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Factories
Facroties played an important role in the industrial revolution. They provided necessary goods such as coal, and cotton. They also gave thousands of the unemployed steady jobs. Factories also created a new system of labor that forced workers to work in shifts to keep the machines constantly running.
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The Spinning Jenny
The spinning jenny was invented by James Hargreaves to help cotton industries produce cloth faster. It was hand-powered and was the first machine to improve on the spinning wheel. This made it possible to spin more than one ball of yarn or thread. With this and the "flying shuttle" cotton production increased drastically.
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The Spread of the Industrial Revolution
Great Britain had become the worlds richest industrial nation. Once news got around about how indutrialized Great Britain had become the ideas spread. They spread throughout Europe and to North America. Great Britain would no longer be the leading empire of industry.
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Industry in America
Throughout the 1800's the American population grew from about 5 million to 30 million. Robert Fulton built the first paddle-wheel steamboat. The most important development in America was the railroad. This turned the United States into a massive market for manufactured goods.
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The first steam powered locomotive in Britain
In 1804 the first steam powered locomotive ran on an industrial rail line in Great Britain. It carried 10 tons of ore and 70 people at only 5 miles per hour. This new way to transport goods created new jobs for peasants and and farm laborers.
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The First Steamboat
On the afternoon of August 17, 1807 Robert Fulton docked his new invention, the steamboat. He sailed it from New York City to Albany and back at only five miles and hour. The boat was odd looking and 150 feet long and thirteen feet wide. The journey took about two days to finally complete.
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steamboat.jpg](<a href='http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steamboat.jpg)' >image</a> -
Conservatism and Liberalism
In the 19th century two political parties were developed, Conservatism and Liberalism. Conservatism is based on tradition and social stability. At the time most conservatives favored obedience to political authority and believed that organized religion was crucial to order in society. Liberalism is a political philosophy based on Enlightenment ideas, and that people should be as free as possible from government restraint. -
Industrial Middle Class
Once the Industrial Revolution came, the rise of industrial capitalism came along with it. Industrial capitalism was an economic system based on industrial production. This created the new middle class called the industrial middle class. The industrial middle class was made up of people who built factories, bought machines, and figured out where the markets were. The qualities of most industrial middle class people were to be initiative, have visions, ambition, and often greed. -
Reforms in Great Britain
Great Britain managed to avoid the revolutionary outburst for the first part of the 19th century. Parliament passed a bill the increased male voters. This caused the industrial middle class to be pleased thus avoiding a potential revolution. Britain's continuing economic growth was another big reason why they were stable. -
The Civil War
By mid 19th century slavery in America was becoming a threat to natinoal unity. In the south there were four million African slaves from the one million in 1800. As opinions over slavery grew more divided compromise became more of a dream than reality. The south created the Confederacy and the north created the Union. The bloody war between the north and south lasted for around four years. Finally the Union wore down the Confederacy and Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation.
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