A Brief History of Humanity: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century
Chapter 30 The Industrial Revolution
Chapter 30 The Industrial Revolution
At a time when the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars were unleashing bloody and brutal tragedies on the Continent, there was a change in England that, taken together, made the attack on the Bastille and the Battle of Waterloo seem irrelevant by comparison It's urgent.This is the industrial revolution.In all of recent history, nothing has affected the lives of ordinary people more deeply, or opened up a broader perspective on human development, or brought about more intense discontent and hardship than the Industrial Revolution.
Generally speaking, a revolution accomplishes two things: it overthrows the old order, and it creates or attempts to create a new order to replace the old one.Revolutions in history can be divided into different types according to the different fields in which they occurred.Some revolutions are political, affecting governments; some are religious, affecting the church; and some are social, affecting the lives and privileges of certain classes.Most revolutions unleashed much tumultuous, destructive atrocities, wars, executions, removals, and confiscations.But some revolutions, such as the ideological revolution, are more peaceful and achieve results as well.
The key to the industrial revolution is peace, as it belongs to the mechanical revolution.But it can be both constructive and destructive, and when it's well under way, it's spectacular.
[-]. What is the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution refers to a fundamental change or series of changes in the methods of producing iron, cloth, steel, and some other manufactured goods.It mainly replaces manual operation with machine operation.
A brief summary of its broad scope helps us understand the Industrial Revolution: (1) in the production of cotton cloth and other commodities, human labor was replaced by newly invented steam or water-powered machines; (2) a series of inventions made iron, Coal and steel can be produced and used on a large scale, and then entered the era of coal and iron; (3) The generation of steam locomotives and steamships triggered a revolution in transportation and commerce; (4) Previously, only hand looms or Hundreds of millions of working people who are simple tools can now leave their homes to work as wage laborers in rapidly increasing factories, mines and mills; (5) The power and importance of capitalism has increased greatly because Factories, mines and railroads are owned and operated by capitalists.The capitalist is the boss of the workers; (6) The old restrictions imposed on industry and commerce by guilds and mercantilist politicians are all abolished, clearing the way for the free competition of commerce.But this was only temporary; (7) Industry and commerce were rapidly developed, and soon surpassed agriculture in importance, and cheap machine-made products filled the whole market, making life more convenient for ordinary people; (8) The population increased at an unprecedented rate, and more and more people gathered in the cities that gradually became the centers of industry and commerce, until most people did not live in the countryside, but chose to live in the cities.
Time and place Economic history doesn't have milestones like Waterloo, peace treaties, and elections, so the timing of the Industrial Revolution is tricky.But what is certain is that by the time the American and French revolutions broke out, the industrial revolution was already flourishing, and Britain was the main location of the industrial revolution.The Industrial Revolution began before the 17th century; in the second half of the 18th century, it had made significant progress in Britain;
This chapter tells the story of the British Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century.
[-]. New Textile Machinery
Roulette once made history.We have seen this fact even in ancient history.The industrial revolution is the strongest proof, because the industrial revolution originated from the invention of machines, and machines are mainly composed of various wheels.
The spinning jenny was invented out of need, which means that great need inspired continuous effort.Inventions are brought about by various favorable conditions: cultivated men, trade, a gradual increase in the demand for manufactured goods, etc.Sometimes, lucky chance leads to a major discovery or invention.
One day, James Hargreaves, a British textile worker, accidentally found his wife's spinning wheel lying on the ground.This is a very simple machine, the main body is a large wheel that rotates the spindle, and the yarn is wound on the spindle.Hargreaves saw that the wheel was still turning when it was down, and the spindles were standing upright instead of lying down, so he thought of arranging several spindles vertically, and it was completely possible for a wheel to carry them.
James Hargreaves was a very dexterous carpenter.The result of this accident was that he planned to design and create a machine with 8 vertical spindles, and used clips or a few sticks instead of human fingers to pull and hold the yarn.Using such new machines, one skilled operator could spin as much yarn as eight women could spin with eight old-fashioned spinning wheels.But James Hargreaves gives full credit for the invention to his wife, Jenny.And in honor of her, he named the machine the "Spinning Jenny".
James Hargreaves' wife was proud of him, but some of his weaving neighbors were not.Discovering that he had created a machine that would take their jobs, they broke into his home and destroyed the "Spinning Jenny".So James moved to another town to make and sell spinning jenny machines, some of which were large enough to spin a hundred threads at a time.
Hargreaves built the first spinning jenny around 1765, the year the famous Stamp Act was introduced.
Arkwright's Water-Powered Spinning Machine Around the same time, an ingenious haircutter named Richard Arkwright built a spinning machine in which pinches were twisted into Very loose wool or cotton is drawn between pairs of rollers and twisted with spindles, which are part of the machine.Arkwright's first machine was brought up by horsepower, but later he used water power, so his invention is called "water spinning machine".Soon, Arkwright owned several spinning mills, and the hydraulic spinning machine made him money. It didn't take long for him to become rich and famous.He was knighted by the King in 1786.Arkwright, like Hargreaves, was met with much hostility because his inventions put many manual laborers out of work but he became one of the first millionaires thanks to machines.He was also one of the first factory owners to use steam engines in his factories.
Crompton's Mule Machine But Hargreaves and Arkwright don't solve everything.Although the yarn spun by the spinning jenny is fine but lacks tenacity, the yarn spun by the hydro-spinning machine is tenacious but rough.A young man named Samuel Crompton planned to combine the two machines and take the advantages of both.He created a "Mule Machine" in 1779 because it was a hybrid like the mule.He installs twenty or thirty spindles on a movable stand or frame, and when the fibers pass through the rotating shaft, they are pulled from the stand to a certain distance. While pulling, the spindles on the stand rotate to form thick threads. , until these thick threads can withstand the pulling force, the rotating shaft stops, and then the frame is pulled forward, so that the spun threads are slender and tenacious.
The machines can spin stronger and finer yarns than can be spun by hand, and they can be spun faster and at a lower cost.The mule machine was improved after that.It is still used today.
Cartwright and the Automatic Loom A few years after Crompton invented the mule, an English clergyman named Cartwright invented an improved loom, the Automatic Loom.After continuous improvement by other inventors, this loom was widely used.There were 1813 such looms in Britain until 2400, and 1833 by 8.5.Thousands of hand weavers lost their jobs, and their struggle against machines was defeated.Because many hand spinners and weavers are too old to change to new trades, this brings more poverty and hardship.
New machines and new machines for weaving and spinning cotton were at first used mainly by cotton makers.The reason is very interesting. Before the 18th century, cotton cloth was considered a luxury item in England because it was mainly sourced from India.However, at the beginning of the 18th century, cloth makers advised Parliament to strictly prohibit the use of "foreign cloth" (the name of cotton cloth produced in India), so as to maintain the woolen industry that Britain was most proud of at that time.But the result was not as expected by the parliament.Cotton weavers in England had a prosperous trade because of the great demand of the people for cotton goods.Moreover, British cotton manufacturers were not only eager to use machinery to expand their output, but they were also able to use it freely.Because it will not be restricted by the mercantilist regulations, which have hindered the development of the older and more important woolen industry.
Hargreaves' spinning jenny, Arkwright's water spinning, Crompton's mule, and Cartwright's automatic loom greatly developed the cotton trade, while woolen weaving They are still guarding those old manual methods.Although the wool spinning industry also began to use new machines, and the linen and silk industries also began to reform their processes, the cotton spinning industry has always been ahead.
The cotton gin An American invention in 1793 that had a considerable impact on the cotton industry in England and other countries was the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney.It is a machine that removes the cottonseed from the fibers of the raw cotton.It greatly promoted cotton cultivation and provided more cotton for the textile industry.
A few years after the invention of the spinning machine and the automatic loom by water power, the power of the machines was mainly waterwheels. In the 18s and 70s, cotton mills sprung up along the rushing river.By 80, there were 1788 water-powered cotton mills in England.But by the end of the 143th century, the waterwheel was replaced by a new source of power, the steam engine.
