Notes from 7/15, part 2

Industrial Revolution

A rapid succession of major inventions and technological changes in industry, manufacturing, communication, technology, and society
-International trade
-More goods available to the masses
-Political revolutions
-Allowed people to make more $, pay less taxes, trade with more people
-Better roads
-More, safer traveling
-Population growth
-Farmers move to cities
-Less Plague, more people

Agricultural Revolution

In Europe, new plants and growing techniques increased production (corn, potatoes, manure)

Mass production:
Making identical products or parts quickly
Eli Whitney made parts interchangeable so they could be easily replaced

Division of Labor:
Work is divided into small, repetitive parts
Sexual division: “separate spheres” of work by gender
Josiah Wedgwood made English China cheaply and with high quality. Queensware became a symbol of luxury but was affordable to many.
Business cycles
Bullish and bearish economies

Mechanization

Cotton did not come from Europe. Europeans developed machines to process cotton fibers into fabrics
Instead of buying cloth from foreign countries, Europeans saved money by only buying the fiber
Cotton plantations in America thrived, supporting the slave system
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, making cotton production economical in other parts of America
Spinning Jenny
Water Frame – led to cotton mills
Cotton Gin – removes seeds

Laissez-faire (French) “let them do”
Term from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
Smith believed people should have the freedom to create their own wealth
“Invisible hand”
Also by Smith. He believed the free marketplace would make society better by itself, without the need for government intervention
New markets (stocks, bank loans) were more risky but had fewer restrictions. More profit could be made
In reality, the rich were able to invest and make more money, but the poor still had no capital

Results

As the Industrial Revolution progressed, workers began to protest the lack of control in their lives
Labor movements began
Socialist and Marxist ideas took root in Europe
“Class conciousness” and sense of entitlement
Workers also protested working conditions
Shorter work days
Safer factories
Child labor laws: Factory Act of 1833 limited hours
International abolition movement
“Economic nationalism” through government investment and tariff protection