Wyatt L.T. III The Industrial Revolution
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PREFACE
There is no drudgery about labor unless you make it your master.
—From Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 24
(November 1892), 242
Beginning in the last half of the 18th century and extending into the
early 20th century, first Great Britain and then Western Europe,
the United States, and several other parts of the globe experienced
the vibrant stirrings of a major technical and economic transformation.
This development was in great measure the culmination of forces
that had gained momentum in Western civilization during the Ren-
aissance of the 14th and 15th centuries and continued with the dra-
matic discoveries of the Scientific Revolution over the next 200
years. The theoretical and analytical mysteries unlocked by the scien-
tific community laid the foundation for the application of more prac-
tical techniques and approaches to harness the new sources of
power, the reduction on the sole reliance on traditional sources of
labor, and the creation of new organizations and enterprises. The
result was the emergence of a new demographic, economic, political,
and social map of the Western world and the unparalleled increase
in wealth and national prosperity after 1750.
In the 1820s British and French writers coined the phrase
Industrial Revolution to identify the changes in manufacturing and
production that had initially occurred in Great Britain and by the
early 19th century had appeared in the new American republic and
on the continent of Europe. These writers compared the dramatic
impact of industrialization to the political and social upheaval caused
by the French Revolution. Two decades later, Friedrich Engels rein-
forced the use of the term in his influential work, The Conditions of
the Working Class in England. Indeed, historians have long debated
the causes, characteristics, expansion, and results of the economic
and industrial developments after 1750, even to the point of identify-
ing two industrial revolutions: the first one dominated by the British
prior to 1850 and the second characterized by the rapid advance of
industrialization outside of Great Britain after 1850. Yet despite the
efforts of some scholars to revise the initial historical interpretation
of the Industrial Revolution, the term itself has retained its legiti-
macy in the literature as no adequate substitute has yet been
advanced to better encapsulate the industrial and economic changes
of this dynamic era.
This work has as its purpose to survey the scope and impact of
the Industrial Revolution, an age that some historians argue is com-
parable to earlier important epochs that changed mankind. The book
is organized into a chronology of selected key events and seven
chapters that address important aspects of nearly two centuries of in-
dustrialization. It should be emphasized that on occasion there are
discrepancies in various sources regarding the rich statistical infor-
mation related to the Industrial Revolution. Areas such as population
growth, number of power looms, and horsepower production, for
example, can be illustrated or interpreted in several different ways.
As such, I have chosen to present the data using a more conservative
approach but one that most assuredly emphasizes the dramatic
change of the era. Chapter One provides a historical overview of
themes appearing in the work. In addition, it introduces the reader
to a brief, and admittedly selective, survey of some of the larger im-
portant historical questions and debate surrounding the construct of
the Industrial Revolution.
The second chapter sets the stage for an onset of industrializa-
tion. The life of Europe as it existed on the eve of the Industrial Rev-
olution is examined. Rising population, the growing impact of
science and technology, the appearance of early capitalism and con-
sumerism, and the pre-industrial lifestyle of Europeans are among
the themes that set the opening of the Industrial Revolution into per-
spective.
Chapter Three reviews the influence of the Agricultural Revolu-
tion on the emergence of the Industrial Revolution. This topic has
drawn serious scrutiny by historians who have debated the scope
and depth of its impact. Was it a critical precursor and stimulus to
industrialization, or did it evolve simultaneously during the era? The
long-standing enclosure movement, advent of modern farming prac-
tices such as the Norfolk system and livestock breeding techniques,
and the shift of labor from the rural to urban areas play key roles in
analyzing the relationship of changes in the agrarian world to the
new environment of factories and cities.
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Preface
Chapter Four surveys the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
There is little debate regarding Great Britain’s role as the powerful
engine that started the world on the road to industrialization. This
chapter reviews the all-important conditions that existed in Great
Britain and paved the way for that nation’s rapid transition to new
economic realities. In addition, the growth of infrastructure (roads,
canals, and railroads) and the role of cotton textiles, iron production,
and mining industries are briefly reviewed to emphasize how quickly
Great Britain’s industrialization advanced in comparison to its conti-
nental counterparts. Other topics include the rise of the middle class,
the plight of the workers, and the environment in the new industrial
city, with a particular emphasis on Manchester.
Chapter Five addresses the Industrial Revolution in the United
States. A brief look at colonial America provides a point of origin to
compare how quickly the United States began to embrace industriali-
zation. This transition occurred notwithstanding a heated debate in
the early republic between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jeffer-
son regarding the merits of manufacturing and the later disruption
of the Civil War. Despite these potential impediments, the United
States marshaled its many resources and distinct advantages such as
a plentiful agriculture, an unlimited labor supply assisted by millions
of immigrants who flooded the nation after 1840, and a remarkable
array of inventors. By the late 19th century the United States had for
the most part matched and surpassed Great Britain in almost all
measurable categories related to industrialization.