[-]. James Watt and the steam engine
The early steam engine James Watt is usually regarded as the inventor of the steam engine, but in fact he was just an improver of the steam engine.Before he was born, there had been various types of steam engines, one of which was used in English coal mines to pump water from flooded coal pits.The steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1705.When James Watt (1736-1819) was working as a maker and repairer of scientific instruments at the University of Edinburgh, a Newcomen engine that was often used to pump water in mines was sent to Watt for repair.Watt found that this engine required a great deal of time and heat, as the steam in the cylinder had to be cooled to condense with each stroke of the piston, and the cylinder had to be reheated for the next stroke.After thinking about it for a while, he decided to let the steam pass through a valve into a separate condensing chamber that was kept cool at all times, while the main cylinder was still kept warm.
Watt's "Demon" When Watt tried to build this engine, he encountered difficulties that would have discouraged many.At that time, no blacksmith was skilled enough to make the cylinder absolutely round, or make the piston rod completely smooth and straight, or make the valve very tight.Just when he was about to give up, a wealthy friend thought the new machine might be useful for his coal mine, so he helped Watt pay off his debts and persuaded him to try again.Finally, in 1769, Watt built his first steam engine.It is called "Beezlebub" (Beezlebub) because it not only swallows fireworks, but also acts like a demon king.
Watt seemed doomed at the time because his friends were unlikely to give him any more money.Fortunately, Matthew Bolton, a wealthy hardware manufacturer from Birmingham, took a keen interest in this invention, took the "demon" to his factory for repairs, and cooperated with Watt to create a steam engine.
Use of the steam engine The first engines sold by Boulton and Watt were for pumping water from coal mines, or pumping air into blast furnaces.Watt continued to improve the engine, and finally thought of a way to attach a piston that moved back and forth in a straight line to a wheel, so that it could turn a millstone, or drive a machine in a cotton mill.He made his biggest improvement in 1782, using a new way to place the valve so that the pressure of the steam would drive the piston back and forth.
Printing and transportation The steam engine was applied to many new fields, and in 1814 the operation of the printing press also used the steam engine.This was very important because it made the printing of books and newspapers very cheap and accessible to the common man.Before that, steam trains and steamships started their careers across the ages.
[-]. Coal and Iron
The invention of machines and the engines that drive them is seen as the defining factor of the Industrial Revolution.Closely related to this was the increase in the use of coal and iron.The period before the Industrial Revolution can be called the "timber age" because wood was widely used as fuel and tools, and only a small amount of coal could be mined.The high price and rarity of iron is due to the crude refining technology at that time.It should come as no surprise, then, that the first machines were made of wood rather than iron.
The first big step towards the "coal and iron age" was to use coal instead of charcoal to make iron.Ironmaking is the process of melting raw ore and separating the metal from the dross.
Much coal has yet to be mined, but sources of wood for charcoal are being depleted.Therefore, as early as the 17th century, an Englishman saw this situation and tried to replace charcoal with coal.It was a good idea, but it didn't work out at the time.A century later, another British blacksmith named Darby smelted coal into coke and put it into use, and the effect was very good.However, coke fire cannot provide ultra-high temperature unless strong wind is blown in, so the "blast furnace" appeared.In order to "blow up the wind", Darby used a pair of large bellows turned by water wheels.
Smeaton's blower method of creating a strong air flow in a furnace was invented in 1760 by John Smeaton, an engineer employed by a Scottish ironworks where coke was not being used to good effect.Smeaton replaced the old-fashioned leather bellows with an air pump with four large iron cylinders, equipped with valves and pistons, and driven by hydraulic power.Smeaton's blower was finally successful in getting coke to be used for iron smelting.
Henry Cotter's iron smelting method used coke as fuel, and the "pig iron" smelted in the blast furnace contained impurities, which made the iron too brittle and unsuitable for many occasions.How to turn pig iron into purer and harder wrought iron and steel became a difficult problem, until around 1784 Henry Cotter discovered that if the pig iron is heated in a special furnace and it is very hot Stirring, or "churning," removes most of the impurities.The hot, purified metal is then removed from the furnace without hammers, but with heavy rollers and rolled into bars or plates.
Thanks to these new methods, cheaper and more available iron was used to make machines, tanks and boilers.One daring inventor even built a boat out of iron plates.
Pig Iron Thick and heavy bars of cast iron are called pig iron (pig iron) because of the way they are arranged on the sand bed in which they are made.The molten iron is introduced into a large, long mold with rows of smaller mold sand on each side.There are also some small molds near the big mold, very much like a sow leading a group of piglets, so they are called "pig iron".
As long as the lathe has seen a disassembled car motor or any kind of engine, it will understand that the cylinder and piston must be "accurate", that is, their shape must be standard and smooth.It is absolutely unrealistic to accurately drill the cylinder or make an airtight valve by hand alone, because no worker can control the tool in his hand completely smoothly.But the puzzle was solved by a lathe in 1794.
The lathe invented by Maudsley is a device that can fix the drill bit, and at the same time fix the metal block that drills the hole on this straight line.Its other device is to hold the cutting tool in place while the metal to be cut into cylindrical shapes is rapidly rotated on a lathe or rotating machine.This may seem like a simple invention, but it was the most crucial in the success or failure of the steam engine and various iron machines.
One of the most serious difficulties faced by the early steam engines was that if the steam pressure rose too high, the boiler would explode.But before long, boilers could be made of hard iron plates, making it much safer to use high-pressure steam, and engines were greatly improved.Cylinders and pistons could be reduced in size, and all engines could be made smaller and simpler.Richard Trevithick probably made the improvement in 1800, and he deserves no less credit for improving the steam engine than James Watt.
[-]. Steamboats and trains
Seeing that steam could successfully turn the wheels of stationary machines, inventors set out to use it to drive boats and carts.
Roads and Canals Before describing how steam was used in cars and boats, let's take a look at early means of transportation.
Before the 18th century, the roads in Britain were so bad that carts with wheels were not used, and merchants used horses to transport goods from one place to another.It is evident that trade can be more generally developed only if better means of transport are found.
Gravel roads In the 18th century, and especially in the 19th century, due to the continuous improvement of road conditions, stagecoaches, wagons and four-wheeled carriages could travel freely. "MacAdam Road" is named after Scottish engineer John McAdam.He used gravel to stabilize roads, and in the early 19s he built thousands of miles of smooth roads, as well as canals for the transportation of coal and other heavy goods.
Steam locomotive By 1800, the steam engine had been improved to the extent that it could be used in locomotives.The first steam locomotive with practical value was completed in 1801, and it was successfully made thanks to the inventor of the high-pressure engine, Richard Trevithick.Engineers in the coal mines embraced this, because the steam locomotive solved a major problem in getting coal from the mines to market.
Stephenson's Improvements George Stephenson (1781–1848), one of these engineers, may be called the father, or at least the stepfather, of the railway locomotive.Although his work was not invented, his improvements were so effective that the iron train was accepted by the people.
When some mine owners were planning to build a railway between Stockton and Darlington in northern England, Stephenson persuaded them to use steam locomotives. In 1830 Stephenson supplied locomotives for the construction of the railway between Liverpool and Manchester, the world's first major railway.
The engines and carriages of Stephenson's time look cramped and clumsy by our standards, but to those who don't know anything faster than a stagecoach, they are an absolute miracle.
Robert Fulton and the steamboat There were several inventors who used the steam engine as a driving force for ships, but Robert Fulton (1765-1815) is often regarded as the No. 1.In terms of time, he is not the first, but he is the No. 1 who got rich by putting the boat on the water.
Fulton is a young American artist of Irish origin.While studying painting in England, he befriended James Watt and others interested in mechanical engineering, and soon he abandoned the art of painting to invent.He came to France when he learned that Napoleon Bonaparte was very interested in inventions. In Paris in 1803, he sailed the Seine with his first steamboat and exhibited a submersible torpedo boat.Without much encouragement, he returned to America and created a steamboat, the Claremont, with a propeller, which traveled between New York and Albany on the Hudson River. In 1807, the Steamboat Claremont rumbled to victory because it was a practical ship, something steamships before it had struggled to do.
