Industrial Revolution in Great Britain: Key Factors and Impacts

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

The Agricultural Revolution

In Great Britain, a set of legal reforms called the Enclosure Acts were passed by the British Parliament. These laws allowed large landowners to own and enclose open fields and common land. This led to various transformations: selective breeding, new crops, mechanization, and new drainage systems. Landowners had a practical and entrepreneurial mindset.

The Demographic Revolution

• Demographic Growth: The rapid population growth was caused by an increase in food production and advances in science and sanitation.
• Rural Emigration: Consequences of the modernization of agriculture were negative for the peasantry, leading to a rural exodus.

Economic Factors

Abundant coal and iron ore deposits, expansion of trade, availability of capital, and changing economic theories were key economic factors.

The Textile Industry

Technological innovations, such as spinning and weaving machines, increased the amount of cotton fabric that could be produced. These machines were located in factories. This division of labor made the textile industry more efficient.

Transportation

The growth of the Industrial Revolution depended on the ability to transport raw materials and finished goods over long distances. There were three main types of transportation that increased during the Industrial Revolution: waterways, roads, and railroads. Transportation was important because people were starting to live in the West. During this time, transportation via water was the cheapest way to move heavy products (such as coal and iron). As a result, canals were widened and deepened to allow more boats to pass.

Iron and Steel Production

After 1770, iron (and later, steel) replaced wood as the material for making industrial machines and tools. As the Industrial Revolution began to speed up, the need for coal grew because it provided power for the factory engines, steam-powered ships, and steam locomotives. Second, the demand for iron increased.

Key Figures

• Jethro Tull: Jethro Tull invented the seed drill in 1701 as a way to plant more efficiently.
• Thomas Newcomen: British engineer and inventor of the atmospheric steam engine, a precursor of James Watt's engine.
• James Watt: James Watt is best known for the invention of the steam machine – his invention was the engineering power that made the Industrial Revolution possible.

The Black Country

During the Industrial Revolution, the Black Country became one of the most industrialized parts of the UK, with coal mines, coking, iron foundries, glass factories, brickworks, and steel mills producing a high level of air pollution. The first trace of the phrase "The Black Country" reflects this industrialization.

Industrial Capitalism

Industrial capitalism is a system that puts the ideas of economic liberalism into practice. Under commercial capitalism, trade had been the most important source of profits.

Factory Act (1833)

In 1833, the Government passed a Factory Act to improve conditions for children working in factories. Young children were working very long hours in workplaces where conditions were often terrible. The basic act was as follows: no child workers under nine years of age.

Luddites

The Luddites were textile workers in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, skilled artisans whose trade and communities were threatened by a combination of machines and other practices that had been unilaterally imposed by the aggressive new class of manufacturers that drove the Industrial Revolution.