Current Events:
Obama asked to respond about the use of atomic bombs.
Test #3 Preliminary Analysis by Periods.
Unit 3 An Era of European Imperialism 1800-1914
The Period in Perspective
Primary Sources Library
Refer to pp. 776-777 for primary source readings to accompany Unit 3.
Looking Back . . . To See Ahead
Industrialization
Great Britain
Workshop of the World
The United States
The Revolution Spreads
Japan
The Search for Markets
Why It Matters
Chapter 12 Industrialization and Nationalism 1800-1870
Key Events
The Impact Today
History Online
Chapter Overview
wh.mt.glencoe.com
Chapter Overviews
The Industrial Revolution and a wave of liberal nationalist revolutions transformed Europe during the nineteenth century. A weakened old order gave way, and a number of unified European states emerged.
While the American Revolution and the French Revolution were being fought in the late 1700s, another kind of revolution took hold in Britain. Though not political, this revolution—known as the Industrial Revolution—brought about just as many changes to society. Paul Johnson, historian, describes this time period as “the age, above all in history, of matchless opportunities for penniless men with powerful brains and imaginations.”
Section 1 The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in the late eighteenth century and turned Great Britain into the first and the richest industrialized nation. A series of technological advances caused Great Britain to become a leader in the production of cotton, coal, and iron. After the introduction of the first steam-powered locomotives, railroad tracks were laid across Great Britain, reducing the cost of shipping goods. The Industrial Revolution spread to the rest of Europe and North America. In the United States, the railroad made it possible to sell manufactured goods from the Northeast across the country. The Industrial Revolution had a tremendous social impact in Europe. Cities grew quickly, and an industrial middle class emerged. The industrial working class, meanwhile, dealt with wretched working conditions. These conditions gave rise to socialism, a movement aimed at improving working conditions through government control of the means of production.
Section 2 Reaction and Revolution
After the defeat of Napoleon, European leaders met at the Congress of Vienna to restore the old order and establish stable borders. Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria met regularly to maintain the new balance of power. Meanwhile, liberalism and nationalism—two philosophies that opposed the old order—were on the rise. Many liberals were middle-class men who wanted a constitution and a share in the voting rights enjoyed by landowners. Liberals tended to be nationalists as well. In 1830, France's upper middle class overthrew the king and installed a constitutional monarchy. Belgium broke free of Dutch control. Revolts in Poland and Italy failed. Economic crises in 1846 led to a revolt of the French working classes. This time, a Second Republic was formed, under the leadership of Napoleon's nephew, Louis-Napoleon. Revolts followed in German states, Italy, and the Austrian Empire. In each case the old order was restored.
Section 3 National Unification and Nationalism
The Crimean War destroyed the Concert of Europe. A defeated Russia retreated from European affairs, and Austria was isolated. Italian and German nationalists exploited Austria's isolation. Both gained important territory in the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, and a unified Germany and Italy emerged. Growing prosperity and expanded voting rights helped Great Britain avoid revolution in 1848. In 1852, the French voted to restore their empire. Louis-Napoleon became the authoritarian Napoleon III and ruled until France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Austria granted Hungarians the right to govern their own domestic affairs. In Russia, Czar Alexander II freed the serfs and instituted other reforms. When a radical assassinated him, his son, Alexander III, reverted to repressive rule. The United States endured a costly civil war between the Northern and Southern states. After two short rebellions, Canada won its independence from Great Britain.
Section 4 Romanticism and Realism
At the end of the eighteenth century, a new intellectual movement, known as romanticism, emerged as a reaction to the ideas of the Enlightenment. Romantics emphasized feelings, emotion, and imagination as sources of knowing. Many were passionately interested in the past. Gothic literature, was critical of industrialization. Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution revived interest in science. The new age of science produced important ideas, such as Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease and Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. The scientific outlook influenced the work of the realist novelists and artists, who depicted everyday life in realistic, and unromantic detail.