Steamboats and ocean liners Nicholas Roosevelt built a steamboat in Pittsburgh in 1811 and sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers into New Orleans.It was the first steamboat to appear on the Mississippi River.In England, the first steamboat to be successful was Henry Bell's Comet, which made its first voyage on the River Clyde in 1812.
In 1819, the Savannah, equipped with a steam engine, sailed across the Atlantic from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool, but its engines were purely auxiliary.It is equipped with a full set of mast sails, and when the wind is down or the wind and waves are too strong for sailing, the propellers will be taken down and placed on the deck.The real voyage across the ocean by steam began in 1838 with the Sirius and the Great Western.At the same time, the number of steamboats traveling on the inland river gradually increased, and by 1850 there were countless.
It was not until the second half of the 19th century that ocean-going ships had a trans-epochal significance in naval warfare and international trade, which will be described in the next chapter.
[-]. The silent home
Mechanical inventions revolutionized the lives and homes of spinners, dyers, weavers, carpenters, and blacksmiths, men and women.
Old system: Manual operation at home Before the machine age, some industries were still based on the medieval guild system. Each guild owner opened a small shop at home or nearby, and there would be a few apprentices or one or two Young assistants help him.Most of the weavers did not form their own guilds, but often lived and worked in small cottages.Weavers usually have a garden and a cow.Although a few wealthy cloth merchants opened their own shops or factories and employed a few weavers, most of the weavers were willing to work at home, where they were independent and free.Everywhere there are wooden spinning wheels and small, improvised looms, manned by the nimble hands (and feet) of workers.
The new system: the machine operation of the factory The machine not only changed the nature of weaving and spinning, increased the speed, but also improved the working conditions, and deeply affected the lives and habits of the workers.It was difficult for a worker to have a waterwheel and an automatic loom in a small cottage, let alone a blast furnace and steam engine.Probably since 1770, because of the invention of the spinning machine, the spinning mill was established soon.
Each spinning mill has several machines driven by waterwheels and tended by a dozen or more workers.After the invention of the automatic loom, a weaving factory was established.The iron industry was also based on factories or foundries rather than on cottage industry; so was pottery.By 12, hundreds of factories had been established in England, and several in New England.
Samuel Slater In 1789, a young Englishman, Samuel Slater, who had carefully studied Arkwright's machine, arrived in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.By the end of the following year, he used his memory to build several spinning machines in a factory.Great Britain was very careful not to allow any machines, even models, to be sold to other countries.But Slater took them to America.Later, the new machine was also sent to some other countries.
Decline of Home Industry During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, factories in England and elsewhere proliferated, and even in some branches of industry the factory system almost completely replaced home manufacturing.The whirring spinning-wheels that women and girls used to use from dawn until late at night are now abandoned, or shelved, and neglected.And most of the hand looms that squeak, squeak, and thump with the rhythm of the spinning wheel are also mostly idle and unattended.
The hut dwellers were silent, too silent.This meant that many old spinners and weavers were out of work.It was bad enough that the spinning wheel and loom were idle, but it was worse that the people were idle.Many spinners and weavers were too old to learn new methods in new factories, and many were too nostalgic for old habits to change, seeing jobs and pay slipping away from them.Worry, constant fatigue, and discouragement hung over the decaying cottage.
In most cases, the younger members of the family were able to find a job in a factory where they grew up with the new system.But to work in a factory, they must leave their hometown.Thus the old cottage became stiller, the spinning-wheel was put aside, the loom ceased to work, and the voices of the young men faded away.
[-]. The desolate village
One of the most obvious phenomena of the Industrial Revolution is the rapid development of cities and the transfer of population from rural areas to urban centers.Most factories were established in coal and iron producing areas and those favorable for trade and transportation.In search of employment, young people, and sometimes entire families, leave their homes, cottages or small farms and head for factories.They are about to take root in a new city.During the Industrial Revolution, many new cities were established in Britain.Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield are all stark examples of this period becoming factory centers and getting rich.
Urban slums The shift from the home to the factory and from the countryside to the city may have been beneficial to workers in some ways, but it also more frequently resulted in misery and decadence.Inventing labour-saving machines is not all good for humans.Take the example of an automatic loom.Just when a small number of factories began to use machines to produce cloth, the price of cloth fell, and thousands of people still weaving on old handlooms found themselves facing starvation.The poverty and misery of the handloom workers was one of the great tragedies of the early 19th century.
The youths who gathered near the factories in the new city were not so lucky.They usually live in unremarkable huts that look like rows of pigeon coops, with no extra space for yards, lawns or trees, and no proper sanitation or ventilation.Many dark and damp basements have become "homes" of the size of a family.Fever and other diseases seriously damaged their health in cities like Manchester and Birmingham.
These conditions poison family life and diminish morality.Women who work 14 or more hours a day in mines or factories simply don't have the time or energy to run the house and take care of their children.Sometimes many families lived in the same cottage, and chastity and prudence became difficult to maintain.Both men and women love to drink strong alcohol and drink to excess.Alcohol numbs their pain, but leaves them poorer as a result.Children work in factories from dark until after dark, and soon learn to imitate the bad habits of adults.In the pigeon-coop or basement of an industrial city, there are many dangers of ignorance, poverty, hunger, dirt, disease, and malice.Under such circumstances, the living conditions of their families can be imagined.
Women and Children In general, every factory requires unskilled labor.Automatic looms and spinning machines can be tended by women and children.In fact, children are more welcome because they are quicker to respond, cheaper to labor, and easier to manage.In the spinning mills, most of the hired workers are women and children.
Once the factory system was well established, a survey in 1816 showed that many children were working in the spinning mills at the age of five, six, or seven.In some factories, the working hours are 5 to 6 hours. Even the youngest children have to work from 7:14 am to 18:3 pm or 9:10 pm. Short, let alone time spent on games and education.In the mines, women and children worked alongside men in conditions that would be a nightmare for people today.The end result is stunted bodies, deformed backs, horribly bent legs, sagging chests, and rough tempers.
The Persecution of Poverty Some people may ask, why do parents allow their children to work in mines and factories?The answer is tragic, but also simple.Children often have little to do but starve.If a man refuses low wages, refuses to work sixteen hours a day, or allows his wife and children to work, he has nothing to depend on.He could not afford to go about looking for a better paying job, and he could not buy bread without pay.When the father can't find a job, the children have to earn money to support their parents.
Unemployment Poor pay, long working hours, and child labor are bad enough, but worse than that is the constant danger of unemployment.New factories sometimes had a backlog of goods, producing more goods than they sold, so factories had to be closed for a period of time and hired workers were laid off.At this point, unemployed workers continue to live on the brink of poverty.
The Reformation of Farming As has been shown above, the invention of labor-saving machinery was not at first an entirely good thing.The Industrial Revolution has plunged millions of people into misery.At the same time, farming machines were invented, and more efficient farming methods were adopted, but it seemed strange.For many poor people, too, the situation was compounded, and thousands of families were evicted from smaller farms.
The enclosure of land probably lasted from 1760 to around 1850. When factories were undergoing the Industrial Revolution, the "enclosure" movement in Britain also developed rapidly.Strips of arable land and large tracts of rural communal pasture land were seized and fenced in by wealthy landowners.Theoretically, after the “land enclosure”, a villager can obtain a piece of concentrated land with the same value as his previously scattered fields, and pay for the rights to the public pastures with land or money.In reality, however, 20 out of every 19 incidents occurred where the poor were harmed.Even if they are not cheated, they often sell their land.The money from the sale was soon spent, and there was nothing left of them.
FROM MILK TO TEA Many families used to live very comfortably by farming a small plot of land, raising a cow or two on communal pastures, men weaving cloth, women and children spinning yarn, but now they are trapped in poverty.It was also around this time that ordinary people in England began to adopt tea as a standard drink, since they would no longer have their own cows.During the 1760 years from 1850 to 90, more than 700 million mu of land, including small rural land and public pastures, were enclosed and occupied.