Chapter Six depicts the spread of the Industrial Revolution to
the continent of Europe. The nations of Western Europe faced a
number of factors, most particularly the havoc wreaked by the Napo-
leonic era, a period of upheaval that initially impeded their ability to
compete with Great Britain. However, after the middle of the 19th
century, economic stability and the transfer of British technology to
the continent began to change the situation. In spite of starting well
behind the more advanced position of Great Britain, Belgium,
France, and the German states particularly found the necessary
resources and created their own sophisticated industrial bases and
began to challenge British industrial supremacy by 1900.
Chapter Seven addresses the impact of the Industrial Revolution
on several areas of the non-Western world. To be sure, the growing
number of Western nations that industrialized in the 19th century
dominated areas such as India, the Middle East, and Latin America
as they made feeble attempts to transform their economies. Russia
and Japan were the exception. The Russians made remarkable strides
in a brief period of time to overcome centuries of conservatism.
xiii
Preface
However, by the early 20th century the rapidity of change and the
disappointment and devastation brought about by the Russo-Japanese
War and World War I pushed that nation to revolution and a new
economic direction. Japan, on the other hand, made a national deci-
sion to embrace industrialization, one that ensured a successful tran-
sition through the adoption of Western techniques and adapt them
to the Japanese culture.
The conclusion of the book includes biographies of fifteen per-
sons, some well-known and others more obscure, who made impor-
tant contributions to the Industrial Revolution. In addition, a variety
of primary documents such as government reports, literary pieces,
and period journal articles survey a variety of topics related the
Industrial Revolution in order for the student to gain better perspec-
tive, clarity, and a first-hand impression of its complexity and impact
without the filter of the present. The work also contains a number of
illustrations that provide a visual reinforcement of themes addressed
in the book. Finally, a selected bibliography is presented to encour-
age further study of the Industrial Revolution as a means to gain
additional understanding of this important historical era, one that
continues to influence our world today.
I wish to thank several persons for their support during this
project. I am forever indebted to the series editors, Linda and
Marsha Frey, who asked me to become a participant in the series.
These outstanding scholars applied a welcome critical eye to the
manuscript. They also provided often-needed encouragement and
retained remarkable faith in me over the years. Mariah Gumpert at
Greenwood Press exhibited extraordinary patience and kindness,
especially as my family faced several challenges and crises during the
completion of this work. I also sincerely thank the staff of the Prints
and Photograph Section of the Library of Congress who assisted me
in obtaining important documents and illustrations to supplement
the book. Claude El-Khouri and Amanda Davis of the Brevard Com-
munity College library staff worked diligently to obtain a number of
sources for the work. Eileen Trobaugh, secretary of the Liberal Arts
Department at Brevard Community College, helped me to overcome
several technical difficulties during the preparation of the manu-
script. Finally, my wife Patsy provided constant understanding and
generous support as I labored to bring the book to press.
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Preface
CHRONOLOGY
1654 Otto von Guericke experiments with atmospheric
pressure machine.
1690 Denis Papin develops primitive steam device.
1694 Bank of England founded.
1698 Thomas Savery invents the ‘‘Miner’s Friend.’’
1700 European population reaches 120 million.
1709 Abraham Darby introduces process of coke blasting iron.
1712 Thomas Newcomen invents the atmospheric engine to
pump water from mines.
1727–1845 Major era of Enclosure Movement—4,000 Parliamentary
Enclosure Acts.
1731 Jethro Tull publishes Horse Holding Husbandry.
1733 John Kay invents the ‘‘flying shuttle’’ to increase output of
woolen cloth.
1750 European population reaches 140 million.
1752 Benjamin Franklin conducts electricity experiments.
1761 Bridgewater Canal opens.
1769 James Watt patents steam engine.
1764 James Hargreaves invents the ‘‘spinning jenny.’’
1779 Richard Arkwright develops the water frame to increase
the number of spindles.
1776 Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations.
1775–1783 American Revolution.
1779 David Bushnell’s ‘‘Turtle’’—first prototype submarine.
1779 Samuel Crompton invents spinning ‘‘mule’’ to work
numerous spindles at once.
1784 Henry Cort patents his ‘‘puddling’’ process to convert pig
iron to wrought iron.
1784 Arthur Young publishes first of his forty-five-volume
Annals of Agriculture.
1787 Edmund Cartwright invents his wool-combing machine
and early power loom.
1787 John Fitch demonstrates steam-powered paddle boat for
the Constitutional Convention.
1789 The French Revolution begins.
1790 Samuel Slater operates mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
using reproductions of Richard Arkwright’s machinery.
1790 First U.S. patent is issued to William Pollard—rove and
spinning cotton machine.
1790 European population reaches 190 million.
1791 Alexander Hamilton presents Report on the Subject of
Manufactures to Congress.