Chapter Preview
A Story That Matters
The Congress of Vienna
The chief goal of the Vienna decision makers was to create a lasting peace by establishing a balance of power and protecting the system of monarchy. Each of the leaders also pursued his own goals. Metternich, the dominant figure at the Congress, wanted to restore things the way they were in 1792. Alexander I urged a “holy alliance” of Christian monarchs to suppress future revolutions. Lord Castlereagh was determined to prevent a revival of French military power. The aged diplomat Talleyrand shrewdly played the other leaders against one another so France would be accepted as an equal partner.
The peacemakers also redrew the map of Europe. To contain French ambitions, they ringed France with strong countries. In the north, they added Belgium and Luxembourg to Holland to create the kingdom of the Netherlands. To prevent French expansion eastward, they gave Prussia lands along the Rhine River. They also allowed Austria to reassert control over northern Italy.
To turn back the clock to 1792, the architects of the peace promoted the principle of legitimacy, restoring hereditary monarchies that the French Revolution or Napoleon had unseated. Even before the Congress began, they had put Louis XVIII on the French throne. Later, they restored “legitimate” monarchs in Portugal, Spain, and the Italian states.
Why It Matters
Chapter 12 Section 1 The Industrial Revolution
Section 1 The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in the late eighteenth century and turned Great Britain into the first and the richest industrialized nation. A series of technological advances caused Great Britain to become a leader in the production of cotton, coal, and iron. After the introduction of the first steam-powered locomotives, railroad tracks were laid across Great Britain, reducing the cost of shipping goods. The Industrial Revolution spread to the rest of Europe and North America. In the United States, the railroad made it possible to sell manufactured goods from the Northeast across the country. The Industrial Revolution had a tremendous social impact in Europe. Cities grew quickly, and an industrial middle class emerged. The industrial working class, meanwhile, dealt with wretched working conditions. These conditions gave rise to socialism, a movement aimed at improving working conditions through government control of the means of production.
Objectives
Analyze why life changed as industry spread.
Summarize how an agricultural revolution led to the growth of industry.
Outline the new technologies that helped trigger the Industrial Revolution.
Key Terms Cf. http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/WH+II+Ch.+12+Sec.+1+The+Industrial+Revolution
capital
entrepreneur
cottage industry
puddling
industrial capitalism
socialism
People to Identify
James Watt
Robert Fulton
Additional Terms, People, and Places
anesthetic
enclosure
smelt
Voices From the Past
The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
In-Motion Animations (Map): Industry in Great Britain by 1850
Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire?
Britain emerged in Victorian times as the world's first industrial power, but the transition wasn't smooth.
Some entrepreneurs made fortunes from the new cotton industry, but many of the factory start-ups went bust. Success depended on a variety of factors, which you will encounter as you play the game.
As you play, your stacks of money will rise and fall, depending on the choices you make, and you'll find out if you can make it as a Victorian entrepreneur.
Choose well, make money and the business will survive. Choose badly, and the businessman could end up in debtors' prison.
Contributing Factors
When agricultural practices changed in the eighteenth century, more food was able to be produced, which in turn fueled population growth in Britain. The agricultural changes also left many farmers homeless and jobless. These two factors led to a population boom in the cities as people migrated from rural England into towns and cities. This population increase, in turn, created a ready supply of labor to mine the coal, build the factories, and run the machines. The start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain can be attributed to many factors. Population growth was just one of them.
Why Britain?
What characteristics of eighteenth-century Britain made it ripe for industrialization? Historians cite several reasons for Britain’s lead.
Natural Resources Abound
Britain had the advantage of plentiful natural resources such as natural ports and navigable rivers. Rivers supplied water power and allowed for the construction of canals. These canals increased accessibility for trade and were instrumental in bringing goods to market. In addition, Britain was able to establish communications and transport relatively cheaply due to its easy accessibility to the sea from all points. Britain’s plentiful supply of coal was fundamental to its industrialization and was used to power steam engines. Vast supplies of iron were available to be used to build the new machines.