The plight of land squatters Farmers who lose or sell their land must find some new way to live.Some are employed by wealthy large-scale farmers as agricultural laborers.Thousands upon thousands of people are migrating to the colonies.Still others traveled to towns, hoping to find work in factories or mines.Goldsmith's "Desolate Village" is not a poet's fantasy, but a miserable reality, and it is also a true portrayal of hundreds of thousands of British rural areas.
It is precisely because there are such a large number of landless laborers, who cannot endure poverty, and are willing to work under almost any conditions, that the manufacturers pay such meager wages.
Eight, industrial giants
Capitalist capital refers to money, or any other form of property, used for production in a business.Capitalist refers to the owner or operator of capital.He buys raw materials, owns factories and machinery, employs workers and sells finished products.Therefore, capitalism is an enterprise system in which capital and capitalists are the controlling factors.Capitalism is the use of large amounts of wealth by capitalists to employ laborers to engage in production and trade.
The Industrial Revolution turned capitalists into the supreme masters of industry.Since ordinary workers did not have the means to build a factory and equip it with machinery, all factories were built, owned and run by wealthy people, namely capitalists.Their purpose is often to obtain huge profits, to sell goods at the highest possible price, and to buy raw materials and hire labor at a low price.Unlike the Middle Ages, there was no longer a fashionable idea of a fixed price or a "fair price" for products or labour.
Dependence of Wage Laborers So, under the new industrial system, the hired workers or the "hands" of the factory are not even as important as the gears of the machine or the raw cotton.If a worker falls ill, another is immediately hired to replace him.If a man or woman offers to pay a higher wage, another will soon be found who will pay less.Hiring a laborer is absolutely dependent, he is only responsible for tending the machine, pulling a lever or splicing a broken yarn, or doing some simple and tedious actions.The capitalists are the most important and powerful, they provide the plants, machines and raw materials, they supervise the whole enterprise, they pay the workers or fire them altogether.
Such people were called "magnates of industry," a term that was probably not in use at the time.But the capitalists are indeed in a leadership and command position, more like an army officer from head to toe.From time to time a few capitalists have made a name for themselves by doing what they can to help laborers.
Capitalism Against Mercantilism The mercantilist theories and laws espoused by the politicians of the 17th and 18th centuries were of little use to the fledgling class of industrial capitalists.Mercantilism attempted to regulate and regulate industry and commerce in many ways.To the factory owner, such government interference was illegal and intolerable.Capitalists firmly believe in freedom without restraint.This new theory originated in France. The French Physiocrats forced the government not to interfere with enterprises and advocated "freedom without restraint", that is, "let nature take its course and let it be".
In his book "The Wealth of Nations" published in 1776, Adam Smith brought the idea of freedom and unrestraint from France to England.He won the support of Malthus, Ricardo and some British economists.
The rise of "economic freedom" combined corporate interests with the theories of Adam Smith and others for an irresistible combination.Mercantilism declined and lost its appeal under the double attack of capitalists and economists. "Economic freedom" gradually developed into the new order.In other words, one aspect of the Industrial Revolution was a revolution in economic thought.
This aspect is very important.It means: (1) the old restrictions, that is, the mercantile regulations of manufacturing, are gradually discarded, and the industrial giants can do what they want, hire labor and pay wages as they like; (2) the laws that restrict and regulate foreign trade was abolished, the tariffs on imported grains were also abolished, the protective tariffs were also abolished, and free trade was gradually established; (3) The belief of the mercantilists in the value of the colony was greatly questioned.
Freedom is Power For capitalists, this new freedom means more power in many ways.This is their empowerment, not their laborers' emancipation or freedom.In the absence of legal protection, women and children, like men, have to work 16 hours a day, without sanitation and ventilation facilities, and receive very little wages.
Landlords also have the right to buy or freeze small farmers from wealthy "gentleman farmers" to expand their enclosures, use fertilizers and improved machinery to increase production, and pay them as much as they want. wages to hire labor.They actually belong to the capitalist class, and are agricultural capitalists at that.Many of them are so successful that in one county a handful of people own all the land, hold elections and be famous in parliament, drive their cattle to graze in deserted villages, And open up wasteland in sparsely populated areas.This is especially true in the rich lands of the south-east of England, while the new industrial cities of the north and west are crowded with ever-increasing numbers of very unfortunate people far from home.
The Corn Laws pitted the landowners against the factory owners in at least one matter.This was known as the "Corn Act", which imposed duties on the importation of grain, especially wheat, into the British Isles.The landowners were eager for this tariff, because it would enable them to find a better price for their crops; the industrial magnates, on the other hand, advocated the free importation of corn, because it would make the living of hired labourers cheaper, so that low wages would become one possibility.
Aristocracy in Parliament The lonely and helpless working class received little sympathy and grudging handouts from Parliament. At the beginning of the 19th century, the parliament was just a gathering of nobles, controlled by millions of merchants and noble landowners.Less than one in every 30 ordinary people has the privilege of electing members of the House of Commons.In barren areas, a small number of "squires and landowners" have the right to vote for their favorites, but the voices of thousands of workers and farm laborers are still not heard.
The germs of democracy But eventually, in a twist and turn, the Industrial Revolution brought democracy.The situation we've described is simply too unfair to stay the same forever.Injustice often involves destroying its own seeds.Under such circumstances, the misfortunes of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to democratic politics and labor movements. So strong was the desire for revolution in the early nineteenth century that a revolutionary age followed.Thus democratic Britain is largely a result of the Industrial Revolution.The labor movement, which is so important in British life today, arose out of unions formed by workers to fight for reduced working hours and higher wages.
[-]. Endless revolution
We have so far told of the years 1750 to 1850, of the invention of the machine, of the steam engine, of the steamboat, and of the locomotive, of the great use of coal and iron, of the factory system and of capitalism, and of how British industry came to be because of the abolition of the old restrictions. Revolutionary story.These changes add up to the Industrial Revolution.But the Industrial Revolution did not end there.
A continuing process industrial revolution, with all its consequences, spread from Britain to the rest of the world.All machines, inventions, and capitalist systems were brought to continental Europe and the Americas, and later even spread to Asia and Africa.Wherever they went, they produced results very similar to those in England, that is to say, the Industrial Revolution.The Industrial Revolution in the United States, France, and Germany was a generation or two later than that in England.It was not until the first half of the 20th century that China and some other countries with backward industries began the industrial revolution.
After a growing process that grouped together those first great changes and called it the Industrial Revolution, more inventions and changes followed, which can be seen as the offspring of the Industrial Revolution.Thus, along with the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution came the impeller, gasoline engine and electric motor in the following centuries.The invention of the mule led to the development of other looms.After the train came the automobile and the airplane.
The mechanical wonders of telegraphy, telephone, wireless telegraphy, and wireless telephony were added one by one to the list of human inventions.Almost every kind of industry and business was revolutionized by machines and capitalism, and even every kind of housework was eased by the vacuum cleaner, dough mixer, washing machine, and sewing machine.Thanks to the magic of modern machinery, we can send sweet voices from the air at the touch of a button, or conjure from a record player the unique and beautiful voice of the dead Caruso.The Industrial Revolution is the dim dawn of the age of machine invention, a small beginning of human beings daring to overcome the forces of nature.
On the other hand, we must not forget the unwelcome legacy of the Industrial Revolution.From the beginning, enslaving children in factories, crowding people into squalid slums, pitting unions against capitalists, driving up rents, making some millionaires and the rest of the billionaires Tens of thousands are rendered pauper or nearly destitute.All in all, it creates a pretty serious labor problem, or a series of labor problems.
These labor issues are becoming more acute.After the Industrial Revolution, workers expressed their grievances in the form of strikes, sabotage, socialism, syndicalism, and more recently Bolshevism.Politicians tried their best to reconcile the contradictions between workers and capitalists, satisfying the needs of workers' lives and catering to the needs of capitalists for pleasure, which constituted most of the political history of modern Europe.The labor issues left over from the Industrial Revolution are not only the most important issues today, but also the most difficult.
