Themes In World History Chapter 9 The Industrial Revolution

Effects of Industrial Revolution on the Working Class:
(i) The workers had to work in the factories, which were poorly ventilated, poorly lighted and were extremely unhealthy. They had to work for 16 hours a day without any break.

(ii) Most of the factories were located in dirty and unhealthy places so they caused many diseases to the workers.

(iii) The workers were very low paid and it was difficult for them to make their both ends meet.

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The Difference from the Earlier system in Europe: Prior to Industrial Revolution, the workers were independent craftsmen who worked with their hands in their homes. But after the Industrial Revolution, there was a change from hand work to work done by machines and from work at home to work in factories.

The aims of the Trade Unions are: 
1. To fight the injustice and malpractices of the industrialists.

2. To fight for regulating the hours of work for the workers and labourers.

3. To fight for the higher wages for workers.

4. To demand the better service facilities and working conditions.

5. Trade Unions were formed for maintaining the harmonious relations between the employers and the employees.

The industrialisation mainly needs two things:

1. A constant supply of raw material.
2. The consumption of the finished goods at a fast speed.

So, to meet both the needs, the Industrial countries started the search of new countries where industrialisation had not yet reached. As a result of Britain, France, Germany, Japan etc. set-up their colonies in Asia, Africa and South America.
These colonies served them both the purposes i.e. being suppliers of cheap raw materials and easy markets for their finished goods. Hence, it is correct that industrialisation gave birth to imperialism.

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The effects are: 

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i. The water frame, which Richard Arkwright (1732-92) invented in 1769, produced a much stronger thread than before. This also made it possible to weave pure cotton fabrics rather than fabrics that combined linen and cotton yarn.

ii. The mule was the nickname for a machine invented in 1779 by Samuel Crompton (1753-1827) that allowed the spinning of strong and fine yarn.

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Steam power was first used in mining industries.

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4. Protective Tariff: Protective tariff means the high tax that is required for payment on important goods. The levy of tariffs protects infants industries.

5. Laissez Faire: Laissez means the policy of non-interference by the Government in the matter of trade. Adam Smith advocated the theory in 1766. According to this theory, the government should place any restrictions on trade. He advocated free trade policy.

Thomas Savery (1650-1715) built a model steam engine called the Miner’s Friend in 1698 to drain mines. These engines worked slowly, in shallow depths, and the boiler burst under too much pressure.

Coal mines were dangerous places to work in as roofs caved in or there could be an explosion, and injuries were, therefore, common.

Effect on Farming: Industrialisation had a deep effect on farming. The ploughing and harvesting were done by machines. Fertilisers began to be used. There was an improvement in means of irrigation.

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1. According to him, capitalism is the root cause of all social evils and hence it should be done away with.

2. In socialism, there is no place for private property.

3. All the units of production should be nationalised.

4. He said that like other social systems in history, like feudalism and slavery, capitalism is also bound to pass.

5. Capitalism in itself has the seeds of its own destruction.

6. Industrial workers are a force which would destroy capitalism and establish socialism.

7. Capitalism can be rooted out through revolution and by establishing the dictatorship of the Proletariat or the workers.

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2. He may employ a worker and labourer whenever he likes and throws him out of job if does not like him or does not need his services.

3. He prefers to employ the innocent children and women in his factory because their labour proves cheaper. In this way, he does not hesitate in ruining the health of the children and women.

4. Many times the capitalists do not introduce any reforms in their factories due to which some times the serious accidents occur.

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1. Wealth is not concentrated in a few hands but whole society gets the benefits of the profits by equals distribution of wealth.

2. The workers and labourers are not forced to put in more work for less wages. Thus there is no exploitation of the workers.

3. In the socialist system of society the goods are produced according to the need of the society and not for the sake of profit only.

4. Socialism promises the fulfilment of the minimum necessities of life like food, cloth and shelter to all the people.

5. In the capitalist system the stress is laid to produce luxury goods while in the socialist system such goods are produced as are necessities for daily use which promote better life of all the sections of society.

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The Industrial Revolution started first of all in England. The factors are: 

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2. Mechanised Farming : To meet the increasing demand for more raw material the farmers used the new machines for sowing, ploughing, digging, reaping and thrashing purposes.

3. Invention of Chemical Fertilizers :

The chemical fertilizers were used to grow crops. It improved the financial conditions of the farmers.

4. Digging of Soils : The new machines were used in digging the soil deep. Thus the barren lands were brought under cultivation and new crops were grown.

