Just the basics, for students of Katherine Thomas High School

1. WHAT WAS THE
INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION?
A revolution is a
big change that
has lasting
effects.
Modern World History
David Peal

2. What was the Industrial
Revolution?
 People started making just
about everything by HAND
instead of by hand
 They used new sources of
ENERGY to run the
machines (coal and steam,
instead of horse and human
muscle power)
 The Industrial Revolution…
 started in ENGLAND_in the
late 1700s.
 spread around the world in the
1800s.
 changed the world!

3. Why did it start in England?
1. FOOD. The agricultural revolution of 1700s
made it possible to grow more food from same
amount of land: ONE English farmer produced
enough food for TWO non-farmers.
2. MONEY. England had the world’s best
BANKING system – there was enough money for
business people to borrow money in order to build
factories.
3. RAW MATERIALS in England.
Especially COAL and iron
4. EMPIRE. England’s empire held land around
the world, so it could SELL its goods everywhere.

4. England had a stable
government
A strong parliament…
…limited monarchy
With a strong parliament
and limited ROYAL
POWER, England had a
stable government that
allowed for change and
avoided EXTREMES of
wealth and poverty as in
FRANCE and Russia.

5. Favorable geography
England’s CANAL system made it
easy to move people and
resources to the places they were
needed.
England had lots of COAL_and
iron (gray areas on map).
This map shows canals built
between 1759 and 1815.

6. Why was cotton so important in the
Industrial Revolution?
 TEXTILES are materials
used to make clothes.
 COTTON_ textiles made
light-weight clothes for sale
in warm climates.
 All textiles used to be made
by HAND.

7. Machines in the textile industry
Starting in the late 1700s, new machines
changed everything:
Cotton gin – removed SEEDS from raw
cotton.
Spinning JENNY_ – spun thin strands of
cotton into strong threads; one person could
now do the same work with a machine that
16 could do by hand.
Power LOOM – wove thread into cloth,
replacing skilled, male weavers.

8. What was the steam engine?
 A new source of energy
invented by Newcomen and
improved by James WATT.
 Designed to pump water out
of deep MINES.
 Provided energy for A N Y
machine, ex: spinning jenny
 Coal boiled WATER…steam
moved piston…piston moved
wheel… wheels moved the
belts that drove the
machines!
Click picture to see animation.

9. How spinning changed
1
Before machines…one
woman did the spinning
using a spinning
WHEEL (used to be
known as a “spinster”)
Industrial
Revolution: One
woman using a
spinning JENNY –
doing the work of
16 women!!!
STEAM engines ran spinning
machines, doing the work of
hundreds of women. Notice there
are no people in this picture!
2
3

10. How transportation changed
Steam engines
were used to move
new types of
vehicle:
 STEAMSHIP __
(1807, Robert
Fulton’s
steamboat)
 RAILROAD_(18
25, picture on
right) – designed
to move HEAVY
things (coal)

11. Railroads made it possible to…
 Move heavy goods cheaply over long DISTANCES
 Move PEOPLE over short or long distances; they could
now live in different places from where they worked.
 Railroad industry create new jobs; trains created a need
for more COAL….

12. What was it like to work in
factories?
 Child labor – kids did jobs
that were DANGEROUS and
difficult.
 Everyone worked
LONG_hours – 12 to 14
hours a day.
 LOW pay – there was not
enough for a family to live on;
everybody worked.
 Workers had to keep up with
MACHINE; machines worked
24 hours a day.

13. How did workers respond to
new conditions?
 Broke machines
 Formed unions
 Formed new
political parties
 Some wanted to
CHANGE
society to
improve life for
everyone (an
idea called
socialism).
Workers meet to demand change!

14. What was so revolutionary
about the Industrial Revolution?
1. Change led to MORE change,
and the changes continue
today!
2. People no longer worked for
themselves and families. They
now worked for bosses in
FACTORIES, and machines
set the pace of work. Society
changed in many ways.
3. Place of work changed
(FACTORIES), and factories
were concentrated in CITIES.
4. Some workers wanted to
change society BY