(End of this chapter)
At a time when the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars were unleashing bloody and brutal tragedies on the Continent, there was a change in England that, taken together, made the attack on the Bastille and the Battle of Waterloo seem irrelevant by comparison It's urgent.This is the industrial revolution.In all of recent history, nothing has affected the lives of ordinary people more deeply, or opened up a broader perspective on human development, or brought about more intense discontent and hardship than the Industrial Revolution.
Generally speaking, a revolution accomplishes two things: it overthrows the old order, and it creates or attempts to create a new order to replace the old one.Revolutions in history can be divided into different types according to the different fields in which they occurred.Some revolutions are political, affecting governments; some are religious, affecting the church; and some are social, affecting the lives and privileges of certain classes.Most revolutions unleashed much tumultuous, destructive atrocities, wars, executions, removals, and confiscations.But some revolutions, such as the ideological revolution, are more peaceful and achieve results as well.
The key to the industrial revolution is peace, as it belongs to the mechanical revolution.But it can be both constructive and destructive, and when it's well under way, it's spectacular.
[-]. What is the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution refers to a fundamental change or series of changes in the methods of producing iron, cloth, steel, and some other manufactured goods.It mainly replaces manual operation with machine operation.
A brief summary of its broad scope helps us understand the Industrial Revolution: (1) in the production of cotton cloth and other commodities, human labor was replaced by newly invented steam or water-powered machines; (2) a series of inventions made iron, Coal and steel can be produced and used on a large scale, and then entered the era of coal and iron; (3) The generation of steam locomotives and steamships triggered a revolution in transportation and commerce; (4) Previously, only hand looms or Hundreds of millions of working people who are simple tools can now leave their homes to work as wage laborers in rapidly increasing factories, mines and mills; (5) The power and importance of capitalism has increased greatly because Factories, mines and railroads are owned and operated by capitalists.The capitalist is the boss of the workers; (6) The old restrictions imposed on industry and commerce by guilds and mercantilist politicians are all abolished, clearing the way for the free competition of commerce.But this was only temporary; (7) Industry and commerce were rapidly developed, and soon surpassed agriculture in importance, and cheap machine-made products filled the whole market, making life more convenient for ordinary people; (8) The population increased at an unprecedented rate, and more and more people gathered in the cities that gradually became the centers of industry and commerce, until most people did not live in the countryside, but chose to live in the cities.
Time and place Economic history doesn't have milestones like Waterloo, peace treaties, and elections, so the timing of the Industrial Revolution is tricky.But what is certain is that by the time the American and French revolutions broke out, the industrial revolution was already flourishing, and Britain was the main location of the industrial revolution.The Industrial Revolution began before the 17th century; in the second half of the 18th century, it had made significant progress in Britain;
This chapter tells the story of the British Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century.
[-]. New Textile Machinery
Roulette once made history.We have seen this fact even in ancient history.The industrial revolution is the strongest proof, because the industrial revolution originated from the invention of machines, and machines are mainly composed of various wheels.
The spinning jenny was invented out of need, which means that great need inspired continuous effort.Inventions are brought about by various favorable conditions: cultivated men, trade, a gradual increase in the demand for manufactured goods, etc.Sometimes, lucky chance leads to a major discovery or invention.
One day, James Hargreaves, a British textile worker, accidentally found his wife's spinning wheel lying on the ground.This is a very simple machine, the main body is a large wheel that rotates the spindle, and the yarn is wound on the spindle.Hargreaves saw that the wheel was still turning when it was down, and the spindles were standing upright instead of lying down, so he thought of arranging several spindles vertically, and it was completely possible for a wheel to carry them.
James Hargreaves was a very dexterous carpenter.The result of this accident was that he planned to design and create a machine with 8 vertical spindles, and used clips or a few sticks instead of human fingers to pull and hold the yarn.Using such new machines, one skilled operator could spin as much yarn as eight women could spin with eight old-fashioned spinning wheels.But James Hargreaves gives full credit for the invention to his wife, Jenny.And in honor of her, he named the machine the "Spinning Jenny".
James Hargreaves' wife was proud of him, but some of his weaving neighbors were not.Discovering that he had created a machine that would take their jobs, they broke into his home and destroyed the "Spinning Jenny".So James moved to another town to make and sell spinning jenny machines, some of which were large enough to spin a hundred threads at a time.
Hargreaves built the first spinning jenny around 1765, the year the famous Stamp Act was introduced.
Arkwright's Water-Powered Spinning Machine Around the same time, an ingenious haircutter named Richard Arkwright built a spinning machine in which pinches were twisted into Very loose wool or cotton is drawn between pairs of rollers and twisted with spindles, which are part of the machine.Arkwright's first machine was brought up by horsepower, but later he used water power, so his invention is called "water spinning machine".Soon, Arkwright owned several spinning mills, and the hydraulic spinning machine made him money. It didn't take long for him to become rich and famous.He was knighted by the King in 1786.Arkwright, like Hargreaves, was met with much hostility because his inventions put many manual laborers out of work but he became one of the first millionaires thanks to machines.He was also one of the first factory owners to use steam engines in his factories.
Crompton's Mule Machine But Hargreaves and Arkwright don't solve everything.Although the yarn spun by the spinning jenny is fine but lacks tenacity, the yarn spun by the hydro-spinning machine is tenacious but rough.A young man named Samuel Crompton planned to combine the two machines and take the advantages of both.He created a "Mule Machine" in 1779 because it was a hybrid like the mule.He installs twenty or thirty spindles on a movable stand or frame, and when the fibers pass through the rotating shaft, they are pulled from the stand to a certain distance. While pulling, the spindles on the stand rotate to form thick threads. , until these thick threads can withstand the pulling force, the rotating shaft stops, and then the frame is pulled forward, so that the spun threads are slender and tenacious.
The machines can spin stronger and finer yarns than can be spun by hand, and they can be spun faster and at a lower cost.The mule machine was improved after that.It is still used today.
Cartwright and the Automatic Loom A few years after Crompton invented the mule, an English clergyman named Cartwright invented an improved loom, the Automatic Loom.After continuous improvement by other inventors, this loom was widely used.There were 1813 such looms in Britain until 2400, and 1833 by 8.5.Thousands of hand weavers lost their jobs, and their struggle against machines was defeated.Because many hand spinners and weavers are too old to change to new trades, this brings more poverty and hardship.
New machines and new machines for weaving and spinning cotton were at first used mainly by cotton makers.The reason is very interesting. Before the 18th century, cotton cloth was considered a luxury item in England because it was mainly sourced from India.However, at the beginning of the 18th century, cloth makers advised Parliament to strictly prohibit the use of "foreign cloth" (the name of cotton cloth produced in India), so as to maintain the woolen industry that Britain was most proud of at that time.But the result was not as expected by the parliament.Cotton weavers in England had a prosperous trade because of the great demand of the people for cotton goods.Moreover, British cotton manufacturers were not only eager to use machinery to expand their output, but they were also able to use it freely.Because it will not be restricted by the mercantilist regulations, which have hindered the development of the older and more important woolen industry.
Hargreaves' spinning jenny, Arkwright's water spinning, Crompton's mule, and Cartwright's automatic loom greatly developed the cotton trade, while woolen weaving They are still guarding those old manual methods.Although the wool spinning industry also began to use new machines, and the linen and silk industries also began to reform their processes, the cotton spinning industry has always been ahead.
The cotton gin An American invention in 1793 that had a considerable impact on the cotton industry in England and other countries was the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney.It is a machine that removes the cottonseed from the fibers of the raw cotton.It greatly promoted cotton cultivation and provided more cotton for the textile industry.
A few years after the invention of the spinning machine and the automatic loom by water power, the power of the machines was mainly waterwheels. In the 18s and 70s, cotton mills sprung up along the rushing river.By 80, there were 1788 water-powered cotton mills in England.But by the end of the 143th century, the waterwheel was replaced by a new source of power, the steam engine.
