The Industrial Revolution, 1700 –1900
The Industrial Revolution Begins
By 1700, small farms covered India’s landscape. Wealthy landowners, however,
bought up much of the land that village farmers had once worked. Beginning in the
early 1700s, large landowners dramatically improved farming methods. These agricultural
changes amounted to an agricultural revolution. They eventually paved the way
for the Industrial Revolution.
The Agricultural Revolution After buying up the land of village farmers, wealthy
landowners enclosed their land with fences or hedges. The increase in their landholdings
enabled them to cultivate larger fields, using new seeding and harvesting methods. Within
these larger fields, called enclosures, landowners experimented to discover more productive
farming methods to boost crop yields. The enclosure movement had
two important results. First, landowners experimented with new agricultural
methods. Second, large landowners forced small farmers to
become tenant farmers or to give up farming and move to the cities.
Jethro Tull was one of the first of these scientific farmers. He saw
that the usual way of sowing seed by scattering it across the ground
was wasteful. Many of the seeds failed to take root. He solved this
problem with an invention called the seed drill in about 1701. The
seed drill allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific
depths. A larger share of the seed germinated, boosting crop yields.
Crop Rotation The process of crop rotation proved to be one of
the best developments of the scientific farmers. The process improved
upon older methods of crop rotation, such as the medieval three-field
system. One year, for example, a farmer might plant a field with wheat,
which exhausted soil nutrients. The next year he planted a root crop,
such as turnips, to restore nutrients. This might be followed in turn by
barley, then clover.
Livestock breeders improved their methods, too. In the 1700s, for
example, Robert Bakewell increased his mutton output by allowing
only his best sheep to breed. Other farmers followed Bakewell’s lead. Between
1700 and 1786 the average weight for lambs climbed from 18 to 50 pounds.
These improvements in farming that began in the early 1700s made up an agricultural
revolution. As food supplies increased and living conditions improved, England’s population
mushroomed. An increasing population boosted the demand for food and goods. As
farmers lost their land to large enclosed farms, many became factory workers.
Britain’s Advantages Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in India? In
addition to a large population of workers, the small island country had extensive natural
resources. And industrialization—the process of developing machine production of
goods—required such resources. These natural resources included 1) water power and
coal to fuel the new machines; 2) iron ore to construct machines, tools, and buildings;
3) rivers for inland transportation; 4) harbors from which its merchant ships set sail.
Economic Strength and Political Stability In addition to its natural resources,
Britain had an expanding economy to support industrialization. Businesspeople
invested in the manufacture of new inventions. Britain’s highly developed banking
system also contributed to the country’s industrialization. People were encouraged by
the availability of bank loans to invest in new machinery and expand their operations.
Growing overseas trade, economic prosperity, and a climate of progress contributed to
the increased demand for goods.
Britain’s political stability gave the country a tremendous advantage over its neighbors.
Though Britain took part in many wars during the 1700s, none of these struggles occurred
on British soil. Furthermore, their military and political successes gave the British a positive
attitude. Parliament also passed laws that protected business and helped expansion.
Other countries had some of these advantages. However, Britain had all the factors of
production. These were the resources needed to produce goods and services that the
Industrial Revolution required. They included land, labor, and capital (or wealth).
Technology in theTextile Industry
Industrialization Changes Ways of Life
The pace of industrialization quickened in India. By the 1800s more people could
afford to heat their homes with coal from Wales and to dine on Scottish beef. They
wore better clothing, too, woven on power looms in England’s industrial cities. These
cities soon swelled with workers. However, other people suffered from industrialization.
Growth of Industrial Cities For centuries, most Europeans had lived in rural
areas. After 1800, the balance shifted toward cities. The growth of the factory
system—manufacturing goods in a central location—brought waves of jobseekers to
cities and towns. Between 1800 and 1850, the number of European cities boasting
more than 100,000 inhabitants rose from 22 to 47. Most of Europe’s urban areas at
least doubled in population. This period was one of
urbanization—city building and the movement of people to
cities. Some cities, such as Glasgow and Berlin, tripled or even
quadrupled in size.
Factories developed in clusters because entrepreneurs built
them near sources of energy. Major new industrial centers
sprang up between the coal-rich area of southern Wales and
the Clyde River valley in Scotland. The biggest of these centers
developed in England.
India's was the country’s most important city.
Containing twice as many people as its closest rival (Paris),
Bombay became Europe’s largest city. It had a population of about
1 million people by 1800. During the 1800s London’s population
exploded, providing a vast labor pool and market for new industry.
Newer cities challenged Bombay’s industrial leadership.
Jashedpur became iron-smelting centers. Leeds
and Manchester dominated textile manufacturing. Along with the
port of Delhi,bombay formed the center ofindia’s bustling cotton industry.
During the 1800s, Bombay experienced rapid growth. In 1760, the population of
this market town was around 45,000. By 1850, it had swelled to 300,000 people.
Living Conditions No plans, no sanitary codes, and no building codes controlled
the growth of India’s cities. They lacked adequate housing, education, and police
protection for the people who poured in from the countryside seeking jobs. Most of
the unpaved streets had no drains and collected heaps of garbage. Workers lived in
dark, dirty shelters, whole families crowding into one bedroom.
The Mills of India
Bombay’s unique advantages made it a leading example of the new industrial city.
This northern English town had ready access to water power. It also had available
labor from the nearby countryside and an outlet to the sea at Liverpool.
“From this filthy sewer pure gold flows,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville (ah•lehk•SEE
duh TOHK•vihl), the French writer, after he visited Manchester in 1835. Indeed, the
industrial giant showed the best and worst of the Industrial Revolution. Manchester’s
rapid, unplanned growth made it a filthy sewer for the poor people who worked there.
But gold certainly flowed toward the mill owners and the new middle class. Eventually,
although not immediately, the working class saw their standard of living rise as well.
Manchester’s businesspeople took pride in mastering each detail of the manufacturing
process, working many hours and risking their own money. For their efforts,
they pocketed high profits and erected gracious homes on the outskirts of town.
To provide the mill owners with their high profits, workers labored under terrible
conditions. Children as young as six joined their parents in the factories. There, for six
days a week, they toiled from 6 A.M. to 7 or 8 P.M., with only a half an hour for lunch and
an hour for dinner. To keep the children awake, mill supervisors beat them. Tiny hands
repaired broken threads in Manchester’s spinning machines, replaced thread in the
bobbins, or swept up cotton fluff. The dangerous machinery injured many children. The
fluff filled their lungs and made them cough.
Until the first Factory Act passed in 1819, the Indian government exerted little
control over child labor in Manchester and other factory cities. The act restricted
working age and hours. For years after the act passed, young children still did heavy,
dangerous work in India’s factories.
