O Level Revision : History - The Industrial Revolution in Britain

Factors which  made Britain to be the first  to industrialise

• Foreign trade brought in money that was used to develop the scientific inventions during the second half of the 18th century.
• The merchant navy enabled Britain to build a vast empire and captured the wealthiest areas of the world which provided the needed raw materials.
• The population  of  Britain  began  to  grow  fast because of improved medical facilities – this created a big market.
• Britain  experienced  more  peace  and  political

stability that promoted an industrial revolution

• Britain  had   the   scientists   who   invented   the necessary machinery that precipitated the Industrial Revolution.
• The availability of iron ore and water to power the revolution.

• Improvements in agriculture resulted in the need for machines to process agricultural products faster to meet demand.
• A developed banking system which offered loans to the middle class to build industries and factories.

• Availability of cheap labour.

The  transformation of the  peasant class

• Because of  the  wealth  that  came  into  Britain, serfdom began to disappear. It was replaced by the peasant system.
• Peasants had more control over their lives than serfs.

• Peasants owned small farms or rented them from landlords or the king.

• They owned farm tools and animals necessary for draught power. The animals were grazed on the common pastures.

• The family decided the crops to grow, on what to do and on the amount of food to be stored or sold.
• Some peasants  abandoned  farming  and  became craftsmen, skilled tailors, cobblers, blacksmiths, potters and leather workers.
• Some started shops where they employed servants.
• As the  craftsmen  became  more  commercialised the idea of capital investment, banking and market system  spread  into  rural  Britain.  People  bought and sold anything, for example eggs, mats, clothes, farm equipment and blankets.
• The peasant class soon disappeared as they were swallowed into the factory labour.

The  agricultural revolution

• From 1750 onwards, the demand for food increased because people moved into the factory areas.
• Landlords began to enclose their land and removed the peasant tenants.

• At first the peasants resisted the enclosure system – they farmed without permission on the enclosed land.

• This was brought to an end when landlords pushed through parliament the Enclosure Acts.

• Between  1750  and  1820  more  than  4  million hectares of land was enclosed.

• Many former peasants were forced to become farm labourers.

• Some moved into towns as factory workers.
• Some migrated  to  the  British  colonies  in  the Americas, the East Indies and Australia where they became rich over a short period of time.
• This explains why there was a scramble for colonies in Southern Africa.

• This transformation of British agriculture between

1750 and 1850 brought in new farming methods and machinery to feed the landless urban workers who now depended on selling their labour.

• When these former peasants got a chance to go to the British colonies they became ruthless exploiters.

• In Africa they became landlords.
• They demanded taxes from African peasants.
• They  used  brutal  methods  to  force  peasants  to surrender their labour and pay taxes.

The  textile revolution

• New    machinery    capable    of    changing    the manufacturing sector was introduced.

• Machines replaced human labour. The machines were owned by the middle class and peasants were turned into cheap labour. Machines introduced included the:

-     flying shuttle which speeded up the production of hand-woven cloth;

-     spinning Jenny which combined the functions of the Spinning Jenny and Water Frame;

-     water Frame driven by water power;

-     first automatic weaving machine was inverted in 1737.

• The middle  class  bought  more  machines  which and were put into bigger factories – it led to the employment of many people.
• This led to the production of a large quantity of textile products – mass production.

The  transport revolution

• It promoted other areas e.g. the growth of iron and steel industry, agriculture and the textile industry.

• It made transportation of goods cheaper.
• Most early factories were powered by water.
• River transport  was  more  popular  than  road.  It explains why some industries were along canals and rivers.
• Coal began to replace wood for both domestic and industrial use.

• It  is  the  steam  engine  that  revolutionised  the transport system.

• The steam engines were used to power boats and revolutionised the textile industry.

• The  railway  system  was  introduced  and  this expanded the steel industry.

• The use of railway meant large quantities of goods were carried fast, safely and cheaply.

Results of the  Industrial Revolution

Positive

• Growth of towns and cities.
• Parliamentary reforms led to democracy.
• Britain became self-sufficient (and isolated herself from the rest of the world).

• Machines replaced hand use.
• Goods became plenty and cheaper.
• Rural-urban migration by the peasants who became the proletariat.

• The  poor  (workers)  and  the  rich  middle  class (capitalists) became the main classes in society.

• The  British  economy  was  transformed  from  a feudal to a capitalist system.

• Land became part of the capital investment for the farmer.

• Factories became the capital investment for the manufacturer.

• The middle class became very powerful and they began to challenge the power of the King and nobles.
• Factory owners, shop owners, traders and various classes of merchants became so powerful that they went to the extent of giving loans to countries (governments borrowed money from them).
• The  standard  of  living  –  diet,  education,  dress, housing – generally improved.

Negative

• The  middle  class  merchants  helped  their  own countries to colonise Third World countries.

• Working conditions remained generally poor.

• Child labour continued.

• Urban  population  increased  due  to  rural-urban migration leading to squalid living conditions.

• New agriculture methods displaced the peasants.

• Moral degeneration in urban areas.

• Families broke apart as parents, husbands or wives disappeared into the cities forever.

(a) List any six causes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain.                                                     [6]

(b)  Describe  the  economic  developments  that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. [11]

(c)  To what extent did the peasants benefit from the Industrial Revolution?                           [8]