[-]. James Watt and the steam engine
The early steam engine James Watt is usually regarded as the inventor of the steam engine, but in fact he was just an improver of the steam engine.Before he was born, there had been various types of steam engines, one of which was used in English coal mines to pump water from flooded coal pits.The steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1705.When James Watt (1736-1819) was working as a maker and repairer of scientific instruments at the University of Edinburgh, a Newcomen engine that was often used to pump water in mines was sent to Watt for repair.Watt found that this engine required a great deal of time and heat, as the steam in the cylinder had to be cooled to condense with each stroke of the piston, and the cylinder had to be reheated for the next stroke.After thinking about it for a while, he decided to let the steam pass through a valve into a separate condensing chamber that was kept cool at all times, while the main cylinder was still kept warm.
Watt's "Demon" When Watt tried to build this engine, he encountered difficulties that would have discouraged many.At that time, no blacksmith was skilled enough to make the cylinder absolutely round, or make the piston rod completely smooth and straight, or make the valve very tight.Just when he was about to give up, a wealthy friend thought the new machine might be useful for his coal mine, so he helped Watt pay off his debts and persuaded him to try again.Finally, in 1769, Watt built his first steam engine.It is called "Beezlebub" (Beezlebub) because it not only swallows fireworks, but also acts like a demon king.
Watt seemed doomed at the time because his friends were unlikely to give him any more money.Fortunately, Matthew Bolton, a wealthy hardware manufacturer from Birmingham, took a keen interest in this invention, took the "demon" to his factory for repairs, and cooperated with Watt to create a steam engine.
Use of the steam engine The first engines sold by Boulton and Watt were for pumping water from coal mines, or pumping air into blast furnaces.Watt continued to improve the engine, and finally thought of a way to attach a piston that moved back and forth in a straight line to a wheel, so that it could turn a millstone, or drive a machine in a cotton mill.He made his biggest improvement in 1782, using a new way to place the valve so that the pressure of the steam would drive the piston back and forth.
Printing and transportation The steam engine was applied to many new fields, and in 1814 the operation of the printing press also used the steam engine.This was very important because it made the printing of books and newspapers very cheap and accessible to the common man.Before that, steam trains and steamships started their careers across the ages.
[-]. Coal and Iron
The invention of machines and the engines that drive them is seen as the defining factor of the Industrial Revolution.Closely related to this was the increase in the use of coal and iron.The period before the Industrial Revolution can be called the "timber age" because wood was widely used as fuel and tools, and only a small amount of coal could be mined.The high price and rarity of iron is due to the crude refining technology at that time.It should come as no surprise, then, that the first machines were made of wood rather than iron.
The first big step towards the "coal and iron age" was to use coal instead of charcoal to make iron.Ironmaking is the process of melting raw ore and separating the metal from the dross.
Much coal has yet to be mined, but sources of wood for charcoal are being depleted.Therefore, as early as the 17th century, an Englishman saw this situation and tried to replace charcoal with coal.It was a good idea, but it didn't work out at the time.A century later, another British blacksmith named Darby smelted coal into coke and put it into use, and the effect was very good.However, coke fire cannot provide ultra-high temperature unless strong wind is blown in, so the "blast furnace" appeared.In order to "blow up the wind", Darby used a pair of large bellows turned by water wheels.
Smeaton's blower method of creating a strong air flow in a furnace was invented in 1760 by John Smeaton, an engineer employed by a Scottish ironworks where coke was not being used to good effect.Smeaton replaced the old-fashioned leather bellows with an air pump with four large iron cylinders, equipped with valves and pistons, and driven by hydraulic power.Smeaton's blower was finally successful in getting coke to be used for iron smelting.
Henry Cotter's iron smelting method used coke as fuel, and the "pig iron" smelted in the blast furnace contained impurities, which made the iron too brittle and unsuitable for many occasions.How to turn pig iron into purer and harder wrought iron and steel became a difficult problem, until around 1784 Henry Cotter discovered that if the pig iron is heated in a special furnace and it is very hot Stirring, or "churning," removes most of the impurities.The hot, purified metal is then removed from the furnace without hammers, but with heavy rollers and rolled into bars or plates.
Thanks to these new methods, cheaper and more available iron was used to make machines, tanks and boilers.One daring inventor even built a boat out of iron plates.
Pig Iron Thick and heavy bars of cast iron are called pig iron (pig iron) because of the way they are arranged on the sand bed in which they are made.The molten iron is introduced into a large, long mold with rows of smaller mold sand on each side.There are also some small molds near the big mold, very much like a sow leading a group of piglets, so they are called "pig iron".
As long as the lathe has seen a disassembled car motor or any kind of engine, it will understand that the cylinder and piston must be "accurate", that is, their shape must be standard and smooth.It is absolutely unrealistic to accurately drill the cylinder or make an airtight valve by hand alone, because no worker can control the tool in his hand completely smoothly.But the puzzle was solved by a lathe in 1794.
The lathe invented by Maudsley is a device that can fix the drill bit, and at the same time fix the metal block that drills the hole on this straight line.Its other device is to hold the cutting tool in place while the metal to be cut into cylindrical shapes is rapidly rotated on a lathe or rotating machine.This may seem like a simple invention, but it was the most crucial in the success or failure of the steam engine and various iron machines.
One of the most serious difficulties faced by the early steam engines was that if the steam pressure rose too high, the boiler would explode.But before long, boilers could be made of hard iron plates, making it much safer to use high-pressure steam, and engines were greatly improved.Cylinders and pistons could be reduced in size, and all engines could be made smaller and simpler.Richard Trevithick probably made the improvement in 1800, and he deserves no less credit for improving the steam engine than James Watt.
[-]. Steamboats and trains
Seeing that steam could successfully turn the wheels of stationary machines, inventors set out to use it to drive boats and carts.
Roads and Canals Before describing how steam was used in cars and boats, let's take a look at early means of transportation.
Before the 18th century, the roads in Britain were so bad that carts with wheels were not used, and merchants used horses to transport goods from one place to another.It is evident that trade can be more generally developed only if better means of transport are found.
Gravel roads In the 18th century, and especially in the 19th century, due to the continuous improvement of road conditions, stagecoaches, wagons and four-wheeled carriages could travel freely. "MacAdam Road" is named after Scottish engineer John McAdam.He used gravel to stabilize roads, and in the early 19s he built thousands of miles of smooth roads, as well as canals for the transportation of coal and other heavy goods.
Steam locomotive By 1800, the steam engine had been improved to the extent that it could be used in locomotives.The first steam locomotive with practical value was completed in 1801, and it was successfully made thanks to the inventor of the high-pressure engine, Richard Trevithick.Engineers in the coal mines embraced this, because the steam locomotive solved a major problem in getting coal from the mines to market.
Stephenson's Improvements George Stephenson (1781–1848), one of these engineers, may be called the father, or at least the stepfather, of the railway locomotive.Although his work was not invented, his improvements were so effective that the iron train was accepted by the people.
When some mine owners were planning to build a railway between Stockton and Darlington in northern England, Stephenson persuaded them to use steam locomotives. In 1830 Stephenson supplied locomotives for the construction of the railway between Liverpool and Manchester, the world's first major railway.
The engines and carriages of Stephenson's time look cramped and clumsy by our standards, but to those who don't know anything faster than a stagecoach, they are an absolute miracle.
Robert Fulton and the steamboat There were several inventors who used the steam engine as a driving force for ships, but Robert Fulton (1765-1815) is often regarded as the No. 1.In terms of time, he is not the first, but he is the No. 1 who got rich by putting the boat on the water.
Fulton is a young American artist of Irish origin.While studying painting in England, he befriended James Watt and others interested in mechanical engineering, and soon he abandoned the art of painting to invent.He came to France when he learned that Napoleon Bonaparte was very interested in inventions. In Paris in 1803, he sailed the Seine with his first steamboat and exhibited a submersible torpedo boat.Without much encouragement, he returned to America and created a steamboat, the Claremont, with a propeller, which traveled between New York and Albany on the Hudson River. In 1807, the Steamboat Claremont rumbled to victory because it was a practical ship, something steamships before it had struggled to do.
