INDSUTRIAL REVOLUTION
I. SHIFT FROM AGRICULTURAL TO INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
 Industrial Revolution - the result of many fundamental,
interrelated changes that transformed agricultural
economies into industrial ones. The most immediate
changes were in the nature of production: what was
produced, as well as where and how.
- Goods that had traditionally been made in the home or in
small workshops began to be manufactured in the factory.
- began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously
manual labor and draft-animal–based economy towards
machine-based manufacturing.
- Water in Britain's numerous hilly districts provides the
power to drive mills in the early stages of industrialization
- the rivers, amplified from 1761 by a developing network of
canals, facilitate inland transport in an age where roads are
only rough tracks
- And the sea, never far from any part of Britain, makes
transport of heavy goods easy between coastal cities.
- The ability to make effective use of Britain's iron ore is
greatly enhanced by technical advances in the early 18th
century, associated particularly with the Darby family.
- abundant supplies of coal become of crucial importance in
the second half of the century when steam power is
successively applied to every branch of industry thanks to the
efforts of Watt and Boulton.
II. FALL OF FEUDALISM IN EUROPE
 Feudalism- contractual system of political and military
relationships existing among members of the nobility in
Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
 13th century- feudalism reached the zenith of
development and also began to decline.
 Reasons for the decline of Feudalism during the Medieval
period of the Middle Ages included:
o England started to move from land based
economy to a money based economy
o The Black Death - this reduced the population of
England by one third. Labor became a valuable
commodity
o The Peasants Revolt - Peasants realized their
worth and demanded changes. Charters were
granted but ignored by nobles
o Peasants moved away from the country into
towns they were eventually allowed to buy their
freedom
o Land was rented and the rights of lords over
labor decreased
o The Feudal Levy was unpopular and as time
went by Nobles preferred to pay the King rather
than to fight and raise troops
o Armed men were paid a wage and Medieval
warfare was financed by taxes and loans
o Nobles became weaker - the Kings took back
their lands and power
o A centralized government was established
III. EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
a) World Economy
• Before 1832, only 6% of the male population could vote -
represented by aristocrats who owned large plots of land in
the countryside and other property (Haberman).
• By 1832, the middle class factory owners wanted political
power to match their new-found economic punch - this
resulted in the Reform Bill of 1832 which enfranchised 20% of
the male population to vote (Stearns).
• The Reform Bill also redistributed electoral districts to
better reflect the large populations of city centers. Before,
most of the electoral power could be found in the
countryside where aristocrats owned vast properties
(Stearns).
• The middle-class became more or less satisfied, but workers
were still not represented by the British electoral system
(Haberman).
• Chartism
The dissent and insubordination of the English workingmen
reached its peak in the mid- nineteenth century with
Chartism, an ideology that called for political reform in the
country. Its name was based on the People's Charter, a
document written in 1838 by William Lovett and other
radicals of the London Working Men's Association, and
adopted at a national convention of workingmen's
organizations in August of that year. The Charter called for
several changes to the Parliamentary system:
o Universal Male Suffrage
o Annual Parliaments
o Vote by ballot
o Abolition of the property qualification for MPs
o Payment of MPs
b) Economy
- Several industrial sectors, most notably textiles and iron-
making adopted revolutionary new technologies of
production which raised productivity and led to a marked
lowering of prices.
- People were able to buy more because of the expansion of
wage earning in the economy.
- In addition, new products and designs made manufactured
goods attractive to a wider range of c Increasing demand for
goods, and the supply of more varied and cheaper products
interacted to create a dynamic economic expansion.
 Surplus agricultural production- Some other
improvements in agricultural knowledge led to
elimination of the need to keep land fallow for
restoring its fertility thus leading to Surplus
Agricultural production
 Mechanization of production was another important
change. James Hargreaves invented the jenny, which
allowed an operator to spin multiple threads at the
same time.
- Production equipment was provided by the owners of the
factory, and the workers worked at pre-determined
salaries.
- Above all, workers had no rights over the produce which was
owned by the factory owner. This led to the development
of capitalism
III. RISE OF CAPITALISM
 Capitalism-  economic system in which private individuals
and business firms carry on the production and exchange
of goods and services through a complex network of
prices and markets.
- Capitalism was based on the idea that private individuals, and
business firms would carry out all factors of production
and trade.
- During the Industrial Revolution, the industrialist replaced the
merchant as a dominant actor in the capitalist system and
effected the decline of the traditional handicraft skills of
artisans, guilds, and journeymen.
- Also during this period, the surplus generated by the rise of
commercial agriculture encouraged increased
mechanization of agriculture.
- Industrial capitalism marked the development of the factory
system of manufacturing, characterized by a complex
division of labor between and within work process and the
routine of work tasks; and finally established the global
domination of the capitalist mode of production.