Year 8 Home Learning Project 1: The Industrial Revolution

Name ………………………………………………………………………………………. Class …………………

Section 1: Setting the scene

1. Start by carefully comparing the two pictures below.

Picture A

Picture B

2. (a) What are the main changes between the scene in 1750 and 1900? Look for at
least ten changes.

(b) Categorise your changes in (a) by creating two or three main categories.

(c)Without researching further try to suggest why some of the changes you
have identified took place.
 In this home learning project you will find out about the massive changes in
work, farming and transport that took place approximately between the years
1750 and 1900 that historians call the ‘Industrial Revolution’.

Section 2: Farming

3. Describe this scene in twenty words or less, using at least two adjectives.

Did you use the words ‘modern’ or ‘changed’? Probably not. This photograph seems to
show an unchanging England, the tourist image of England’s green and pleasant land.
However in 1750 most of the English countryside did NOT look like this - so it is
comparatively modern.

In 1750 most villages had huge ‘open’ fields and the villagers farmed strips of land in
each of these. There was also ‘common land’ where animals would graze and the villagers
could get firewood. However, something changed. This change is called the ‘Agricultural
Revolution’ (sometimes called the ‘Agrarian Revolution’.

The drawing below shows one of the most important developments of the Agricultural
Revolution, the seed drill invented by Jethro Tull.
 4. Use the internet to find out more about each of the following, for each write (a)
about thirty words to say what it was and then (b) about thirty words to say
what the impact of this development was.

 Jethro Tull’s seed drill and the use of horses to pull machinery rather than oxen

 Charles 'Turnip' Townshend and the Norfolk four-course rotation of wheat‒turnips‒

barley‒clover onto his farm

 Robert Bakewell use of selective breeding to develop the New Leicester sheep and
the Colling brothers promoting the selective breeding of Longhorn cattle

 Thomas Coke of Holkham publishing these new ideas by inviting hundreds of people to
his 'sheep shearings' (agricultural shows)

 Arthur Young writing about the new methods and spread ideas more widely

 The Parliamentary Enclosure Movement destroying the old three-field system of

open fields and creating the modern 'patchwork' of enclosed fields

5. Who did not do well out of the Agricultural Revolution? Explain your answer.

6. Below are some effects of the Agricultural Revolution. Write these out on a
clean page leaving plenty of space between them. Then, using a different
coloured pen see if you can draw lines to link (connect) any of the effects to one
another. Where you make a link then number that line and write a one sentence
explanation, using the numbers as a key to keep your work organised.

Increased Fewer people were Landowners and Many farmers had

agricultural output needed to work the farmers made much to sell up to
meant that there land money from selling powerful
was more food for improved animals landowners and
the rising and crops then rent back the
population land they had once
held
Powerful Thousands of farm Some landowners Businesses
landowners made workers left the invested in canals, depending on
huge profits from land to work in the improved roads and agriculture – such
renting out their new mills and railways as baking and
land factories brewing- prospered
Section 3: Machinery and mills

The Spinning Jenny

7. The table below shows key inventors and inventions in the development of
textiles (cloth) manufacture. However the table is incorrect in two ways. First
of all the inventions have not been matched up to the correct inventors.
Secondly they are out of chronological (date) order – the first should be at the
top, the last at the bottom. Draw this table in your exercise book and complete
it correctly. You will need to do some speed research on your iPad or computer
to do this task.

Inventor Invention
Samuel Crompton Power Loom
John Kay Mule
James Hargreaves Water Frame
Edmund Cartwright Flying Shuttle
Richard Arkwright Spinning Jenny

8. Now you need to research further and find out

a. Which invention led to the development of factories? Why?
b. Which inventions helped to make the production of yarn more efficient?
c. Which inventions helped to make weaving more efficient?

Yarn = the thread needed to make cloth. Weaving = the process by which the
yarn is processed to create material that can be used.

9. Now create a story board or a flow chart to show how the process of cloth
manufacture (spinning and weaving) developed. You will need o not only show the
various inventions but also the problems these tried to resolve and the reasons
why some inventions created new problems that then required further
inventions. Ensure that you include the words ‘waving’ and ‘spinning’ in your flow
chart.
 10. Look at your answers to questions 7, 8 and 9. Which do you think was the single
most important invention in the development of textile manufacture? Justify
your answer carefully.

While this was going on there were important developments in steam power – you will
consider these next and then link these with the development of mill towns for textile
manufacturing.

Section 4: Steam power

11. You will need to use the internet to do some speed research to complete this
table. Draw the table in your exercise books first.