The Effects of Demand and Capital
In the 1700s, Britain had plenty of skilled mechanics who were eager to meet the growing demand for new, practical inventions. This ready workforce, along with the population explosion, boosted demand for goods. In order to increase the production of goods to meet the demand, however, another key ingredient was needed. Money was necessary to start businesses.
From the mid-1600s to 1700s, trade from a growing overseas empire helped the British economy prosper. Beginning with the slave trade, the business class accumulated capital, or money used to invest in enterprises. An enterprise is a business organization in an area such as shipping, mining, railroads, or factories. Many businessmen were ready to risk their capital in new ventures due to the healthy economy.
In addition to the advantages already cited, Britain had a stable government that supported economic growth. While other countries in Europe faced river tolls and other barriers, Britain did not. The government built a strong navy that protected its empire, shipping, and overseas trade. Although the upper class tended to look down on business people, it did not reject the wealth produced by the new entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs were those who managed and assumed the financial risks of starting new businesses.
Changes in Cotton Production
The Textile Industry Advances
The Industrial Revolution first took hold in Britain’s largest industry—textiles. In the 1600s, cotton cloth imported from India had become popular. British merchants tried to organize a cotton cloth industry at home. They developed the putting-out system, also known as cottage industry, in which raw cotton was distributed to peasant families who spun it into thread and then wove the thread into cloth in their own homes. Skilled artisans in the towns then finished and dyed the cloth.
Inventions Speed Production
Under the putting-out system, production was slow. As the demand for cloth grew, inventors came up with a string of remarkable devices that revolutionized the British textile industry. For example, John Kay’s flying shuttle enabled weavers to work so fast that they soon outpaced spinners. James Hargreaves solved that problem by producing the spinning jenny in 1764, which spun many threads at the same time. A few years later, in 1769, Richard Arkwright patented the water frame, which was a spinning machine that could be powered by water.
Meanwhile, in America, these faster spinning and weaving machines presented a challenge—how to produce enough cotton to keep up with England. Raw cotton grown in the South had to be cleaned of dirt and seeds by hand, a time-consuming task. To solve this, Eli Whitney invented a machine called the cotton gin that separated the seeds from the raw cotton at a fast rate. He finished the cotton gin in 1793, and cotton production increased exponentially.
Factories Are Born in Britain
The new machines doomed the putting-out system. They were too large and expensive to be operated at home. Instead, manufacturers built long sheds to house the machines. At first, they located the sheds near rapidly moving streams, harnessing the water power to run the machines.
Later, machines were powered by steam engines.
The Spinning Mill Animation
Spinning mills used 'line shafting', which is the means by which the power of the steam engine is transmitted along rotating shafts (rods) to spinning or weaving mills.Spinners and weavers now came each day to work in these first factories, which brought together workers and machines to produce large quantities of goods. Early observers were awed at the size and output of these establishments. One onlooker noted: “The same [amount] of labor is now performed in one of these structures which formerly occupied the industry of an entire district.”
This animation depicts a spinning mill like that found at Quarry Bank museum in Cheshire. It shows a furnace powering a flywheel, which is there to smooth out the otherwise jerky rotation of the crank.
In spinning mills, which could be multi-storey, there are large numbers of ropes coming off the flywheel. These 'rope races' convey power to the mill's different floors.
Checkpoint
What led to the advancement of the British textile industry?
The Coal and Iron Industries
Another factor that helped trigger the Industrial Revolution was the development of new technology. Aided by new sources of energy and new materials, these new technologies enabled business owners to change the ways work was done.
An Energy Revolution
During the 1700s, people began to harness new sources of energy. One vital power source was coal, used to develop the steam engine. In 1712, British inventor Thomas Newcomen had developed a steam engine powered by coal to pump water out of mines. Scottish engineer James Watt looked at Newcomen’s invention in 1764 and set out to make improvements on the engine in order to make it more efficient. Watt’s engine, after several years of work, would become a key power source of the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine opened the door not only to operating machinery but eventually to powering locomotives and steamships.
