America and Britain, The industrial Revolution

Rebecca Spiga

Britain and America

1783

William Pitt the Younger

1776

1760

Declaration of Indipendence

George III

1773

1787-1789

1801

Boston Tea Party

AMERICA= NEW START

ACT OF UNION

Rebecca Spiga

The industrial Revolution

COAL

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

ECONOMIC CHANGE

MACHINE-MADE GOODS

NEW SCIENTIFIC THINKING

Rebecca Spiga

The industrial Revolution

WORKERS' LIFE

Workers' life

• Industrial cities lacked ELEMENTARY PUBLIC SERVICES:
• Water-supply;
• Sanitation;
• Street-cleaning;
• Open spaces
• The air and water were POLLUTED by SMOKE and FILTH.
• Working-class neighbourhoods were bleak, crowded, dirty and polluted.
• Women and children were highly prized by employers because they could be PAID LESS and were easy to control.
• Children were so small that they could move in MINES or CRAWL between machines in cotton industry to carry out repairs
• 65-70 hours of work
• Industrial labourers were marked by discipline, routine and monotony
• Food proces rose, diet and health deteriorated with an increase in the mortality rate.

New scientific thinking

New scientific thinking born of the ENLIGHTENMENT was applied to the mechanical and technical fields.This openness to new ideas made England receptive to innovation.

Navigable rivers and canals

The avability of navigables rivers and canals provided cheap and rapid transportation of both raw and finished products (Adam Smith, saw this as a key reason of Britain's early success).

Machine-Made goods

• Economic activity was diversified, especially through the manifacture of WOLLEN CLOTHES.
• People began acquiring more goods like wardrobes, clocks and china.
• the clothing of ordinary people changed with the introduction of white linen underwear, stockings, ribbons and hats.
• CLOTHINGS maked the BEGINNING of INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION because OF MASS CONSUPTION of MACHINE-MADE GOODS started.
• COTTON was leading the sector of industrialisation.

• People began to consume things for pleasure like TOBACCO, SUGAR, COFFEE or ALCOHOL
• Household-based production supplied these new kind of demands

A NEW START

• America became the symbol of a "NEW START" with its virgin territory.
• People from all EUROPEAN COUNTRY could melt into a NEW RACE.
• 1787: United States of America became a NEW REPUBLIC and adopted a FEDERAL COSTITUTION;
• 1789: George Washigton became the 1st president

• 1791: In Ireland a group of Catholics and Protestants founded the SOCIETY OF IRISHMEN who aimed at forming their OWN REPUBLIC;
• 1798: They organised an UPRISING thatwas crushed by BRITISH TROOPS;
• To prevent other rebellions, Pitt allowed the Irish REPRESENTATIVES to sit at Westminster.
• 1801: ACT OF UNION joined Ireland and Britain to form the new United Kingdom.

George III

• George Ill came to the throne in 1760;
• His reign lasted 60 years and is one of the longest in English History:
• To reduce public dept due to 7 years war the king introduced new DUTIES on CORN. TEA and PAPER which caused FIERCE OPPOSITION in the american colonies;

• The English Parliament responded by repealing most of the taxes
• Many colonists had become resentful of British rule which imposed STRICT CONTROL ON TRADE
• They began to think that they should only pay taxes approved by their local governing assemblies.

Declaration of Indipendence

• The Americans were divided into:
• PATRIOTS: Indipendence
• Loyalists: wanted to remain part of Britain
• The war of indipendence began in 1775.
• The americans set up an army under the command of George Washington to face the BRITISH ARMY;
• On 4th July 1776, in Philadelphia, the CONGRESS, made by the representatives from 13 of the colonies signed the DECLARATION OF INDIPENDENCE :
• It stated that the COLONIES were a NEW NATION;
• it claimed that all man had a natural right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"
• The consent of the governed.

• 1781: The battle of Yorktown: the BRITISH ARMY was defeated
• 1783: TREATY OF VERSAILLES: Britain recognised the indipendence of its former colonies.

Coal

An important ingredient of the revolution was the easy avability of COAL and IRON deposits. Much if the new technology was made from iron and powered by coal. This included the steam-powered machinery in textile factories and the train engines. The government ecouraged new trade and technological advances through PATENT LAWS that allowed inventors to benefit finacially from the "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY" of their inventions

• MIDLANDS: the presence of COALFIELDS
• NORTH: Source of ENERGY
• MUSHROOM TOWNS: were constructed the houses of the workers and were nearthe factories.

Boston tea party

1773

• Some rebels dressed up as NATIVE AMERICANS, throw the "British" tea, that came from India (another important colony) into the harbour;

• Rebels mainteaned that the taxes were UNJUST because they didn't had political power:
• "No taxation without representation"

• in England there were 2 important supporters:
• Edmund Burke: recognised the JUSTICE of their CAUSE;
• Thomas Paine: the COMMON SENSE (1776) stimulated the desire for a republic.

William Pitt the Younger

• After the loss of America, George III had difficult time with his prime ministers
• 1783: William Pitt the younger became PRIME MINISTER
• He was 18 years in the office:
• he tried to simplify FINANCIAL SYSTEM;
• Reduce NATIONAL DEPT;
• Promoted profitable TRADE and FINANCE
• He supported Adam Smith's theory of LAISSEZ-FAIRE.
• LAISSEZ-FAIRE: Smith's philosophy of economic liberalism encouraged FREE TRADE and ECONOMIC SELF-INTEREST, and stressed the DIVISION OF LABOUR

Technological innovations

1712: Thomas NEWCOME invented STEAM ENGINE (which made PUMPING WATER OUT of COAL MINES possible).

1765: James Watt patented a STEAM ENGINE that wasted less FUEL

1787: Edmund Cartwrigt's LOOM linked cloth manifacture to water and steam powerCHEAP PRODUCTS= DEMAND FOR MORE GOODS

1764: James Hargreaves increased SPINNING efficielty(SPINNING JENNY)

ECONOMIC CHANGE

• At the end of 18th century, England transformed from an agricolutural to an industrialised nation.
• The origins of the transformartion can be traced back to the BLACK DEATH and the RISE of LIVING STANDARDS;
• Population increased in the 1500-1600s and agricolture was intensified
• Open fields were enclosed into smaller portions of land to make more effitient arables farms.
• The soil was drained and made more fertible: CEREAL PRODUCTION increased.
• Animals were bred selectively, producing more meat.