1794 Eli Whitney patents cotton gin to separate seed from the
fiber.
1794 First important U.S. turnpike opens: Philadelphia to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
1798 Thomas Malthus publishes Essay on the Principle of
Population.
1800 U.S. population reaches 5 million.
1800 Eli Whitney demonstrates interchangeable parts for
Thomas Jefferson.
1801 Joseph M. Jacquard develops the silk loom.
1802 Richard Trevithick develops high pressure steam engine
for transportation.
1806 Benjamin Thompson invents the coffee pot.
1807 Robert Fulton’s Clermont steamboat travels New York to
Albany at 5 mph.
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Chronology
1809 First woman issued a U.S. patent: Mary Kres for straw
weaving silk device.
1811 Luddite movement in Great Britain.
1811–1839 Construction of Cumberland or National Road in the
United States.
1812–1814 War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States.
1814 George Stephenson develops the first steam-powered
locomotive.
1815 Napoleonic Wars end with defeat of Napoleon at
Waterloo.
1817–1825 Erie Canal constructed.
1819 Peterloo Massacre.
1819–1836 Thomas Telford supervises construction of the London–
Holyhead Road.
1825 The Stockton–Darlington Railway opens with
Stephenson steam locomotive.
1826 Lowell, Massachusetts is founded, and six textile mills are
established.
1830 The first locomotive in America (Tom Thumb) is in service
in Baltimore, Maryland.
1831 Severe cholera outbreak in Great Britain’s urban areas.
1832 The Great Reform Bill revises Parliamentary
representation.
1833 The Factory Act places limitations on child labor in Great
Britain.
1834 Cyrus McCormick obtains patent for his mechanical
reaper.
1834 British Parliament passes the Poor Law.
1834 Zollverein or German Customs Union established.
1835 Railroad mania begins in Great Britain.
1836–1841 Isambard Kingdom Brunel oversees construction of the
Great Western Railway, connecting London and Bristol.
1838 People’s Charter drafted.
1839 Charles Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber.
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Chronology
1840 U.S. railroad mileage equals canal mileage.
1841 First edition of Punch Magazine published.
1841 Queen Victoria takes her first ride on a railroad.
1842 Sir Edwin Chadwick publishes The Sanitary Conditions of
the Labouring Population.
1844 Samuel Morse demonstrates telegraph—also developed
independently by Wheatstone and Cook.
1844 Friedrich Engels publishes The Conditions of the Working
Class in England.
1844–1845 U.S. railroad mania begins (5,000 miles of track laid);
Irish potato famine.
1846 Elias Howe invents the sewing machine.
1846 The Corn Laws are repealed.
1846 George H. Corliss perfects four-valve steam engine (later
displayed at the U.S. Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia).
1847 The Ten Hours Act passes.
1848 Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto.
1848 Revolutions occur across Europe.
1848 Parliament passes the Public Health Act.
1849 Samuel Colt and Elisha Root collaborate to manufacture
interchangeable parts.
1850 European population reaches 270 million.
1851 The Great Exhibition (Crystal Palace) attracts 6 million
visitors to London.
1851 Major census in Great Britain.
1851 Manchester, cotton textile capital of Great Britain,
reaches population of 300,000.
1851 Isaac Singer develops first consumer sewing machine.
1853–1856 Crimean War.
1853 Commodore Matthew Perry (United States) enters Tokyo
harbor and contacts with Japan.
1856 Henry Bessemer develops process to convert pig iron into
steel.
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Chronology
1860 U.S. population reaches 31 million.
1861 Russia emancipates serfs.
1861–1865 U.S. Civil War.
1866 Cyrus W. Field lays the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
1858 The ‘‘Great Stink’’ in London.
1867 Reform Bill extends suffrage in Great Britain.
1868 Meiji Restoration in Japan.
1869 First Transcontinental Railroad completed in the United
States.
1876 First gasoline engine patent issued to August Otto.
1876 U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
1879 Thomas Edison invents incandescent light bulb.
1880–1914 Twenty million immigrants enter the United States.
1882 Thomas Edison constructs station to generate electricity
in New York City.
1883 Karl Benz develops first gas powered ‘‘automobile.’’
1884 Last of 19th century reform bills gives suffrage to almost
all males in Great Britain.
1884 Arnold Toynbee lectures on the Industrial Revolution.
1884 Construction begins on first U.S. skyscraper in Chicago.
1886 Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler separately develop
internal combustion engines.
1886 Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago.
1889 Eiffel Tower opens in Paris.
1892 Rudolf Diesel patents heavy oil engine.
1892 Frank and Charles Duryea patent first gasoline powered
engine in the United States.
1892 Homestead Strike in Pennsylvania.
1900 Value of U.S. manufacturing output reaches double that
of agricultural output.
1901 Queen Victoria dies.
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Chronology
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