Steamboats and ocean liners Nicholas Roosevelt built a steamboat in Pittsburgh in 1811 and sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers into New Orleans.It was the first steamboat to appear on the Mississippi River.In England, the first steamboat to be successful was Henry Bell's Comet, which made its first voyage on the River Clyde in 1812.
In 1819, the Savannah, equipped with a steam engine, sailed across the Atlantic from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool, but its engines were purely auxiliary.It is equipped with a full set of mast sails, and when the wind is down or the wind and waves are too strong for sailing, the propellers will be taken down and placed on the deck.The real voyage across the ocean by steam began in 1838 with the Sirius and the Great Western.At the same time, the number of steamboats traveling on the inland river gradually increased, and by 1850 there were countless.
It was not until the second half of the 19th century that ocean-going ships had a trans-epochal significance in naval warfare and international trade, which will be described in the next chapter.
[-]. The silent home
Mechanical inventions revolutionized the lives and homes of spinners, dyers, weavers, carpenters, and blacksmiths, men and women.
Old system: Manual operation at home Before the machine age, some industries were still based on the medieval guild system. Each guild owner opened a small shop at home or nearby, and there would be a few apprentices or one or two Young assistants help him.Most of the weavers did not form their own guilds, but often lived and worked in small cottages.Weavers usually have a garden and a cow.Although a few wealthy cloth merchants opened their own shops or factories and employed a few weavers, most of the weavers were willing to work at home, where they were independent and free.Everywhere there are wooden spinning wheels and small, improvised looms, manned by the nimble hands (and feet) of workers.
The new system: the machine operation of the factory The machine not only changed the nature of weaving and spinning, increased the speed, but also improved the working conditions, and deeply affected the lives and habits of the workers.It was difficult for a worker to have a waterwheel and an automatic loom in a small cottage, let alone a blast furnace and steam engine.Probably since 1770, because of the invention of the spinning machine, the spinning mill was established soon.
Each spinning mill has several machines driven by waterwheels and tended by a dozen or more workers.After the invention of the automatic loom, a weaving factory was established.The iron industry was also based on factories or foundries rather than on cottage industry; so was pottery.By 12, hundreds of factories had been established in England, and several in New England.
Samuel Slater In 1789, a young Englishman, Samuel Slater, who had carefully studied Arkwright's machine, arrived in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.By the end of the following year, he used his memory to build several spinning machines in a factory.Great Britain was very careful not to allow any machines, even models, to be sold to other countries.But Slater took them to America.Later, the new machine was also sent to some other countries.
Decline of Home Industry During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, factories in England and elsewhere proliferated, and even in some branches of industry the factory system almost completely replaced home manufacturing.The whirring spinning-wheels that women and girls used to use from dawn until late at night are now abandoned, or shelved, and neglected.And most of the hand looms that squeak, squeak, and thump with the rhythm of the spinning wheel are also mostly idle and unattended.
The hut dwellers were silent, too silent.This meant that many old spinners and weavers were out of work.It was bad enough that the spinning wheel and loom were idle, but it was worse that the people were idle.Many spinners and weavers were too old to learn new methods in new factories, and many were too nostalgic for old habits to change, seeing jobs and pay slipping away from them.Worry, constant fatigue, and discouragement hung over the decaying cottage.
In most cases, the younger members of the family were able to find a job in a factory where they grew up with the new system.But to work in a factory, they must leave their hometown.Thus the old cottage became stiller, the spinning-wheel was put aside, the loom ceased to work, and the voices of the young men faded away.
[-]. The desolate village
One of the most obvious phenomena of the Industrial Revolution is the rapid development of cities and the transfer of population from rural areas to urban centers.Most factories were established in coal and iron producing areas and those favorable for trade and transportation.In search of employment, young people, and sometimes entire families, leave their homes, cottages or small farms and head for factories.They are about to take root in a new city.During the Industrial Revolution, many new cities were established in Britain.Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield are all stark examples of this period becoming factory centers and getting rich.
Urban slums The shift from the home to the factory and from the countryside to the city may have been beneficial to workers in some ways, but it also more frequently resulted in misery and decadence.Inventing labour-saving machines is not all good for humans.Take the example of an automatic loom.Just when a small number of factories began to use machines to produce cloth, the price of cloth fell, and thousands of people still weaving on old handlooms found themselves facing starvation.The poverty and misery of the handloom workers was one of the great tragedies of the early 19th century.
The youths who gathered near the factories in the new city were not so lucky.They usually live in unremarkable huts that look like rows of pigeon coops, with no extra space for yards, lawns or trees, and no proper sanitation or ventilation.Many dark and damp basements have become "homes" of the size of a family.Fever and other diseases seriously damaged their health in cities like Manchester and Birmingham.
These conditions poison family life and diminish morality.Women who work 14 or more hours a day in mines or factories simply don't have the time or energy to run the house and take care of their children.Sometimes many families lived in the same cottage, and chastity and prudence became difficult to maintain.Both men and women love to drink strong alcohol and drink to excess.Alcohol numbs their pain, but leaves them poorer as a result.Children work in factories from dark until after dark, and soon learn to imitate the bad habits of adults.In the pigeon-coop or basement of an industrial city, there are many dangers of ignorance, poverty, hunger, dirt, disease, and malice.Under such circumstances, the living conditions of their families can be imagined.
Women and Children In general, every factory requires unskilled labor.Automatic looms and spinning machines can be tended by women and children.In fact, children are more welcome because they are quicker to respond, cheaper to labor, and easier to manage.In the spinning mills, most of the hired workers are women and children.
Once the factory system was well established, a survey in 1816 showed that many children were working in the spinning mills at the age of five, six, or seven.In some factories, the working hours are 5 to 6 hours. Even the youngest children have to work from 7:14 am to 18:3 pm or 9:10 pm. Short, let alone time spent on games and education.In the mines, women and children worked alongside men in conditions that would be a nightmare for people today.The end result is stunted bodies, deformed backs, horribly bent legs, sagging chests, and rough tempers.
The Persecution of Poverty Some people may ask, why do parents allow their children to work in mines and factories?The answer is tragic, but also simple.Children often have little to do but starve.If a man refuses low wages, refuses to work sixteen hours a day, or allows his wife and children to work, he has nothing to depend on.He could not afford to go about looking for a better paying job, and he could not buy bread without pay.When the father can't find a job, the children have to earn money to support their parents.
Unemployment Poor pay, long working hours, and child labor are bad enough, but worse than that is the constant danger of unemployment.New factories sometimes had a backlog of goods, producing more goods than they sold, so factories had to be closed for a period of time and hired workers were laid off.At this point, unemployed workers continue to live on the brink of poverty.
The Reformation of Farming As has been shown above, the invention of labor-saving machinery was not at first an entirely good thing.The Industrial Revolution has plunged millions of people into misery.At the same time, farming machines were invented, and more efficient farming methods were adopted, but it seemed strange.For many poor people, too, the situation was compounded, and thousands of families were evicted from smaller farms.
The enclosure of land probably lasted from 1760 to around 1850. When factories were undergoing the Industrial Revolution, the "enclosure" movement in Britain also developed rapidly.Strips of arable land and large tracts of rural communal pasture land were seized and fenced in by wealthy landowners.Theoretically, after the “land enclosure”, a villager can obtain a piece of concentrated land with the same value as his previously scattered fields, and pay for the rights to the public pastures with land or money.In reality, however, 20 out of every 19 incidents occurred where the poor were harmed.Even if they are not cheated, they often sell their land.The money from the sale was soon spent, and there was nothing left of them.
FROM MILK TO TEA Many families used to live very comfortably by farming a small plot of land, raising a cow or two on communal pastures, men weaving cloth, women and children spinning yarn, but now they are trapped in poverty.It was also around this time that ordinary people in England began to adopt tea as a standard drink, since they would no longer have their own cows.During the 1760 years from 1850 to 90, more than 700 million mu of land, including small rural land and public pastures, were enclosed and occupied.
