions for Britain’s
working-class began to gradually improve by the later part of the 19th century,
as the government instituted various labor reforms and workers gained the right
to form trade unions.
Industrialization
Moves Beyond Britain
The
British enacted legislation to prohibit the export of their technology and
skilled workers; however, they had little success in this regard.
Industrialization spread from Britain to other European countries, including
Belgium, France and Germany, and to the United States. By the mid-19th century,
industrialization was well-established throughout the western part of Europe
and America’s northeastern region. By the early 20th century, the U.S. had
become the world’s leading industrial nation.
http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution
Important technological developments
The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations,[19] beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s the following gains had been made in important technologies:
Textiles – Mechanized cotton spinning powered by steam or water increased the
output of a worker by a factor of about 1000. The power loom increased the
output of a worker by a factor of over 40.[20] The cotton gin
increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50.[14] Large gains in
productivity also occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but they
were not as great as in cotton.[21]
Steam power – The efficiency of steam engines increased so that they used between
one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel. The adaption of stationary steam engines
to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses. The high pressure
engine had a high power to weight ratio, making it suitable for transportation.
Steam power underwent a rapid expansion after 1800.
Iron making – The substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost for pig iron
and wrought iron production.[22] Using coke also
allowed larger blast furnaces,[23][24] resulting in
economies of scale. The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760. It
was later improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher furnace
temperatures. The puddling process produced a structural grade iron at a lower cost than the finery forge.[25] The rolling mill was fifteen times faster than hammering wrought iron.[25] Hot blast (1828) greatly increased fuel efficiency in iron
production in the following decades.
Machine Tools - The Industrial Revolution created a demand for metal parts used in machinery. This led to the development of several machine tools for cutting metal parts. They have their origins in the tools developed in the 18th century by makers of clocks and watches and scientific instrument makers to enable them to batch-produce small mechanisms.
Chemicals - The large scale production of chemicals was an important development during the Industrial Revolution. The first of these was the production of sulphuric acid by the lead chamber process invented by the Englishman John Roebuck (James Watt's first partner) in 1746. He was able to greatly increase the scale of the manufacture by replacing the relatively expensive glass vessels formerly used with larger, less expensive chambers made of riveted sheets of lead. Instead of making a small amount each time, he was able to make around 100 pounds (50 kg) in each of the chambers, at least a tenfold increase.
The production of an alkali on a large scale became an important goal as well, and Nicolas Leblanc succeeded in 1791 in introducing a method for the production of sodium carbonate. The Leblanc process was a reaction of sulphuric acid with sodium chloride to give sodium sulphate and hydrochloric acid. The sodium sulphate was heated with limestone (calcium carbonate) and coal to give a mixture of sodium carbonate and calcium sulphide. Adding water separated the soluble sodium carbonate from the calcium sulphide. The process produced a large amount of pollution (the hydrochloric acid was initially vented to the air, and calcium sulphide was a useless waste product). Nonetheless, this synthetic soda ash proved economical compared to that from burning specific plants (barilla) or from kelp, which were the previously dominant sources of soda ash,[49] and also to potash (potassium carbonate) derived from hardwood ashes.
These two chemicals were very important because they enabled the introduction of a host of other inventions, replacing many small-scale operations with more cost-effective and controllable processes. Sodium carbonate had many uses in the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. Early uses for sulphuric acid included pickling (removing rust) iron and steel, and for bleaching cloth.
The development of bleaching powder (calcium hypochlorite) by Scottish chemist Charles Tennant in about 1800, based on the discoveries of French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet, revolutionized the bleaching processes in the textile industry by dramatically reducing the time required (from months to days) for the traditional process then in use, which required repeated exposure to the sun in bleach fields after soaking the textiles with alkali or sour milk. Tennant's factory at St Rollox, North Glasgow, became the largest chemical plant in the world.
After 1860 the focus on chemical innovation was in dyestuffs, and Germany took world leadership, building a strong chemical industry.[50] Aspring chemists flocked to German universities in the 1860–1914 era to learn the latest techniques. British scientists by contrast, lacked research universities and did not train advanced students; instead the practice was to hire German-trained chemists.[51]
Cement - In 1824 Joseph Aspdin, a British bricklayer turned builder, patented a chemical process for making portland cement which was an important advance in the building trades. This process involves sintering a mixture of clay and limestone to about 1,400 °C (2,552 °F), then grinding it into a fine powder which is then mixed with water, sand and gravel to produce concrete. Portland cement was used by the famous English engineer Marc Isambard Brunel several years later when constructing the Thames Tunnel.[52] Cement was used on a large scale in the construction of the London sewerage system a generation later.