5. Irrigation Facilities : Now the farmers no longer dependent on monsoons but had improved the means of irrigation.

6. Rearing of Farm Cattle : With the development of farming the new breeds of farm cattle also developed.

7. Import of Raw Material : As the industries grew, more raw material had to be imported.

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Deaths were primarily caused by epidemics of disease that sprang from the pollution of water, like cholera and typhoid, or of the air, like tuberculosis

Some of the interesting features of the invention made by 'invention' during this period were:

(i) In 1709, Abraham Daeby first time made the process of smelting by using coal.

(ii) John key invented flying shuttle in 1733.The invention of flying shuttle speed up the production in textile industries.

(iii) In 1856 the technique of making steel by purifying the iron was invented by Henry Bessemer.

(iv) Crompton invented Mule was a combination of both spinning jenny and water frame, which improved the quality of spinning.

(v) Duke of bridge water and James Brindley played a remarkable role in the construction of canals in England. It led to the development of both rural and urban areas.

(vi) George Stephenson invented railway steam engine known as the father of railway.

(i) The British got raw materials for the textile industries in India in form of cotton bales and began to export it for weaving clothes. It shifted the processing from homes to factories.

(ii) Initially, spinning consumes a lot of time, but with the invention of technical knowledge, the production began to increases. It increased the demand for raw material.

(iii) The political motives of imperialism. It further extended in the form of imperialism. It also led to the economic exploitation.

(iv) It boosted the Britishers industrial methods to gain more and more raw material forms colonial countries.

2. During the early years of industrialisation, the working population possessed neither the vote nor legal methods to express their anger at the drastic manner in which their lives had been overturned. In August 1819, 80,000 people gathered peacefully at St. Peter's Fields in Manchester to claim democratic rights - of political organisation, of public meetings, and of the freedom of the press.

3. They were suppressed brutally in what became known as the Peterloo Massacre and the rights they demanded were denied by the Six Acts, passed by Parliament the same year. These extended the restrictions on political activity introduced in the two Combination Acts of 1795. But there were some gains.
After Peterloo, the need to make the House of Commons more representative was recognised by liberal political groups, and the Combination Acts were repeated in 1824-25.

2. Aims of the formation of Trade Unions :

(i) To fight the injustice and mal-practies in the Industrialists.

(ii) To fight for regulating the hours of work for the workers and labourers.

(iii) To fight for the higher wages for workers.

(iv) To demand the better service facilities and working conditions.

(v) These were formed for maintaining the harmonious relations between the employers and the employees.

Important features of the Factory System are stated below:

(i) Capitalism: The foremost feature of the factory system was this that capitalism appeared with full force. The inventions of machines increased production. The increased production compelled the manufacturers to find markets for their surplus goods for their margin of profits. This resulted in amassing of wealth in a few hands.

2. Canals were usually built by big landowners to increase the value of the mines, quarries or forests on their lands. The confluence of canals created marketing centres in new towns. The city of Birmingham, for example, owed its growth to its position at the heart of a canal system connecting London, the Bristol Channel, and the Mersey and Humber rivers.
From 1760 to 1790, twenty-five new canal building projects were begun. In the period known as the 'canal-mania' from 1788 to 1796, there were smother 46 new projects and over the next 60 years more than 4,000 miles of canal were built.

3. The first steam locomotive, Stephenson's Rocket, appeared in 1814. Railways emerged as a new means of transportation that was available throughout the year, both cheap and fast, to carry passengers and goods. They combined two inventions, the iron track which replaced the wooden track in the 1760s) and haulage along it by a steam-engine.

4. The invention of the railways took the entire process of industrialisation to a second stage. In 1801, Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) had devised an engine called the 'Puffing Devil' that pulled trucks around the mine where he worked in Cornwall. In 1814, the railway engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848) constructed a locomotive, called 'The Blutcher', that could pull a weight of 30 tons up a hill at 4 mph.
The first railway line connected the cities of Stockton and Darlington in 1825, a distance of 9 miles that was completed in two hours at speed of upto 24 kph (15 mph), and the next railway line connected Liverpool and Manchester in 1830. Within 20 years speed of 30 to 50 miles an hour were usual.

Women were supposed to observe strict discipline. They were also punished for violation of any discipline. Women of all classes began to work in factories. It helped them to get financial independence and self-esteem. But their wages were low as compared to men for same working hours. Industrialisation was a blessing in disguise. A number of food items became cheap and available in abundance. It increased the social status of women in particular.