Inventor Thomas Savery Thomas Newcomen

Name of steam
engine invented

Date invented 1698 1776

Problem it solved Could pump water Much more

out of coal mines to efficient –used only
enable effective a quarter of the
mining coal of pump

Either a problem Only worked to Used a vast amount

or opportunity it pump water from of coal to operate
created up to thirty metres so in practice could
underground so only be used at coal
deeper coal seams mines where this
could not be mined fuel was plentiful

12. Richard Arkwright built his factory by a stream as he needed water power – he
relied on a water wheel to power his machines. Explain how the later
development of steam engines meant that these mills (textile factories) could
now be built away from fast-flowing streams and rivers.

With all the coal now being needed for fuel and the vast increase in goods now being
made another problem had to be dealt with – transport.
Section 5: Transport

What was transport like in the early eighteenth century? The answer is difficult – it
was much easier to use the sea and take goods around Britain to the ports. Inland the
roads were terrible. Bulk goods were carried by pack horses, as in this picture below.

There were three major improvements for inland transport:

 Turnpike trusts

 Canals

 Railways

It was the canals and railways in particular that were useful because even with better
roads only a limited amount of goods could be transported by horse power, so you are
going to focus on the building of canals and railways.

There were some early canals built which were really designed to cut out loops in rivers
used for transport – these were called ‘navigations’. For example, not too far from
Slough you can visit the River Wey Navigation, in the Guildford area. Some people argue
that the first modern canal was the Sankey Brook Navigation. It was used to transport
coal which links directly to the Industrial Revolution. Others say it was the
Bridgewater Canal built by the Duke of Bridgewater in 1761 as this was not just a
navigation to cut out inefficiencies in using an existing river but a wholly artificial canal.
The Duke of Bridgwater built his canal to transport coal from his mines.

About £20 million was invested in canal-building between 1755 and 1835. There was
'Canal Mania' in the 1790s and famous canal-builders include James Brindley and
Thomas Telford. The fact that more money was now spent on canals could be seen as a
natural development as the country got richer and trade became more important.
Indeed by 1850, the canal network covered 4,000 miles. However by 1850 canals were
being challenged by a new form of transport – railways with trains pulled by steam
locomotives.

13. You are a cloth manufacturer living in the year 1800. Along with some other
business people you want to find a way to import raw cotton and export your
finished cloth more efficiently. Using the internet for research find out how you
would go about getting a canal built – think about the cost and getting permission
to take land to build it.

14. You are an engineer hired by the cloth manufacturer in question 13. What will
you need to consider when building the canal? Think about hills, sandy soil that
drains easily, the need for water and any other things that come to mind.

You will have noticed that canals were clearly very expensive to build but with some
landowners rich through enclosures and manufacturers made wealthy through new
machinery there was money available to invest.

Then something else came along…

Stephenson’s ‘Rocket’

Small railways with horse-pulled waggons had been used for hundreds of years, mainly
in mines and to pull coal to boats. In the early nineteenth century attempts were made
to replace the horses with a moveable steam engine that would pull the waggons (a
steam locomotive). The first modern railway was the Stockton and Darlington railway,
built in 1825. However the real breakthrough came with the opening of the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway. In 1829 a competition was held called the ‘Rainhill Trials’ and
Stephenson’s Rocket was judged the best locomotive to use on then new railway, which
opened in 1830.

15. Write a newspaper report about the Rainhill Trials. You will need to research
this on the internet and include the following in your report:
a. The various locomotives in the competition – be sure to include the
‘Cycloped’ and the ‘Sans Pareil’
b. The disaster that occurred during the competition
c. The various difficulties that the railway’s engineer, George Stephenson,
had faced in building the line, in particular note Chat Moss Bog and Olive
Mount.
d. The impression the locomotives would have made on bystanders.

16. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was innovative in many ways. Use the
internet to find out at least three ways in which it introduced major changes to
railways.

There was a vast expansion of railways – these were used not only for industry but also,
increasingly, for passenger transport, for example in 1870, 423 million passengers
travelled on 16,000 miles of line.

17. Find out how the development of railways affected:

a. The game of football
b. Seaside holidays
c. How time was kept in different parts of Britain.

One of the greatest railway engineers was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He designed
Paddington station in London – see the photograph below.
Brunel was the engineer for the Great Western Railway – the one that runs through
Langley and Slough.

18. Find out about Brunel’s work on the Great Western Railway – use the internet
for research. Find examples of three things that he built on the Great Western
Railway that particularly interest you. Explain what you find interesting about
each of these.

Section 6: Factory conditions

Before the Industrial Revolution children worked in the fields and cottage workshops
with their parents. When parents began working in mills and other factories their
children worked with them there too. Factory owners liked employing children because
they did not have to be paid as much as adults. Children were also useful in mills
because they were small enough to crawl under machinery to clear away fluff and repair
broken threads without the need to disrupt production by turning the machines off.
Children often worked twelve hours a day with dangerous machinery. They would be
severely punished for talking or making a mistake.

