Industrial Revolution: Mechanization, Economy, and Social Impact

Industry Development

The Mechanization and the Factory System

Use of machines replacing human or animal labor by machines, hydropower, or coal. Factories were established, and craft production was gradually replaced by the factory system (mass production). The mechanization of the production process began in the textile industry with the flying shuttle, new spinning machines, and looms. Little by little, machines were extended to agriculture, mining, and metallurgy. These machines began to move through the use of hydropower by waterwheels. The steam engine, patented by Watt in 1769, allowed independence to be achieved. These advances led to an increase in productivity and output, enabling lower costs and reduced prices.

The Cotton Industry

Cotton became available in large quantities and was extremely economical. Until the eighteenth century, cotton fabrics were imported from India. From the mid-eighteenth century, British industry supplied the domestic market and exported. The massive imports of raw cotton from India or the U.S. stocked the sector with cheap raw materials. Simple inventions like the flying shuttle and spinning machines increased productivity in yarn production.

The Coal and Iron

Coal became the major fuel of the nineteenth century, fueling the steam engine and the steel-making process. Increased coal production and the introduction of tracks and cars facilitated the extraction and transport of minerals. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the growing demand for iron for ships, ammunition, and tools led to a search for a cheaper substitute. Charcoal was replaced by coking coal, with much more heating power. The casting furnace allowed the growth of coal and iron production in large quantities. Puddling and rolling iron, invented by Cort and Bessemer, allowed cast iron to be transformed into steel, making machines more accurate and durable. The biggest boost came from the high demand entailed by the construction of the railway network from the 1830s.

The New Transport

In Britain, in the mid-eighteenth century, roads were improved, and canals were built to allow river navigation. However, it was the railroad that revolutionized transportation, thanks to its speed, capacity, lower cost, and better security. Stephenson invented the locomotive in 1829, a steam engine capable of moving on rails. The first line joined Liverpool and Manchester in 1830. In the early nineteenth century, Fulton applied steam to navigation. The rail network in the second half of the nineteenth century spread to the rest of Europe.

The Market Momentum

A market economy emerged in which goods were produced for sale. The initial impetus came from the British foreign market and the Atlantic market for the export of production. The greatest change was the development of a market, which drew on population growth, increased purchasing power of the peasantry, and the improvement of transport.

The Industrialization of the Continent

Throughout the nineteenth century, the industrialization process spread around Europe, the USA, and Japan. It started in France and Belgium, based on the exploitation of rich coal deposits, developed agriculture, a good transport network, and active trade. Germany built its industrial development on the abundance of coal and iron and the concentration of financial capital. Industrial growth was slower and later in Italy and Spain and in very localized areas of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires.

Economic Liberalism and Capitalism

The Economic Liberalism

The economic principles of liberalism were developed in the late eighteenth century. Adam Smith advocated the supremacy of the individual and believed that the pursuit of self-interest was the engine of economic development. Conflicting interests are balanced in the market through supply and demand. The State must refrain from any intervention and should eliminate protectionist barriers and monopolies. Malthus noted that population growth would unbalance its relationship with existing resources.

Capital, Labor, and Market

The instruments of production (land, factories, and machinery) and what is produced with them are the private property of the bourgeoisie or capitalists. Most workers, or the proletariat, have no more than their labor, setting wages according to supply and demand. The free enterprise system is not planned, aiming to maximize individual benefit and trying to keep wage costs as low as possible. Imbalances between supply and demand cause periodic crises that are corrected by adjusting costs (salaries) and production (supply) in situations of economic crisis. When products are not selling, prices fall, profits go down, businesses close, and unemployment increases.

Protectionism and Free Trade

Britain, as an advanced industrial country, expressed support for free trade and no government intervention in international trade. The emergence of British goods in the international market, more or less at any price, affected the rest of Europe. To prevent competition from Great Britain, countries like the United States implemented protectionist measures. Protectionism imposed tariffs on the entry of foreign products.

Social Consequences

The Process of Urbanization

Industrialization and manufacturing organization forced workers to concentrate around factories and move to cities. This process led to the growth of cities (urban society). Internal emigration came from the surrounding rural areas. Urbanization grew rapidly. In Europe, in the early nineteenth century, only 2% lived in cities, but by the early twentieth century, it was 78% of Britons and 60% of Germans.

The Segregation

The rapid growth of cities led to strong neighborhood segregation. The bourgeoisie built residential neighborhoods with large avenues and public services. Working-class neighborhoods grew without planning: streets were not paved, there was no sewerage or garbage collection, there was no running water or private bathrooms.

The New Industrial Society

The triumph of industrialization and capitalism replaced the Ancien Regime. The number of farmers declined, and industrial production ruined most artisans, many farmers, and industrial artisans. The proletariat aristocracy became linked to property and lost part of its social relevance. The bourgeoisie, linked to the ownership of factories, played a pre-eminent role due to its wealth. Society was organized according to their ideas and values. The new bourgeois values were based on the exaltation of private property, work, savings, and individualism. Their children occupied the best positions. The family remained the core, and the family home became a symbol of prosperity and middle-class status. Manual labor was not valued and was carried out by professionals such as lawyers, doctors, high-ranking officials, and military employees. They made up the bulk of the workforce needed to produce goods with low pay and very long working hours. The vast majority of the population lived close to the edge of subsistence.

Women in Industrial Society

Women were oriented toward marriage. Married women had an obligation to obey their husbands and needed permission for any legal act. The lives of middle and upper-class women were centered in the home. Peasant women joined in farm work chores, livestock care, mowing, etc. Working women worked long hours, 10 to 12 hours, and their pay was lower than men's.