The Quality of Iron Improves
Coal was also a vital source of fuel in the production of iron, a material needed for the construction of machines and steam engines. The Darby family of Coalbrookdale pioneered new methods of producing iron. In 1709, Abraham Darby used coal instead of charcoal to smelt iron, or separate iron from its ore.
Darby’s experiments led him to produce less expensive and better-quality iron, which was used to produce parts for the steam engines. Both his son and grandson continued to improve on his methods. In fact, Abraham Darby III built the world’s first iron bridge. In the decades that followed, high-quality iron was used more and more widely, especially after the world turned to building railroads.
Abraham Darby III completed the world’s first iron bridge in 1779. The bridge still stands today.
Checkpoint
What new technologies helped trigger the Industrial Revolution?
Railroads
It was the invention of the steam locomotive that made the growth of railroads possible. In the early 1800s, pioneers like George Stephenson developed steam-powered locomotives to pull carriages along iron rails. The railroad did not have to follow the course of a river. This meant that tracks could go places where rivers did not, allowing factory owners and merchants to ship goods swiftly and cheaply over land. The world’s first major rail line, from Liverpool to Manchester, opened in England in 1830. In the following decades, railroad travel became faster and railroad building boomed. By 1870, rail lines crisscrossed Britain, Europe, and North America.
Stephenson's Rocket Animation
BackgroundOne of the most important developments of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of a countrywide railway network. The world’s first major rail line went from Liverpool to Manchester in England. Fanny Kemble, the most famous actress of the day, was one of the first passengers:
The Rocket was designed and built by George Stephenson with the help of his son, Robert, and Henry Booth, for the 1829 Rainhill Trials.
The Trials were held by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, to find the best locomotive engine for a railway line that was being built to serve these two English cities. On the day of the Trials, some 15,000 people came along to see the race of the locomotives.
During the race, the Rocket reached speeds of 24mph during the 20 laps of the course. This was due to several new design features. It was the first locomotive to have a multi-tube boiler - with 25 copper tubes rather than a single flue or twin flue.
The blast pipe also increased the draught to the fire by concentrating exhaust steam at the base of the chimney. This meant that the boiler generated more power (steam), so the Rocket was able to go faster than its rival, and thus secure its place in history.
The Rocket can be seen at the Science Museum, in London.
“We were introduced to the little engine which was to drag us along the rails. . . This snorting little animal, . . . started at about ten miles an hour. . . . You can’t imagine how strange it seemed to be journeying on thus, without any visible cause of progress other than the magical machine . . .”
Learn
Focus Question
What key factors allowed Britain to lead the way in the Industrial Revolution?
The New Factories
The new machines doomed the putting-out system. They were too large and expensive to be operated at home. Instead, manufacturers built long sheds to house the machines. At first, they located the sheds near rapidly moving streams, harnessing the water power to run the machines. Later, machines were powered by steam engines.
Spinners and weavers now came each day to work in these first factories, which brought together workers and machines to produce large quantities of goods. Early observers were awed at the size and output of these establishments. One onlooker noted: “The same [amount] of labor is now performed in one of these structures which formerly occupied the industry of an entire district.”
Checkpoint
What led to the advancement of the British textile industry?
Reading Check
Describing
How were adult and child factory workers disciplined?
The Spread of Industrialization
Europe
Industrial Europe, c. 1850
North America (note how in the Glencoe textbook the entire section is about the United States; it states nothing about Mexico and Canada yet the section is entitled "North America.")
Reading Check
Evaluating
Social Impact in Europe
Growth of Population and Cities
The agricultural revolution contributed to a rapid growth of population. Precise population statistics for the 1700s are rare, but those that do exist are striking. Britain’s population, for example, soared from about 5 million in 1700 to almost 9 million in 1800. The population of Europe as a whole shot up from roughly 120 million to about 180 million during the same period. Such growth had never before been seen.
