The Industrial Spark

Our first unit in Honors History 10 is about the Industrial Revolution.  The essential question for this unit is, “What was ‘revolutionary’ about industrialization?”  To learn more about industrialization we were put into groups and assigned one of the four topics to research; people, technology, resources, and transportation.  My group researched resources and we found out a lot of interesting facts about, iron, coal, capital, and cotton and their immense impact on the industrial revolution.  We then shared our findings with the other groups.  As we read about and discussed each topic we inched closer to answering the essential questions given to us.  Resources and technology were two elements that significantly made the industrialization ‘revolutionary.’

                The three main resources that greatly influenced and, in a sense, fueled the Industrial Revolution in England, were iron, coal, and cotton.  Capital also helped make the Industrial Revolution revolutionary.  Iron was often used, and in great demand, during this time period in construction and manufacturing in the form of steel which was used to make different kinds of new innovative machinery.  In 1709, Abraham Darby found a new way of producing coal and his achievements led to the production of less expensive and better quality iron.  This reformed iron was used even more often after the invention of the railroad.  Iron made the Industrial Revolution ‘revolutionary’ because now people could produce iron to make other materials and machines that were never made before.  Coal was used as a main source of fuel in the productions of iron; Darby used coal to melt iron.  Coal was also needed for the construction of steam engines which dramatically increased production in many industries.  Coal, along with iron, allowed new machines to be built that could produce a wide variety of items that had never been produced so rapidly before, which is another reason why resources made the Industrial Revolution revolutionary.  Cotton, normally imported from India, became a popular clothing material in Britain and they wanted to make the cloth in their own country.  The British invented the putting-out system where raw cotton was distributed to peasant families and spun into thread and then into cloth.  This revolutionary system allowed peasant families to make their clothes in their own houses.  This process was slow, and eventually the devices which were invented for spinning thread became too big for individual homes, so factories were built to accommodate the space needs.  Capital, although not a technically a resource, it is a business term that means having wealth to be able to invest in enterprises such as shipping, mines, railroads, and factories.  In other words, capital is the money you use to grow your business.  The business class during this time in history accumulated immense wealth from the prosperous trading businesses.  Many people risked their capital to start new ventures.  Capital also made the Industrial Revolution revolutionary because now England’s economy flourished, as well as the rest of Europe and beyond, and the increased capital expenditures made this possible. 

             

Besides resources, the technology that was created during the Industrial Revolution also made it revolutionary.  Three main technologies that were invented during this time period, were the steam engine, the improvement in the quality of iron, and three significant innovations in textiles.  The steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen which was later improved by James Watt.  This machine was the first to be able to create electrical energy by burning coal which powered engines.  The steam engine now allowed electricity to be available in factories providing power and light which dramatically increased production and helped revolutionize Britain’s industries and economy.  Besides the steam engine, the purity of iron was improved on by removing impurities, which made machinery and parts made from iron more pure or stable.  The Darby family discovered ways to make cheaper iron, as well.  They made more iron than ever before which resulted in the cost of iron decreasing thereby making it more available.  This made the Industrial Revolution revolutionary because cheaper iron allowed there to be additional funding to expand the railroad system and stronger iron made for more reliable transportation.  There were three innovations in the textile industry; the flying shuttle, spinning jenny, and water frame.  The Flying shuttle was invented by John Kay and made weavers work faster so that they outpaced spinners.  The spinning jenny was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves.  This innovations solved the problem of weavers outpacing spinners.  The spinning jenny spun multiple threads at once.  The third innovation was the water frame and it was invented several years later by Richard Arkwright.  This machine made spinning even faster by using water power.  Before the Industrial revolution, people used the putting-out method which was a slow process and not as efficient.  Now, with higher quality and increased iron production, plentiful coal, incredible technological innovations, and the needed capital, the Industrial Revolution became revolutionary.

Thompson, Elizabeth.  “Spinning Jenny.”  Pgapworld.  Picture Image.  2/10/09.  https://pgapworld.wikispaces.com/Spinning+Jenny.  9/10/14.