Chapter 20 – The Industrial

Revolution Begins

Section 1
Dawn of the Industrial Age
 Setting the Scene
For thousands of years following the rise of
civilization, most people lived and worked in
small farming villages. However, a chain of
events set in motion in the mid-1700s changed
that way of life for all time. Today, we call this
period of change the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution started in Britain.
In contrast with most political revolutions, it was
neither sudden nor swift. Instead, it was a long,
slow, uneven process in which production
shifted from simple hand tools to complex
machines. New sources of power replaced
human and animal power. In the 250 years since
it began, the Industrial Revolution has spread
from Britain to the rest of Europe, to North
America, and around the globe.
I. A Turning Point in History
In 1750, most people worked the land, lived in
simple cottages, made their own clothes and
grew their own food
I. A Turning Point in History
The rural way of life began to disappear and
by the 1850s, many country villages had
grown into industrial towns and cities
I. A Turning Point in History
During the 1800’s, a series of interrelated
causes resulted in the Industrial Revolution
II. A New Agricultural Revolution
Oddly enough, the Industrial Revolution was
made possible in part by a change in the farming
fields of Western Europe. The first agricultural
revolution took place some 11,000 years ago,
when people learned to farm and domesticate
animals. About 300 years ago, a second
agricultural revolution took place. It greatly
improved the quality and quantity of farm
products.
A. Improved Methods of Farming
The Dutch built dikes to reclaim land from the
sea and British farmers practiced crop rotation

The Dutch build a dike around an area to be drained

of water. The water was then pumped into a series of
drainage canals by windmills
A. Improved Methods of Farming
Jethro Tull invented the seed drill that
planted seeds in rows

Tull's most original contribution was the seed drill. Tull's seed
drill made sowing more economical and yielded greater amount
of crops. In the past, farmers would scatter their seed by hand
which was wasteful because many failed to take root. The seed
drill allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at
specific depths.
B. Enclosure Movement
Rich landowners practiced enclosure, taking
over and fencing off communal land
B. Enclosure Movement
Farm output rose but many farmers were put
out of work and migrated to cities, forming a
large labor force for industry
III. The Population Explosion
The population boom of the 1700s was due
more to declining death rates than to rising
birthrates
IV. New Technology
A third factor that helped trigger the Industrial
Revolution was the development of new
technology

Spinning Jenny Four of the major inventions of the

19th century: the lightning steam
press, the electric telegraph, the
locomotive, and the steamboat
A. An Energy Revolution
One new power source was coal that was
used to power the steam engine, built in
1712 by Thomas Newcomen
A. An Energy Revolution
Improvements were made by James Watt,
and the steam engine became a key power
source of the Industrial Revolution
B. Improved Iron
In 1709, experiments by Abraham Darby led
to higher quality and less expensive iron

Abraham Darby I (1678-1717) lays claim to the history behind a

revolutionary process called 'coke-smelting'. The sulphur in
most coal made the iron too brittle, but in 1709 Darby
succeeded in smelting iron with coke.