Vocabulary Builder
statistics—(stuh tis tiks) pl.n. data that are gathered and tabulated to present information
Why did this population increase occur? First, the agricultural revolution reduced the risk of death from famine because it created a surplus of food. Since people ate better, they were healthier. Also, better hygiene and sanitation, along with improved medical care, further slowed deaths from disease.
Checkpoint
How did an agricultural revolution contribute to population growth?
The Industrial Middle Class
The Industrial Revolution created a new middle class along with the working class. Those in the middle class owned and operated the new factories, mines, and railroads, among other industries. Their lifestyle was much more comfortable than that of the industrial working class.
When farm families moved to the new industrial cities, they became workers in mines or factories. Many felt lost and bewildered. They faced tough working conditions in uncomfortable environments. In time, though, factory and mine workers developed their own sense of community despite the terrible working conditions.
The Industrial Middle Class
Those who benefited most from the Industrial Revolution were the entrepreneurs who set it in motion. The Industrial Revolution created this new middle class, or bourgeoisie (boor zhwah zee), whose members came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were merchants who invested their growing profits in factories. Others were inventors or skilled artisans who developed new technologies. Some rose from “rags to riches,” a pattern that the age greatly admired.
Middle-class families lived in well-furnished, spacious homes on paved streets and had a ready supply of water. They wore fancy clothing and ate well. The new middle class took pride in their hard work and their determination to “get ahead.” Only a few had sympathy for the poor. Women of the middle class did not leave the home to work but instead focused their energy on raising their children. This contrasted with the wealthy, who had maidservants to look after their children, and the working class, whose children were a part of the workforce.
The Industrial Working Class
As more and more people moved to the cities to work, they had little choice about where to live. There was no public water supply, waste lined the unpaved streets, and disease spread rapidly in these unsanitary conditions. Dr. Southwood-Smith worked in two districts of London and wrote:
“Uncovered sewers, stagnant ditches and ponds, gutters always full of putrefying matter . . . It is not possible for any language to convey an adequate conception of the poisonous condition in which large portions of both these districts always remain, . . . from the masses of putrefying matter which are allowed to accumulate.”Learn
Focus Question
What were the social effects of the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution brought great riches to most of the entrepreneurs who helped set it in motion. For the millions of workers who crowded into the new factories, however, the industrial age brought poverty and harsh living conditions.
In time, reforms would curb many of the worst abuses of the early industrial age in Europe and the Americas. As standards of living increased, people at all levels of society would benefit from industrialization. Until then, working people would suffer with dangerous working conditions; unsafe, unsanitary, and overcrowded housing; and unrelenting poverty.
People Move to New Industrial Cities
The Industrial Revolution brought rapid urbanization, or the movement of people to cities. Changes in farming, soaring population growth, and an ever-increasing demand for workers led masses of people to migrate from farms to cities. Almost overnight, small towns around coal or iron mines mushroomed into cities. Other cities grew up around the factories that entrepreneurs built in once-quiet market towns.
The British market town of Manchester numbered 17,000 people in the 1750s. Within a few years, it exploded into a center of the textile industry. Its population soared to 40,000 by 1780 and 70,000 by 1801. Visitors described the “cloud of coal vapor” that polluted the air, the pounding noise of steam engines, and the filthy stench of its river. This growth of industry and rapid population growth dramatically changed the location and distribution of two resources—labor and people.
Checkpoint
What led to the massive migration of people from farms to cities?
While the wealthy and the middle class lived in pleasant neighborhoods, vast numbers of poor struggled to survive in foul-smelling slums. They packed into tiny rooms in tenements, or multistory buildings divided into apartments. These tenements had no running water, only community pumps. There was no sewage or sanitation system, so wastes and garbage rotted in the streets. Sewage was also dumped into rivers, which created an overwhelming stench and contaminated drinking water. This led to the spread of diseases such as cholera.