As the use of machinery spread and fewer workers were needed, industrialists preferred to employ women who would be less agitated about their poor working conditions and work for lower wages than men. They were employed in large numbers in the cotton textile industry in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Women were also the main workers in the silk lace-making and knitting industries, as well as in the metal industries of Birmingham.

(i) Capital : The British traders had been trading in foreign countries for a long time. So, they had the sufficient capital for the establishment of the industries.

(ii) Natural resources : England had plenty of natural resources like iron and coal which are essential for the industries.

(iii) Control over colonies : British had established a large number of new colonies from where she could get the cheap raw material and they could also serve as markets to sell the finished goods.

(iv) Shipping industry : England had developed a large shipping industry which solved the problems of transporting the things to far away countries.

(v) Agrarian revolution : Due to this many agriculturists went out of job. Such people supplied the cheap labour to the factories.

(vi) The initiative of the English People : The English people were quite enterprising, energetic and hard working. So, they made inventions of new machines and started the industries.

II. Social and Economic consequences of the Industrial Revolution :

(i) Promotion of arts and culture : The Industrial Revolution brought more leisure to man. This spare time was utilized for the promotion of arts and culture in the society.

(ii) The division of society : As a result of the Industrial Revolution the society was divided into two distinct classes-the capitalist and the labourers. The rich become more rich and poor became more poor.

(iii) Insanitary condition in the towns : As a large number of people shifted from villages to industrial towns and as such the towns became over crowded. There was no arrangement for proper houses, sanitation, ventilation, drainage, etc. In short the workers lived in the miserable conditions.

(iv) Unsatisfactory condition of the Factory Workers : The workers had to work in factories which were poorly ventilated, poorly lighted and were extremely unhealthy.

(v) Exploitation of Women and Children : Women and children were employed in large number of the factories, as they were cheaper and easy to manage.

III. Economic Consequences :

(i) Increase in the National Income : The industrial production led to the production of goods on a large scale which began to be sold in other countries. It increased the national wealth of the Industrialized countries, particularly that of England.

(ii) Growth of Agriculture : Introduction of machinery, better seeds, new crops, the use of fertilizers, etc. led to the growth in agriculture. Now the farmers started producing the cash crops on a large scale and became rich.

(iii) Improvement in the Standard of Living : Due to Industrial Revolution people became rich. Good quality of goods were now available at cheaper rates. New means of transport and communication i.e. Automobiles, Railways, Ships, Telegraphs and Telephones etc. made man's life richer, comfortable and happier. It raised the standard of living of the people.

(iv) Increase in Population : The Industrial Revolution increased the national wealth, raised the standard of living. Thus made life more convenient and luxurious. The new inventions helped in checking the various diseases and ultimately led to an increase in population.

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1. The Bright side on the Industrial Revolution :

(i) The industrialization has made it possible for the mankind to meet the primary necessities of life i.e. food, cloth and shelter.

(ii) The machines have relieved man of the tiring and unpleasent job and have brought more leisure. This spare time has been utilized for the promotion of arts and culture.

(iii) Large scale production of several kinds of goods has brought many articles of comforts and luxury within the easy reach of even a common man who could otherwise not even think of them.

(iv) Developments in the means of transport and communication have developed trade and thus brought all the countries of the world nearer to one another.

(v) The invention of the new types of machines has made man's life quite easy and comfortable. These have brought new jobs and added the pleasure of human life.

2. Dark side of the Industrial Revolution :

(i) As result of the Industrial Revolution the cities become overcrowed by the labourers and workers arising the problems of insanitation and housing.

(ii) The workers' life became quite miserable. They had to live in slums around the factories where they fell a prey to different diseases and epidemics.

(iii) The conditions inside the factories were worse. There, the smoke, noise and poisonous gases affected the workers' health physically and mentally.

(iv) The factory owners employed the women and children in their factories as their labour proved cheaper. As a result of hard work and inhuman treatment they suffered of bad health.

(v) The Industrial Revolution divided the whole society into two conflicting classes i.e. the capitalists and the workers who do not have faith upon each other even today.

(vi) The Industrial Revolution gave birth to Imperialism and Colonialism.

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1. Working hours: Each worker had to work for 15 to 18 hours in the factory. He had no rest during this period of work.

2. Fewer wages: The workers were given low wages. The mill owners exploited the workers.

3. Cruelty by Overseers: The overseers were very cruel. They often beat the workers with lashes.

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Inventions in the Textile Industry:

(i) Hargreaves invented the “Spinning Jenny” in 1764 which speeded up the spinning work.
(ii) John Key invented “Flying Shuttle” which speeded up weaving.
(iii) In 1776 Arkwright improved Hargreaves’ s machine. Now it could be run by water power. It was called 'The Water Frame'.

