The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in England between the 18th and early 19th century. It changed a lot of peoples lives forever. During the Industrial Revolution a lot of inventions were made which grew and developed so fast that the society couldn't really keep up.

 Before the Industrial Revolution everything was produced by hand and life was more quite and surely not hectic. Ordinary people were farmers and travelled by foot or by wagons which were pulled by animals. Life was quite and people lived there lives day by day from sunset to moonlight, they had no place to be but in there own farms farming. In the late 18th century things started to change while people started manufacturing fabric/textiles using spinning wheels and hand looms, these people were called cottage workers and they were the first people who were replaced by machines when the industrial revolution began.

Cottage Weaving Industry

The cottage weaving industry was stopped by machines which worked by wheels, water, steam and hydraulics such as the power loom which used water power instead of human muscle power and produced textiles faster. John Kay invented the flying shuttle which helped speed up the weaving process.

Improvements in Spinning

James Hargreaves was watching his daughter working at her spinning wheel and when she stood up to rest the spinning wheel accidentally tipped over and laid down on its side it was then when he came of with an idea of setting up a lot of spindles in a row all turning vertically instead or horizontally as the spindles has done on his daughters wheel. The spindles where connected together so they can all turn at once, which made half a dozen or more threads spin at the same time. James called the machine "the spinning Jenny". Today it is a power-operated machine which spins hundreds of threads at once.

Spinning Jenny

The weaver couldn't keep up with the spinning Jenny's speed so then Reverend Edmund Carter Wright the first mechanical loom which helped the weavers keep up with the spinners. Although the spinning and weaving was still a cottage industry, invention had begun. Other changes were beginning in England, canals and new mining machinery were being used and saw mills had begun working too. There were even railroads but there 'cars' were still pulled by horses.

People started thinking of ways to use nature, water, wind and etc to make machinery run without human effort.

Water and the Factory System

Waterwheels were used for running sawmills and ironworks in Europe and in England grist mills and flour mills were using the same thing - waterwheels. A British inventor Richard Arkwright built various inventions in one place close to a river he then controlled these machines to waterwheels by using belts and shafts. The river's current turned the waterwheel which then powered the new spinning machines. By doing this Richard developed the English textile industry by taking the production of textiles out of the cottage industry and putting it into factories. Richard was called the father of the factory system also, the production of the factory industry sped up to a surprising degree.

For the first time workers were expected to work together in the same place and finish working at specific times. Their work was closely supervised by foremen and they had to produce certain tasks according to the new procedures which evolved great conflicts between the workers.

Iron and Coal

Iron and coal are to resources which have been used for thousands of years. Iron was melted down to make weapons, tools, axles, utensils and so on. Iron was melted on over burning charcoal, which is made from charred wood which they used to find in woods but woods in England were used for ship building. The production of iron and coal was limited because there were few large forests left so they started importing most of the iron products they used. Meanwhile the people discovered that coal can burn and produce great heat. Abraham Darby began experimenting with coal and found a way how to remove the coal's impurities, which then he created a substance called coke.

         Coke burned hotter then coal which also smelted iron. This is when Darby opened a new door to a new world of power. For a while there was great activity in England's coal mines. The coal on the surface was used up so the miners ended up digging deeper to find underground deposits, it was then that way they ran into trouble. England is mostly rainy which makes the rain seep deep into the earth. This is how the underground coal mines began to flood. The miners worked to pump out the water but the faster they pumped the faster the water flowed into the mines.

An English man named Newcomen developed a use of  steam power which helped the miners pump water out of the flooded mines.

Coal miners digging out coal

Steam

Thomas Newcomen wasn't the first person to be fascinated by boiling water and by steam that came from the spout of a kettle. People always thought and tried to come with an idea to put this steam to use. A Greek scientist named Hero made a little steam machine in the 1st century but at that time there was nothing to do with it. There was so much slave labour that there was little  use for the labour-saving machinery. His invention was just an amusing toy.

       Centuries later, several others made steam engines but none were very successful. In 1702 Newcomen invented an engine that worked differently then the engines we have today. It has a an upright cylinder with a piston at the top and steam was forced into the bottom of the cylinder. This pushed the air out which left only the steam in the cylinder. A jet of cold water then was shot into the cylinder, condensing the steam into water. When this steam was drawn of a vacuum remained in the cylinder. Atmospheric pressure on the top of the piston forced it down into the vacuum and when the piston reached the bottom of the cylinder weights attached to a crossbar pulled it back. His engine was the first useful engine and it replaced human power in pumping out England's flooded coal mines letting miners dig deeper then they ever did before.

Newcomen's Steam Engine

James Watt

James Watt along with his business partner Matthew Boulton perfected the steam engine which was very different then Newcomen's. Their engine didn't depend only on a vacuum for its action just like Newcomen's did. Instead the piston was pushed up and down by pressure of steam upon it and it also introduced other features as well. Their engine required much less fuel and because of that it was also cheaper to operate. When the engine was tried in the textile mills it was obvious that it was a way more better source of power than waterwheels. Steam engines were used for rail roads, steam boats and cotton mills.

  Factories no longer had to be built near streams and rivers due to that fact and they now could be operated anywhere. Factories were built in cities rather then rural areas because the labour supplies in cities were full and workers were able to live at home and travel to work and back everyday.

James Watt's Steam Engine

Working Conditions Become Harder

When the first factories started by Richard Arkwright and others more and more workers were needed to run the machines. There was a large number of labourers in England at this time and workers could be easily found among the people who have been forced off by farms by the enclosure system or forced out from the cottage industries because of the speed and productivity of factories.

  Factory owners wanted to get the cheapest labour possible so the profits can be increased which made the realize that it took little strength and skill to handle these machines so they ended up hiring young children.

Whole families were put to work often under very poor conditions. The factories were so hot and dark, and people were expected to work 15 to 16 hours daily. No labour unions were there to protect the workers at such treatment and as a result there were was a lot of disease and death. With the steam engines the factories became worse because the textile mills became hotter and damper then before. Women and children were still to work long hours tending machines and still poorly paid. All of the workers lived near the factories were it was most crowded and dirty. Finally in the 1700's the bad conditions were being exposed in the industrial towns and laws were made from the parliament to work limited hours and that children were forbidden to work.

All of this information taught me that without all of this thought and invention of making new mechanical machines to make life easier we wouldn't be were we are today. Revolution is still going on were designers always find a way to make things easier for everyone, us the buyers. Without these machines till this day we will still be farming. Without industrial revolution our children will still be working in factories. Every single thing we have today is brought and made/designed thanks to the industrial revolution.

information from:

YouTube - Broadcast yourself. 2012. Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History #32. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhL5DCizj5c. [Accessed 16 November 13].

YouTube - Broadcast yourself. 2011. industrial revolution overview. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4joqYycnqM. [Accessed 01 November 13].

Burlingame, R B, 1994. the new book of knowlegde. 1st ed. Danbury, Connecticut : grolier.