Lecture Notes: The Industrial Revolution

Introduction

• Definition: Transition from agrarian economies to industrial economies
  • Goods shifted from handmade to machine-made
• Major turning point in history
  • Changed global political power
  • Reordered societies
  • Made industrial nations very wealthy

Why It Started in Great Britain (c. 1750)

Key Factors:

1. Proximity to Waterways

• Britain: Island nation with many rivers and canals
• Enabled efficient transportation of goods

2. Geographical Distribution of Coal and Iron

• Abundant coal resources for energy
• Coal helped increase efficiency in iron production
• Iron used for bridges, machines, and railroads

3. Access to Foreign Resources

• Large maritime empire provided raw materials
• North American colonies: timber
• Indian colonies: cotton

4. Improved Agricultural Productivity

• Agricultural revolution increased food production
  • Crop rotation and seed drill
• Introduction of new crops (e.g., potato)
• Increased lifespan and population growth

5. Rapid Urbanization

• Mechanization reduced need for farm labor
• Former rural workers moved to cities
• Cities became industrial hubs

6. Legal Protection of Private Property

• Laws protected entrepreneurs
• Encouraged risks and investments in new businesses

7. Accumulation of Capital

• Wealth from Atlantic slave trade
• Rich individuals invested in industrial businesses

Emergence of the Factory System

• Factories: Mass production of goods in a single location
• Early factories powered by moving water
• Key Innovations:
  • Water frame & spinning jenny in textile factories
  • Machines required minimal skill to operate
  • Specialization of labor: Workers became interchangeable

Conclusion

• Britain was the first to industrialize due to various favorable factors
• Factory system revolutionized production and labor
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