(iv) In 1776 Crompton invented the machine called 'Mule' which combined the advantages of both the machines invented by Hargreaves and Arkwright.
(v) In 1785 Cartwright invented the 'Power-loom'. It was run by steam power for spinning and weaving.
(vi) Eli Whitney, invented the 'Cotton Jin' in 1793. This machine could separate seeds from cotton 300 times faster than by hand.

(ii) The capitalist does not have the feeling of loyalty and faithfulness to his country and countrymen. So, the does not care what the country needs, but his own profit.

(iii) The capitalist remains honest to the consumer in the quality of goods only so long as he captures the market. Thereafter he starts to produce the inferior quality goods and restores to malpractices, black market, etc.

2. Weakness and disadvantages in services under the capitalist system :
(i) The capitalist tries to exploit the workers in every way, he extracts more and more work from them while paying them the less wages.

(ii) He may employ a worker and labourer whenever he likes and throws him out of job if he does not like him or does not need his services.

(iii) He prefers to employ the innocent children and women in his factory because their labour proves cheaper. In this way he does not hesitate in ruining the health of the children and women.

(iv) Many times the capitalists do not introduce any reforms in their factories due to which some times the serious accidents occur.

3. Advantages that a socialist system can have over a society based on capitalism :
Under the socialist system all the factories, industries and means of production are the state property while in capitalist system these all belong to the private owners. The socialist system can have the following advantages over the capital system.

(i) Wealth is not concentrated in few hands but whole society gets the benefits of the profits by equal distribution of wealth.

(ii) The workers and labourers are not forced to put in more work for less wages. Thus, there is no exploitation of the workers.

(iii) In the socialist system on society the goods are produced according to-the need of the society and not for the sake of profit only.

(iv) Socialism promises the fulfilment of the minimum necessities of life like food, cloth and shelter to all the people.

(v) In the capitalits system the stress is laid to produce luxury goods while in the socialist system such goods are produced as are necessary for daily use which promote better life of all the sections of society.

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(ii) The British traders had been doing the trade in foreign countries for a long time. Thus, they had accumulated sufficient capital which is the primary need for establishing the factories and industries.

(iii) England had plenty of natural resources like iron and coal which are essential for industries.

(iv) England had established a large number of new colonies from where she could get the cheap raw-material. These colonies could also serve as best markets to sell their finished goods.

(v) England had developed a large and big shipping industry which solved the problem of transporting the things to far away countries.

(vi) Due to Agrarian Revolution many agriculturalists went out of job. Such people supplied the factory owners with cheap labour.

(vii) The English people were quite enterprising, energetic and hard working. So they made inventions of new machines and started the industries.

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The Industrial Revolution had following effects on agriculture or farming:

(i) More Demand of Raw-Material: There was a rapid growth in the demand for raw material. It was an effect on industrialisation.

(ii) Mechanised Farming: To meet the increasing demand for more raw material the farmers used the new machines for sowing, ploughing, digging, reaping and thrashing purposes.

(iii) The invention of chemical fertilisers: The chemical fertilisers were used to grow bumper crops. It improved the financial condition of the farmers.

(iv) Digging of Soils: The new machines were used in digging the soil deeply. Thus, the barren lands were brought under cultivation and new crops were grown.

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2. Ideas and movements which arose in Europe against the Capitalism : Slowly and slowly capitalism came under sever criticism in Europe. The ideas and movements of socialism and communism arose against this system. This philosophers like Karl Marx and Angles began to say that capitalism is the root cause of all social evils.
Therefore, it should be thrown away. All the means of production should be taken over by the Government or the society. The communist philosophy, advocated even the use of force and violence for doing away with capitalism and for bringing socialism.

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Fig. Britain : The Iron Industry

2. The solution to this problem had been sought for years before it was solved by a family of iron-masters, the Darbys of Shropshire. In the course of half a century, three generations of this family-grandfather, father and son, all called Abraham Darby-brought about a revolution in the metallurgical industry.
It began with an invention in 1709 by the first Abraham Darby (1677-1717). This was a blast furnace that would use coke, which could generate high temperatures; coke was derived from coal by removing the sulphur and impurities.
This invention meant that furnaces no longer had to depend on charcoal. The melted iron that emerged from these furnaces permitted finer and larger castings than before.