Gas Lighting - Another major industry of the later Industrial Revolution was gas lighting. Though others made a similar innovation elsewhere, the large-scale introduction of this was the work of William Murdoch, an employee of Boulton and Watt, the Birmingham steam engine pioneers. The process consisted of the large-scale gasification of coal in furnaces, the purification of the gas (removal of sulphur, ammonia, and heavy hydrocarbons), and its storage and distribution. The first gas lighting utilities were established in London between 1812 and 1820. They soon became one of the major consumers of coal in the UK. Gas lighting had an impact on social and industrial organisation because it allowed factories and stores to remain open longer than with tallow candles or oil. Its introduction allowed night life to flourish in cities and towns as interiors and streets could be lighted on a larger scale than before.
Glass Making - A new method of producing glass, known as the cylinder process, was developed in Europe during the early 19th century. In 1832, this process was used by the Chance Brothers to create sheet glass. They became the leading producers of window and plate glass. This advancement allowed for larger panes of glass to be created without interruption, thus freeing up the space planning in interiors as well as the fenestration of buildings. The Crystal Palace is the supreme example of the use of sheet glass in a new and innovative structure.
Paper Machine - A machine for making a continuous sheet of paper on a loop of wire fabric was patented in 1798 by Nicholas Louis Robert who worked for Saint-Léger Didot family in France. The paper machine is known as a Fourdrinier after the financiers, brothers Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier, who were stationers in London. Although greatly improved and with many variations, the Fourdriner machine is the predominant means of paper production today. The method of continuous production demonstrated by the paper machine influenced the development of continuous rolling of iron and later steel and other continuous production processes.[53]
Agriculture - The British Agricultural Revolution is considered one of the causes of the Industrial Revolution because improved agricultural productivity freed up workers to work in other sectors of the economy.[54] Industrial technologies that affected farming included the seed drill, the Dutch plough, which contained iron parts, and the threshing machine. Jethro Tull invented an improved seed drill in 1701. It was a mechanical seeder which distributed seeds evenly across a plot of land and planted them at the correct depth. This was important because the yield of seeds harvested to seeds planted at that time was around four or five. Tull's seed drill was very expensive and not very reliable and therefore did not have much of an impact. Good quality seed drills were not produced until the mid 18th century.[55] Joseph Foljambe's Rotherham plough of 1730, was the first commercially successful iron plough.[56] The threshing machine, invented by Andrew Meikle in 1784, displaced hand threshing with a flail, a laborious job that took about one-quarter of agricultural labour.[57] It took several decades to diffuse[58] and was the final straw for many farm labourers, who faced near starvation, leading to the 1830 agricultural rebellion of the Swing Riots. Machine tools and metalworking techniques developed during the Industrial Revolution eventually resulted in precision manufacturing techniques in the late 19th century for mass-producing agricultural equipment such as reapers, binders and combine harvesters.[59]
Mining - Coal mining in Britain, particularly in South Wales started early. Before the steam engine, pits were often shallow bell pits following a seam of coal along the surface, which were abandoned as the coal was extracted. In other cases, if the geology was favourable, the coal was mined by means of an adit or drift mine driven into the side of a hill. Shaft mining was done in some areas, but the limiting factor was the problem of removing water. It could be done by hauling buckets of water up the shaft or to a sough (a tunnel driven into a hill to drain a mine). In either case, the water had to be discharged into a stream or ditch at a level where it could flow away by gravity. The introduction of the steam pump by Savery in 1698 and the Newcomen steam engine in 1712 greatly facilitated the removal of water and enabled shafts to be made deeper, enabling more coal to be extracted. These were developments that had begun before the Industrial Revolution, but the adoption of John Smeaton's improvements to the Newcomen engine followed by James Watt's more efficient steam engines from the 1770s reduced the fuel costs of engines, making mines more profitable.
Transportation - At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, inland transport was by navigable rivers and roads, with coastal vessels employed to move heavy goods by sea. Railways or wagon ways were used for conveying coal to rivers for further shipment, but canals had not yet been constructed. Animals supplied all of the motive power on land, with sails providing the motive power on the sea. The Industrial Revolution improved Britain's transport infrastructure with a turnpike road network, a canal and waterway network, and a railway network. Raw materials and finished products could be moved more quickly and cheaply than before. Improved transportation also allowed new ideas to spread quickly.
Canals - Building of canals dates to ancient times. The Grand Canal in China, "the world's largest artificial waterway and oldest canal still in existence," parts of which were started between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, is 1,121 miles (1,804 km) long and links Hangzhou with Beijing. Canals were the first technology to allow bulk materials to be easily transported across the country, coal being a common commodity. A single canal horse could pull a load dozens of times larger than a cart at a faster pace. Canals began to be built in the late 18th century to link the major manufacturing centers across the country.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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