Technology of the Industrial Revolution

Technology of the Industrial Revolution — page 7 — r1 e t p a h C THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Most products people in the industrial ized nations use today are turned out swiftly by the process of mass production by people and sometimes by robots work ing on assembly lines using power-driven machines People of ancient and medieval times had no such products They had to spend long tedious hours of hand labor even on simple objects The energy or power they employed in work came almost wholly from their own and animals muscles The Industrial Revolution is the name given the movement in which machines changed peo ple’s way of life as well as their methods of manufacture About the time of the American Revolution 1775 1783 the people of England began to use machines to make cloth and steam engines to run the machines A little later they invented 12

Technology of the Industrial Revolution — page 8 — 13 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Prior to the Industrial Revolution every village had its tradesmen Masons carpenters shopkeepers and tailors worked independently locomotives Productivity began a spectacular climb By 1850 most Englishmen were labor ing in industrial towns and Great Britain had become the workshop of the world From Britain the Industrial Revolution spread grad ually throughout Europe and to the United States CHANGES THAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION The most important of the changes that brought about the Industrial Revolution were 1 the invention of machines to do the work of hand tools 2 the use of steam and later of

Technology of the Industrial Revolution — page 9 — Technology of the Industrial Revolution other kinds of power in place of the muscles of human beings and of animals and 3 the adop tion of the factory system It is almost impossible to imagine what the world would be like if the effects of the Industrial Revolution were swept away Electric lights would go out Automobiles and airplanes would vanish Telephones radios and television would disappear Most of the abundant stocks on the shelves of department stores would be gone The children of the poor would have little or no schooling and would work from dawn to dark on the farm or in the home Before machines were invented work by children as well as by adults was needed in order to provide enough food clothing and shelter for all The Industrial Revolution came gradually It happened in a short span of time however when measured against the centuries people had worked entirely by hand Until John Kay invented the ﬂying shuttle for looms in 1733 and James Hargreaves the spinning jenny 31 years later the making of yarn and the weaving of cloth had been much the same for thou sands of years By 1800 a host of new and faster processes were in use in both manufacture and transportation This relatively sudden change in the way people live deserves to be called a revolution It 14

Technology of the Industrial Revolution — page 10 — THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION differs from a political revolution in its greater effects on the lives of people and in not com ing to an end as for example did the French Revolution Instead the Industrial Revolution grew more powerful each year as new inventions and manufacturing processes added to the efﬁ ciency of machines and increased productivity Indeed since World War I the mechaniza tion of industry increased so enormously that another revolution in production is said to have taken place GUILDS In every large town in Europe during the Middle Ages work ing men of each trade were members of associations called craft guilds Guilds regulated their occupations and pre served a monopoly In Paris London and other large cities there were as many as 50 or more guilds by the 14th century Guild rules provided that nonmembers could not prac tice the trade within the town In some places a worker could become a member as soon as he showed the required degree of skill In other places membership was difficult to obtain It went only to sons or sons-in-law of members or could be purchased only at a high price The guilds required standards of quality in articles made and sold by their members and penalties were invoked continued on the next page 15

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