The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was an increase in production brought about by the use of machines
and caracterised by the use of new energy sources.

The Industrial Revolution was much more important than all the others revolutions from that
period (1750-1850), for example the French revolution. Why? Because everything in today’s world
revolves around the Industrial Revolution and its changes.

You have energy? The Industrial Revolution

You have strawberries during winter? The Industrial Revolution

You ride the bus to school? The Industrial Revolution

Inovations were interconnected

The invention of the flying shuttle (v. final document) increased the speed of weaving, the
increase of weaving increased the demand for yarn, the increase in demand for yarn meant the
appearance of inventions like the Spinning Jenny (v. final document). All these processes were
mechanized using water power. The invention of the seam engine meant turning the flying shuttles into
cotton mills.

The steam engine

The steam engine was created to clear out mines (coal mines would often get flooded). With the
water cleard there was more coal and that meant more steam engines.

More steam engines and with the help of James Watt the Newcomen steam engine was
improved. The Newcomen steam engine made possible not only the construction of railroads and steam
engines but also the creation of more efficient cotton mills.

Another important improvement in the textile production was the start of using sulfuric acid as
a way to bleach the cloth.

Sulfuric acid started being used because of lead-lined chambers, the lead for lead-lined
chambers coming from the production of lead, which dramatically increased during the 1750’s thanks to
lead foundaries powered by coal.
 Steam engines used cheap british coal to keep british coal cheap and cheap british coal created
the opportunity for everything, from railroads to steel, which like so much else in the Industrial
Revolution created a positive feedback loop.

Example of feedback loop: the railroads are made of steel and brcause it is heavy, steel needs
railroads.

In England were high wages

High wages and cheap fuel costs were economically efficient for manufacturers to look to
machines as a way of lowering their production costs.

Robert Allen – “Wages were high and energy was cheap. These prices led directly to the
Industrial Revolution by giving firms strong incentives to invent technologies that substituted capital and
coal for labour.”

The competition in the textile business between India and Britain:

In India textile manufacturing could be very productive (very low wages) without machines
(because of the high working hand), so no need to industrialize.

India created the market and the British manufacturers invested in machines and imported
Indians who knew the process very well in order to increase production so that they could compete with
India.

The demand of textiles was high, India had very good prices and so the competition for England.

The spinning Jenny

The flying shuttle

The newcomen steam engine