Industrial Revolution Inventions, Enlightenment Ideas, and Political Change

Spinning and Weaving Machines

The spinning and weaving machines:

Key Machines and Dates

• 1733: Flying shuttle (John Kay).
• 1765: Spinning Jenny (James Hargreaves).
• 1779: Spinning mule (Samuel Crompton).
• 1785: Power loom (Edmund Cartwright).

Proto-industry: In the eighteenth century it was common for peasant families to combine farm work with the production of textiles, while traders sold goods in distant markets.

Production Systems

The stages of textile production and organization are three:

Domestic System

Domestic System: It was an autonomous process. Productive activity was often reduced to the time between planting and harvesting. Farmers engaged in these crafts, owned their tools, and took their manufactured goods to the nearest markets.

Putting-Out System

Putting-Out System: In this system peasants lost their autonomy to decide how and how much to produce. The merchant supplied raw materials, distributed instruments for spinning and weaving, and fixed prices. Farmers were paid by the merchant.

Factory System

Factory System: Towards the last decades of the 18th century this activity became increasingly profitable and spread to many areas. The problems of supplying raw materials and of production control were resolved with the concentration of capital and the bringing together of traders, premises, workers and machines.

Enlightenment Thought and Science

Thought and illustration: The Enlightenment flourished in eighteenth-century England and other parts of Europe. It was characterized by an appreciation of human reason, the pursuit of economic progress, and the critique of traditional religious thought. A rational explanation of the world sought to illuminate the shadows of inherited tradition. At that time there was rapid advancement in the sciences.

Economic Thought and Adam Smith

Economic thought: The foundations of economic liberalism were laid during this period. Adam Smith argued that economic progress requires freeing the factors of production (land, labor and capital). In Smith's work one clear theme is that labor contributes to the value of goods; the worker is the one who produces wealth.

Social and Political Criticism

John Locke: Living in the 17th century, Locke argued for government based on consent and helped justify parliamentary principles.

Voltaire: He called for political freedom and religious tolerance.

Montesquieu: He proposed a monarchical system with separation of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Rousseau: He advocated the concept of national sovereignty and the social contract.

The Encyclopedia and Periodicals

The Encyclopedia: The set of Enlightenment ideas was collected in 28 volumes directed by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was a reasoned dictionary of the sciences and the arts.

Periodical publishing also expanded: in Great Britain a notable periodical was founded in 1702; the Journal de Paris appeared in 1777; and Spain had the Gaceta de Madrid in 1697.

Absolutism and Enlightened Despots

Absolutism: Some kings and rulers welcomed the spirit of the Enlightenment. Enlightened despots planned reforms that they believed favorable to the people, but they often implemented reforms without truly yielding political power.