Vocabulary Builder
contaminated—(kun tam uh nayt id) adj. unclean and impure; polluted
Workers Stage Futile Protests
Although labor unions, or workers’ organizations, were illegal at this time, secret unions did exist among frustrated British workers. They wished to initiate worker reforms, such as increases in pay, but had no political power to effect change. Sometimes their frustration led to violence. The first instances of industrial riots occurred in England from 1811 to 1813. Groups of textile workers known as the Luddites (lud yts) resisted the labor-saving machines that were costing them their jobs. Some of them smashed textile machines with sledgehammers and burned factories. They usually wore masks and operated at night. There was widespread support among the working class for these Luddite groups.
Workers Find Comfort in Religion
Many working-class people found comfort in a religious movement called Methodism. This movement was influenced by the Industrial Revolution as people moved to cities and lost connections with their old churches. John Wesley had founded the Methodist movement in the mid-1700s. Wesley stressed the need for a personal sense of faith. He encouraged his followers to improve themselves by adopting sober, moral ways.
Vocabulary Builder
stressed—(stresd) vt. emphasized
Methodist meetings featured hymns and sermons promising forgiveness of sin and a better life to come. Methodist preachers took this message of salvation into the slums. There, they tried to rekindle hope among the working poor. They set up Sunday schools where followers not only studied the Bible but also learned to read and write. Methodists helped channel workers’ anger away from revolution and toward reform.
Checkpoint
How did members of the working class react to their new experiences in industrial cities?
Life in the Factories and Mines
The heart of the new industrial city was the factory. There, the technology of the machine age and the rapid pace of industrialization imposed a harsh new way of life on workers.
Discovery School Channel
Watch In Old New York on the Witness History Discovery School™ video program to learn about life during the Industrial Age.
Factory Workers Face Harsh Conditions
Working in a factory system differed greatly from working on a farm. In rural villages, people worked hard, but their work varied according to the season. Life was also hard for poor rural workers who were part of the putting-out system, but at least they worked at their own pace. In the grim factories of industrial towns, workers faced a rigid schedule set by the factory whistle.
Working hours were long, with shifts lasting from 12 to 16 hours, six or seven days a week. Workers could only take breaks when the factory owners gave permission. Exhausted workers suffered accidents from machines that had no safety devices. They might lose a finger, a limb, or even their lives. In textile mills, workers constantly breathed air filled with lint, which damaged their lungs. Those workers who became sick or injured lost their jobs.
The majority of early factory workers were women rather than men. Employers often preferred to hire women workers because they thought women could adapt more easily to machines and were easier to manage. In addition, employers generally paid women half what they paid men.
Factory work created a double burden for women. Their new jobs took them out of their homes for 12 hours or more a day. They then returned to their tenements, which might consist of one damp room with a single bed. They had to feed and clothe their families, clean, and cope with such problems as sickness and injury.
Miners Face Worse Conditions
The Industrial Revolution increased the demand for iron and coal, which in turn increased the need for miners. Although miners were paid more, working conditions in the mines were even worse than in the factories. They worked in darkness, and the coal dust destroyed their lungs. There were always the dangers of explosions, flooding, and collapsing tunnels. Women and children carted heavy loads of coal, sometimes on all fours in low passages. They also climbed ladders carrying heavy baskets of coal several times a day.
Even children as young as five years old worked in the mines. James Kay-Shuttleworth worked as a physician among the different classes of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester. His profession allowed him to see the working conditions of poor in the cities. How was work in factories and mines different from work on the farm?
Children were accustomed to work on a farm: the money earned by children was vital to most working class families during the early 20th century and before.
Primary Source
“Whilst the engine runs, people must work—men, women, and children are yoked together with iron and steam. The animal machine is chained fast to the iron machine, which knows no suffering and weariness.”