This picture is from a book published in 1840 called The Life and Adventures of
Michael Armstrong: The Factory Boy. It was written by a woman named Frances
Trollope, who had visited mills in Bradford and Manchester.
 19. Look at the picture from Frances Trollope’s book very carefully. Then consider
how useful this picture is as an historical source for an investigation into
factory conditions in around 1840? (in other words, how helpful is it to an
historian). When answering this question you could consider this in five stages:
a. What is the nature of this source, in other words what type of source is
it? Would this make it more or less useful to an historian?
b. What is the origin of this source? Think about what the author knew.
Would this make it more or less useful to an historian?
c. What is the purpose of this source? Why do you think the author may
have produced it? Would this make it more or less useful to an historian?
d. Using your historical knowledge do you think the scene depicted is
accurate and typical of a mill in 1840? The more accurate or typical it is
the more useful it will be to historians.
e. Over all how useful would this source be to an historian investigating
factory conditions around the year 1840? Think about what you said in i –
iv above.

20. Gradually various reforms were introduced to improve working conditions in

factories and mines. Using the internet research the work of Lord Shaftesbury
and then write one paragraph to assess his contribution to improving life in
factories and mines.

Section 7: Measuring the impact of change: 1750 – 1900

21. Using the table below answer these attempt these tasks. You can refer to the
boxes by their letters in your answers, e.g. ‘box B’.
a. Each of these boxes forms a pair – list the pairs.
b. For each pair identify which box describes the situation in 1750 and
which describes the situation in 1900.
c. Identify any pairs of boxes where you do not think that changes had
occurred mainly because of the Industrial Revolution. Explain your
answer.
d. Overall how far do you think that the Industrial Revolution changed life
for ordinary people in Britain for the better? This requires a thoughtful
and well planned answer. You could use three paragraphs using the
structure:

‘On the one hand the Industrial Revolution did change life for
ordinary people for the better…’

‘On the other hand things did not improve much and even got worse
for ordinary people in some respects…’

‘On balance…’
A B
Population was 11 million.
About 80% of people lived
and worked in the
countryside. Most babies
died before their first
birthday. The annual death
rate was 20 per 1000.
D E
Most men could vote but no
women. Parliament included
MPS from the industrial
towns and cities and fewer
from country areas.
The government in London
and local councils played a
bigger part in everyone’s life.
They had improved living and
working conditions.
G H
People did not know that
germs caused disease and
could do little to fight killer
diseases such as small pox
and diphtheria which killed
many people. Only simple
operations were performed
because there were no
anaesthetics and people died
from infection or bleeding.
J K
Louis Pasteur had discovered
germs cause disease.
Vaccinations had been
developed for diseases as
smallpox and diphtheria.
Anaesthetics and antiseptics
made operations possible.
Local councils were beginning
to improve the standard of
health in towns.
Railways served all parts of
Britain making the country
more united. Many canal and
turnpike trusts had been
driven out of business by the
railway which was the fastest
method of transport. London
to Edinburgh took 46 hours
by road but 9 by train. Cars
had been invented but were
rare.
The most important industry
was farming. All industries
were small scale and
manufacturing was done in
peoples’ homes. Power was
made by water wheels, human
hands or animals. Steam
power has been invented but
only used to pump water from
mines.
King George II had fewer
powers than kings in the
C17th. Parliament made laws
but only 5% of the male
population could vote and no
women.
Most children did not go to
school and few could read or
write. There were only 2
universities in England.
Newspapers, novels and plays
were becoming popular.
C
School was compulsory for 5-
12 year old boys and girls.
Many more people could read
and write. There were 10
universities in England.
Newspaper and book
publishing was expanding.
F
Population was 40 million.
75 % of people lived in towns
and huge urban areas had
developed. The annual death
rate had fallen to 18 deaths
per 1000 but the birth rate
was falling too.
I
Industry was dominated by
coal, iron, steel and textiles.
Many farmers also used
machines. Steam power had
been introduced into most
industries even in small
factories and workshops.
L
Getting around the country
was a slow business.
People travelled by water if
possible. Some rivers had
been deepened or
straightened and the first
canal was built in 1776.
Roads were bad although
businessmen were trying to
improve things. It took 10-12
days to travel from London to
Edinburgh by road
You have now nearly finished studying the Industrial Revolution. In the period 1500-
1900 there were two other major revolutions:

 A religious revolution – the Reformation

 A political revolution – the rising power of Parliament because of the Civil war
and the Glorious Revolution

22. Can you see any links (connections) between these three revolutions? Write
them down on a clean page and draw in the links.

This is the end of Home Learning Project 1 on the Industrial Revolution. Read
carefully the information on Class Charts about how to submit your work.