Characteristics of the first Industrial Revolution

Between the years 1780 and 1860 Great Britain underwent a radical transformation of its economy and social organization, it is what is known as Industrial Revolution. In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to see how the birth of the industry was linked to three elements that became emblematic in the industrial process; the factory as a place of production, the mechanization of the production process and the widespread use of steam energy. Keep reading the following article and you will know the characteristics of the First Industrial Revolution that allowed us to move towards a more modernized society.

Index

1. Mechanization and the manufacturing system
2. Energy sources: coal and iron
3. The new means of transport
4. The rise of capitalism

We begin by listing the characteristics of the first Industrial RevolutionThe change in production systems was characterized by the use of machines and the substitution from the animate sources of energy (human or animal work) by inanimate (hydraulic energy and Coal).

Both elements, together with the need for greater control over the workforce, led to the concentration of workers in buildings destined for the production (factories), this fact caused the ruin of many artisans and that production that had previously been individualized was replaced for him factory system (serial production).

The mechanization of the production process started in the textile industry with the lfly hook by John Kay (1733), the new spinners (Spinning, Mule, Water Frame) and the mechanical looms, little by little the machines were spreading to the metallurgical, mining and agricultural.

Now, the definitive leap came when these machines began to move thanks to the use of hydraulic energy. However it was the steam machine, patented by James Watt in 1769, which allowed to abandon the dependence and limitations of traditional energy sources, becoming the symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

Finally, this mechanization was also present in the agricultural land with the introduction of new sowing methods, new tools (Rotherham plow, mechanical threshers ...) which together with the new crops and fertilizers allowed to increase and diversify the production of food.

In this video of a PROFESSOR we discover the development of the First Industrial Revolution.

Another characteristic of the first Industrial Revolution is the use of new energy sources. Coal became the great fuel of the 19th century, fed the steam engine and played an essential role in the iron and steel process. Consequently, the productivity of coal increased thanks to a series of innovations in mining, the use of beams and iron in the The mines allowed for safer digging of shafts and the introduction of rails and wagons facilitated the extraction and transport of the mineral.

In the second half of the 18th century, the increasing demand for iron to make ships, ammunition and tools stimulated the search for a less expensive and more effective fuel. In this way, charcoal was replaced by coking coal, which has a much higher calorific value and its function in a blast furnace. allowed, on the one hand, an extraordinary growth in the coal mining sector and, on the other, the production of iron in large quantities.

Another important technique in the development of the steel industry was the iron laminate invented by Cort in 1783 and later in 1856 the Bessemer converter that allowed to transform cast iron into steel.

In order to transport raw materials and merchandise, roads were improved and a multitude of canals were built to enable river navigation. But it was the railroad the one that caused a real revolution in transport, thanks to its speed, enormous load capacity, lower cost per transported unit and greater safety for passengers and goods.

On the basis of the traditional system of towing wagons on rails, Stephenson invented in 1829, the locomotive, a steam engine able to move on rails. Robert Fulton, applied the steam engine to navigation and in 1807, the first Steamboat I sail the Hudson River.

In this other lesson we will discover the year of beginning and end of the Industrial Revolution.

With the Industrial Revolution, capitalism was configured as the system in which the elements of production (the lands, factories and machinery) and what is produced with them are private property. This focuses on only a part of the population called capitalists, while the majority, the proletarians, do not have more than their capacity for work in exchange for a salary.

In addition, capitalism, it was a system of unplanned free initiative, whose objective is the search for the maximum individual benefit. In this way, the owners of the means of production sought to maximize the profit obtained from their property, while the wage earners sought a higher salary.

The competition between entrepreneurs to conquer a greater market share encourages them to reduce costs prices, adopting more productive techniques and trying to keep wage costs as low as possible possible.

If you want to read more articles similar to Characteristics of the first Industrial Revolution, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.