—James Kay-Shuttleworth, 1832
Children Have Dangerous Jobs
Factories and mines also hired many boys and girls. These children often started working at age seven or eight, a few as young as five. Nimble-fingered and quick-moving, they changed spools in the hot and humid textile mills where sometimes they could not see because of all the dust. They also crawled under machinery to repair broken threads in the mills. Conditions were even worse for children who worked in the mines. Some sat all day in the dark, opening and closing air vents. Others hauled coal carts in the extreme heat. Because children had helped with work on the farm, parents accepted the idea of child labor. The wages the children earned were needed to keep their families from starving.
Child labor reform laws called “factory acts” were passed in the early 1800s. These laws were passed to reduce a child’s workday to twelve hours and also to remove children under the age of eight or nine from the cotton mills. Because the laws were generally not enforced, British lawmakers formed teams of inspectors to ensure that factories and mines obeyed the laws in the 1830s and 1840s. More laws were then passed to shorten the workday for women and require that child workers be educated.
Families could afford to take trips to such places as the zoo as wages increased.
Checkpoint
How did the Industrial Revolution affect the lives of men, women, and children?
Early Socialism
While the champions of laissez-faire economics praised individual rights, other thinkers focused on the good of society in general. They condemned the evils of industrial capitalism, which they believed had created a gulf between rich and poor. To end poverty and injustice, they offered a radical solution—socialism. Under socialism, the people as a whole rather than private individuals would own and operate the means of production—the farms, factories, railways, and other large businesses that produced and distributed goods. Socialism grew out of the Enlightenment faith in progress, its belief in the basic goodness of human nature, and its concern for social justice.
Are Utopians Dreamers?
A number of early socialists established communities in which all work was shared and all property was owned in common. When there was no difference between rich and poor, they said, fighting between people would disappear. These early socialists were called Utopians. The name implied that they were impractical dreamers. The Utopian Robert Owen set up a model community in New Lanark, Scotland, to put his own ideas into practice.
Infographic
Owen’s Utopia
For: Interactive Village
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-1941
Owen Establishes a Utopia
A poor Welsh boy, Owen became a successful mill owner. Unlike most industrialists at the time, he refused to use child labor. He campaigned vigorously for laws that limited child labor and encouraged the organization of labor unions.
Checkpoint
What did early socialists believe?
Reading Check
Describing
What type of working conditions did the industrial workers face?
References and Resources
Rise of the Working Class by Jurgen Kuczynski
Making of the English Working Class by E.P. Thompson
Cultural Foundations of Industrial Civilization by John U. Nef
Sign entering the village. Graphic source: The Next Generation
A living museum can be viewed at Old Sturbridge Village. At the village visitors can ride the stagecoach, interact with the farm animals, talk with costumed historians, and watch the blacksmith, cooper, potter, and farmers at work. In the village visitors can experience life in the 1830s--with 40 antique homes, buildings, and water-powered mills. The village is well worth exploring in some detail.
The flag is central to village life. Graphic source: The Next Generation
Our relationship to God is of paramount importance. Graphic source: The Next Generation
Defense is always a concern for a nation. Graphic source: The Next Generation
Jack Larkin is the Chief Historian and Museum Scholar at the Village, where he has worked since 1971. He is also Affiliate Professor of History at Clark University in Worcester, MA, and consults for many museums and historical organizations. His latest book, Where We Lived: Exploring the Places We Once Called Home. The American Home from 1790 to 1840, was published in 2006.
To feel more at home in the village you will need to know the tools of the trade. A number of fun and educational links are available for the OSV. Old Sturbridge Village Feature Shown on Al Jazeera Television winter 2008
Laura Linney and Ken Burns on the importance of Old Sturbridge Village
4th of July at OSV.
Redcoats to Rebels at OSV.
Mystic Seaport -- The Museum of America and the Sea is the nation's leading maritime museum. In it, you can explore American maritime history first-hand as you climb aboard historic tall ships, stroll through a re-created 19th-century coastal village, or watch a working preservation shipyard in action.