The plight of land squatters Farmers who lose or sell their land must find some new way to live.Some are employed by wealthy large-scale farmers as agricultural laborers.Thousands upon thousands of people are migrating to the colonies.Still others traveled to towns, hoping to find work in factories or mines.Goldsmith's "Desolate Village" is not a poet's fantasy, but a miserable reality, and it is also a true portrayal of hundreds of thousands of British rural areas.
It is precisely because there are such a large number of landless laborers, who cannot endure poverty, and are willing to work under almost any conditions, that the manufacturers pay such meager wages.
Eight, industrial giants
Capitalist capital refers to money, or any other form of property, used for production in a business.Capitalist refers to the owner or operator of capital.He buys raw materials, owns factories and machinery, employs workers and sells finished products.Therefore, capitalism is an enterprise system in which capital and capitalists are the controlling factors.Capitalism is the use of large amounts of wealth by capitalists to employ laborers to engage in production and trade.
The Industrial Revolution turned capitalists into the supreme masters of industry.Since ordinary workers did not have the means to build a factory and equip it with machinery, all factories were built, owned and run by wealthy people, namely capitalists.Their purpose is often to obtain huge profits, to sell goods at the highest possible price, and to buy raw materials and hire labor at a low price.Unlike the Middle Ages, there was no longer a fashionable idea of a fixed price or a "fair price" for products or labour.
Dependence of Wage Laborers So, under the new industrial system, the hired workers or the "hands" of the factory are not even as important as the gears of the machine or the raw cotton.If a worker falls ill, another is immediately hired to replace him.If a man or woman offers to pay a higher wage, another will soon be found who will pay less.Hiring a laborer is absolutely dependent, he is only responsible for tending the machine, pulling a lever or splicing a broken yarn, or doing some simple and tedious actions.The capitalists are the most important and powerful, they provide the plants, machines and raw materials, they supervise the whole enterprise, they pay the workers or fire them altogether.
Such people were called "magnates of industry," a term that was probably not in use at the time.But the capitalists are indeed in a leadership and command position, more like an army officer from head to toe.From time to time a few capitalists have made a name for themselves by doing what they can to help laborers.
Capitalism Against Mercantilism The mercantilist theories and laws espoused by the politicians of the 17th and 18th centuries were of little use to the fledgling class of industrial capitalists.Mercantilism attempted to regulate and regulate industry and commerce in many ways.To the factory owner, such government interference was illegal and intolerable.Capitalists firmly believe in freedom without restraint.This new theory originated in France. The French Physiocrats forced the government not to interfere with enterprises and advocated "freedom without restraint", that is, "let nature take its course and let it be".
In his book "The Wealth of Nations" published in 1776, Adam Smith brought the idea of freedom and unrestraint from France to England.He won the support of Malthus, Ricardo and some British economists.
The rise of "economic freedom" combined corporate interests with the theories of Adam Smith and others for an irresistible combination.Mercantilism declined and lost its appeal under the double attack of capitalists and economists. "Economic freedom" gradually developed into the new order.In other words, one aspect of the Industrial Revolution was a revolution in economic thought.
This aspect is very important.It means: (1) the old restrictions, that is, the mercantile regulations of manufacturing, are gradually discarded, and the industrial giants can do what they want, hire labor and pay wages as they like; (2) the laws that restrict and regulate foreign trade was abolished, the tariffs on imported grains were also abolished, the protective tariffs were also abolished, and free trade was gradually established; (3) The belief of the mercantilists in the value of the colony was greatly questioned.
Freedom is Power For capitalists, this new freedom means more power in many ways.This is their empowerment, not their laborers' emancipation or freedom.In the absence of legal protection, women and children, like men, have to work 16 hours a day, without sanitation and ventilation facilities, and receive very little wages.
Landlords also have the right to buy or freeze small farmers from wealthy "gentleman farmers" to expand their enclosures, use fertilizers and improved machinery to increase production, and pay them as much as they want. wages to hire labor.They actually belong to the capitalist class, and are agricultural capitalists at that.Many of them are so successful that in one county a handful of people own all the land, hold elections and be famous in parliament, drive their cattle to graze in deserted villages, And open up wasteland in sparsely populated areas.This is especially true in the rich lands of the south-east of England, while the new industrial cities of the north and west are crowded with ever-increasing numbers of very unfortunate people far from home.
The Corn Laws pitted the landowners against the factory owners in at least one matter.This was known as the "Corn Act", which imposed duties on the importation of grain, especially wheat, into the British Isles.The landowners were eager for this tariff, because it would enable them to find a better price for their crops; the industrial magnates, on the other hand, advocated the free importation of corn, because it would make the living of hired labourers cheaper, so that low wages would become one possibility.
Aristocracy in Parliament The lonely and helpless working class received little sympathy and grudging handouts from Parliament. At the beginning of the 19th century, the parliament was just a gathering of nobles, controlled by millions of merchants and noble landowners.Less than one in every 30 ordinary people has the privilege of electing members of the House of Commons.In barren areas, a small number of "squires and landowners" have the right to vote for their favorites, but the voices of thousands of workers and farm laborers are still not heard.
The germs of democracy But eventually, in a twist and turn, the Industrial Revolution brought democracy.The situation we've described is simply too unfair to stay the same forever.Injustice often involves destroying its own seeds.Under such circumstances, the misfortunes of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to democratic politics and labor movements. So strong was the desire for revolution in the early nineteenth century that a revolutionary age followed.Thus democratic Britain is largely a result of the Industrial Revolution.The labor movement, which is so important in British life today, arose out of unions formed by workers to fight for reduced working hours and higher wages.
[-]. Endless revolution
We have so far told of the years 1750 to 1850, of the invention of the machine, of the steam engine, of the steamboat, and of the locomotive, of the great use of coal and iron, of the factory system and of capitalism, and of how British industry came to be because of the abolition of the old restrictions. Revolutionary story.These changes add up to the Industrial Revolution.But the Industrial Revolution did not end there.
A continuing process industrial revolution, with all its consequences, spread from Britain to the rest of the world.All machines, inventions, and capitalist systems were brought to continental Europe and the Americas, and later even spread to Asia and Africa.Wherever they went, they produced results very similar to those in England, that is to say, the Industrial Revolution.The Industrial Revolution in the United States, France, and Germany was a generation or two later than that in England.It was not until the first half of the 20th century that China and some other countries with backward industries began the industrial revolution.
After a growing process that grouped together those first great changes and called it the Industrial Revolution, more inventions and changes followed, which can be seen as the offspring of the Industrial Revolution.Thus, along with the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution came the impeller, gasoline engine and electric motor in the following centuries.The invention of the mule led to the development of other looms.After the train came the automobile and the airplane.
The mechanical wonders of telegraphy, telephone, wireless telegraphy, and wireless telephony were added one by one to the list of human inventions.Almost every kind of industry and business was revolutionized by machines and capitalism, and even every kind of housework was eased by the vacuum cleaner, dough mixer, washing machine, and sewing machine.Thanks to the magic of modern machinery, we can send sweet voices from the air at the touch of a button, or conjure from a record player the unique and beautiful voice of the dead Caruso.The Industrial Revolution is the dim dawn of the age of machine invention, a small beginning of human beings daring to overcome the forces of nature.
On the other hand, we must not forget the unwelcome legacy of the Industrial Revolution.From the beginning, enslaving children in factories, crowding people into squalid slums, pitting unions against capitalists, driving up rents, making some millionaires and the rest of the billionaires Tens of thousands are rendered pauper or nearly destitute.All in all, it creates a pretty serious labor problem, or a series of labor problems.
These labor issues are becoming more acute.After the Industrial Revolution, workers expressed their grievances in the form of strikes, sabotage, socialism, syndicalism, and more recently Bolshevism.Politicians tried their best to reconcile the contradictions between workers and capitalists, satisfying the needs of workers' lives and catering to the needs of capitalists for pleasure, which constituted most of the political history of modern Europe.The labor issues left over from the Industrial Revolution are not only the most important issues today, but also the most difficult.
(End of this chapter)
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