3. The process was further refined by more inventions. The second Darby (1711-68) developed wrought-iron (which was less brittle) from pig-iron. Henry Cort (1740-1823) designed the puddling furnace (in which molten iron could be rid of impurities) and the rolling mill, which used steam power to roll purified iron into bars.
It now became possible to produce a broader range of iron products. The durability of iron made it a better material than wood for everyday items and for machinery. Unlike wood, which could burn or splinter, the physical and chemical properties of iron could be controlled. In the 1770s, John Wilkinson (1728-1808) made the first iron chairs, vats for breweries and distilleries, and iron pipes of all sizes.
In 1779, the third Darby (1750-91) built the first iron bridge in the world, in Coalbrookdale, spanning the river Severn. Wilkinson used cast iron for the first time to make water pipes (40 miles of it for the water supply of Paris).

4. The iron industry then came to be concentrated in specific regions as integrated units of coal mining and iron smelting. Britain was lucky in possessing excellent cooking coal and high-grade iron ore in the same basins or even the same seams.
These basins were also close to ports; there were five coastal coalfields which could deliver their products almost straight into ships. Since the coalfields were near the coast, shipbuilding increased, as did the shipping trade.

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2. Steam power was first used in mining industries. As the demand for coal and metals expanded, efforts to obtain them from ever-deeper mines intensified. Flooding in mines was a serious problem.
Thomas Savery (1650-1715) built a model steam-engine called the Miner's Friend in 1698 to drain mines. These engines worked slowly, in shallow depths, and the boiler burst under too much pressure.

3. Another steam-engine was built by Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) in 1712. This had the major defect of losing energy due to continuous cooling of the condensing cylinder.

4. The steam-engine had been used only in coal mines until James Watt (1736-1819) developed his machine in 1796. Watt's invention converted the steam engine from being a mere pump into a "prime mover" capable of providing energy to power machines in factories. Backed by the wealthy manufacturer Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), Watt created the Soho Foundry in Birmingham in 1775.
From this foundry Watt's steam engines were produced in steadily growing numbers. By the end of the eighteenth century, Watt's steam engine was beginning to replace hydraulic power.

5. After 1800, steam engine technology was further developed with the use of ligter, stronger metals, the manufacture of more accurate machine tools and the spread of better scientific knowledge. In 1840, British steam engines were generating more than 70 per cent of all European horsepower.

This term was used for privileges linked to the monarchy and Parliament.

2. Until well into the nineteenth century, large regions of England remained untouched by factories or mines and therefore the term ‘industrial revoltuion’ was regarded as inaccurate : England had changed in a regional manner, prominently around the cities of London, Manchester, Brimingham or Newcastle, rather than throughout the country.

3. Could the growth in the cotton or iron industries or in foreign trade from the 1780s to the 1820s be called revolutionary. The impressive growth of cotton textiles, based on new machinery, was in an industry that relied on a non-British raw material, on sales abroad (especially India), on non-metallic machinery, and with few links to other branches of industry. Metallic machinery and steam power was rare until much later in the nineteenth century.
The rapid growth in British imports and exports from the 1780s occurred because of the resumption of trade with North America that the War of American Independence had interrupted. This growth was recorded as being sharp only because it started from a low point.

4. Indicators of economic change occurring before and after 1815-20 suggest that sustained industrialisation was to be seen after rather than before these dates. The decades after 1793 had experienced the disruptive effects of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Industrilisation is associated with a growing investment of the country's wealth in 'capital formation', or building infrastructure and installing new machines, and with raising productivity.
Productive investment, in these senses, grew steadily only after 1820, as did levels of productivity. The cotton, iron and engineering industries had accounted for less than half of the industrial output until the 1840s. Technical progress was not limited to these branches, but was visible in other branches too, like agricultural processing and pottery.

5. The word industrial used with the word 'revolution' is too limited. The transformation extended beyond the economic or industrial sphere and into society and gave prominence to two classes : the bourgeoisie and the new class of proletarian labourers in towns and in the countryside.

6. In 1851, visitors thronged the Great Exhibition at the specially constructed Crystal Palace in London to view the achievements of British industry. At that time, half the population was living in towns, but of the workers in towns as many were in handicraft units as in factories.
From the 1850s, the proportion of people living in urban areas went up dramatically, and most of these were workers in industry - the working class. Only 20 per cent of Britains workforce now lived in rural areas. This was a far more rapid rate of industrilisation than had been witnessed in other European countries.