Traditional American Music performed live at Mystic Seaport, CT: Part 1
Traditional American Music performed live at Mystic Seaport, CT: Part 3
The Charles W. Morgan embarks on a voyage of restoration at the Henry B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport. Shipyard Director, Quentin Snediker explains what is done to prepare the ship for the historic journey.
The Charles W. Morgan is the last surviving wooden whaling ship from the great days of sail. Built in 1841 in New Bedford, MA, the Morgan had a successful 80-year whaling career. She made 37 voyages before retiring in 1921, and was preserved as an exhibit through the efforts of a number of dedicated citizens. After being on display in South Dartmouth, MA, until 1941, she came to Mystic Seaport, where each year thousands of visitors walk her decks and hear the fascinating story of her career as a whaling vessel, historic exhibit, film and media star, and a porthole into America's rich history.
Over the last three decades, the Charles W. Morgan has undergone two regimes of partial restoration along with annual maintenance. Despite these efforts, the inevitable effects of time on the wooden fabric of the vessel's structure demand additional extensive restoration. If left unchecked, these deficiencies will threaten the structural integrity of the Morgan and her use as a primary artifact in Mystic Seaport's interpretive programs.
Mystic Seaport, 1960 (No, this is not Dr. Smith as a boy), from family home movies.
Whaling in popular culture: Mountain, "Nantucket Sleighride"
The cold hard steel of the harpoon's point
Struck deep into its side.
We played out line and backed the oars
And took the cruel sleighride.
The term "Nantucket Sleighride" was coined by the whalers to explain what happened after they harpooned a whale. (Nantucket Island was considered the whaling capital of the world during the 19th century.) The first strike of the harpoon was not intended to kill the whale but only to attach it to the whale boat. The whale would take off pulling the whale boat along at speeds of up to 23 mph (37 kmh). The whale would eventually tire itself out, the leading officer in the boat would then use a penetrating lance to kill the whale.
Nantucket Sleighride is Dedicated to Owen Coffin who was cabin boy aboard the whaler Essex, which was destroyed by a sperm whale in 1819. Owen ended up in the lifeboat with Captain Pollard, his uncle. Two other lifeboats also put out. During the next 3 - 4 months, the lifeboats separated. One was never seen again, but some of those on the remaining two boats were eventually rescued.
During those long months at sea (and on desert islands), many of the men died. The remainder eventually had to resort to cannibalism to survive. After the dead of natural causes were consumed, the men determined to draw lots to see who would sacrifice his life for the others. Owen Coffin ``won'' the lottery. The Captain tried to take Owen's place, but the youth insisted on his ``right''. The executioner was also drawn by lot. That ``winner'', another young man named Charles Ramsdell, also tried vainly to swap places with Owen. Again he refused. Owen's body kept the others alive for ten days (Captain Pollard refused to eat his nephew). Another man died, and his body kept Pollard and Ramsdell alive a few more days until they were rescued.
Lyrics
Goodbye, little Robin-Marie
Don't try following me
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause you know I'm coming home soon
My ships' leaving on a three-year tour
The next tide will take us from shore
Windlaced, gather in sail and spray
On a search for the mighty sperm whale
Fly your willow branches
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
Starbuck's sharpening his harpoon
The black man's playing his tune
An old salt's sleeping his watch away
He'll be drunk again before noon
Three years sailing on bended knee
We found no whales in the sea
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause we'll be in sight of land soon
Agriculture
Farming and everyday life during the past 250 years
Children who lived in the English countryside
The Agricultural Revolution
Transportation, Industrial Revolution
Stephenson's Rocket Animation
The Spinning Mill Animation
Britain at the time of the Great Exhibition
Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire?
Iron Bridge Virtual Tour
New machines that brought changes in America
Review changes of the 18th and 19th centuries
The Industrial Revolution
The everyday life of children in Victorian Britain (including the cities)
Online game about life in an industrial Victorian city
Take a tour of a workhouse
HW email to gmsmith@shanahan.org
1. What technological changes led to the development of industrialization?
2. What do you anticipate will be the social impact of the Industrial Revolution?
