Summary

3 Things I Learned

1. I learned that during the Industrial Revolution, women worked alongside their husbands and children in textile mills and mines and it caused many social problems for them.
2. I learned that there is a difference between socialism and communism.
3. I learned that the Industrial Revolution improved the standard of living of people of all classesand changed the class structure of society.

2 Things I Found Interesting

1. I thought it was interesting that children working in factories had to work under horrible conditions, like working 12 to 14 hours everydayand being beaten for breaking rules.
2. I thought it was interesting that Queen Victoria is associated with this great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and empire in Britain.

1 Question I Still Have

Why would families make their children work in a factory if they knew there was a possibility that they could die in the process?

Spoltlight On

Child Labor

The use of child labor in industrialized Britain was more systematic and widespread than the agricultural work traditionally done by peasant children before the Industrial Revolution. In factories children were separated from thier families and forced to work long and exhausting schedules. Children were employed by factories and mills because they were cheap labor, there was a plentiful supply of them, they were less likely to complain about conditions and injuries, they were small and agile, and there were initially no laws preventing employment of children. The conditions in the factories for children were horrible: long hours, an absence of recreation and education, harsh discipline, and injuries and poor health. Children could be employed in factories, mines, potteries, agriculture, and as chimney sweeps. There were soon laws passed to protect the children like the Factory Acts of 1833 and 1844 and the Mines Act of 1842.

US Events

In 1842, the United States started limiting children's work days in factories. Massachusetts lead the way by limiting children under 12 years old work days to 10 hours. Other states soon pass similar laws, but most of these laws are not consistently enforced. In England in 1844, the Factory Act was passed which made a maximum work day of 6 1/2 hours for children under 13 in textile factories. The child labor laws in England were better thatn those in America because they also provided 3 hours of education per day for the children.

The Stourbridge Lion was a railroad steam locomotive. It was not only the first locomotive to be operated in the United States, it was also one of the first locomotives to operate outside of England, where it was manufactured in 1828.It was tested along tracks built by the Delaware and Hudson company. The first locomotive in England was the Rocket, which was built by George Stephenson. His locomotive set a speed record of 29 mph.

People in the News

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria was born May 24, 1819 in London, England. She was 18 when she became queen after the death of her uncle King William IV. In 1840 she married her first cousin Albert and was shattered by his death in 1861, after which she went into a period of mourning. She re-emerged into public life in the late 1860s and as years passed she became loved by her subjects. She presided over a period of British industrial progress, artistic successes and political empire-building which became known as the Victorian Era. She died in 1901 after a 64 year reign. The phrase "The sun never sets on the British Empire" was used to describe her reign.




Karl Marx

Karl Narx was born May 5, 1818 in Trevirorum, Germany. His father was a lawyer which gave Marx the opportunity to study law himself. He went to Bonn University to study law and then to Berlin. At age 18, he began courting his childhood friend named Jenny von Westphalen. They moved to Paris and Marx got a job at a magazine. He married Jenny on June 12, 1843. He became friends with Friedrich Engels and together they created a magazine and wrote the Communist Manifesto. He died on March 14, 1883 and is best known as the Father of Modern Communism.





George Stephenson

George Stephenson was born June 9, 1781 in Wylam, Northumberland, England. He was a chief coal mine mechanic which sparked his interest in steam engines that led to experiments on a machine to pull coal-filled cars out of the mines. In 1815 he created a "steam blast" system that made the locomotive practical and in 1825 he created a steam locomotive for the first passenger railway which could carry 450 people at 15 mph. In 1829,with the help of his son, he built his improved locomotive, the Rocket, which won a speed competition at 36 mph and became the model for later locomotives.

EQ

Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain and not somewhere else?

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain because it had an abundance of natural resources like coal, iron ore, and raw cotton; geographical advantages like good harbors and rivers for easy foreign trade and transportation; and an abundance of labor from agricultural workers who migrated to towns because of unemployment from new farming techniques. The Revolution began in Britain also because Britain had capital from the wealthy entrepreneurial class who had the finances and skills to set up industries; markets who benefitted the manufacturing industy; a Parliamentry system made up of people who were interseted in the success of industry; and inventions which allowed mass production to become a normal feature of industry.

Introduction

Chapter 22: The Revolution in Energy and Industry is about the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution refers to the replacement of animal and human power by making goods in factories through the use of machines. With no previous examples to follow, Britain had to pioneer in industrial technology, social relations, and urban living. This revolution expanded to other countries of the world like the United States. What I hope to accomplish through this blog is to explain why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain and how/why it spread to other areas of the world.