Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom

The revolution started before the term was used. It happened between the 1780s and the 1790s. Functions of the IR: – increase production in order to feed the growing population. – Provide a large and rising surplus of jobs for industries and towns. – Provide a mechanism for accumulating a capital used in the modern sectors. Definition of IR: creation of mechanized factory system producing vast quantities at rapidly diminishing costs creating its own market = self-sustained growth. People did not feel the change immediately.

First industrial revolution, King Cotton

Colonies allowed England to get cotton. Fashion of Indian cotton clothes will give to the British industry a chance to have its own cotton industry. I will develop in ports (mainly Liverpool). Between 1750-1769 = 10x more cotton exported. This will lead to a technological change. Cotton was more exported than used at home (market policy, not domestic policy). Before the new devices the work was done at home on individual basis. Need for a greater productivity = industrialization of spinning industry. 1769: first spinning frame by Arkwright. 1770: first spinning factory. There was more spinning than weaving = crisis. 1820: mechanization of weaving industry = misery and unemployment. The transition created discontentment and risings (luddism = machine breaking). Industrialization will lead to the creation of industrial towns. Workers will realize that they form a class of their own. This was the first outcome of the agricultural revolution.

Second industrial revolution, King Coal

Coal is a major source of domestic fuel and industrial power in the 19 th C. When the country started to industrialize they needed more coal to fuel the engines and furnaces. The coal mines went deeper and deeper = danger but more production. The first not domestic use will be to fuel the steam engines then trains. 1842: mines act, code of security. This development was due to the need of iron and steel. Iron and steel were...