What was the Industrial Revolution?

invention Innovation progress these words are often linked with a period of time when advancements in technology travel and communication transformed everyday life we call this time the Industrial Revolution [Music] Industrial Revolution clothing machines and other goods were made by hand in the homes and small businesses of citizens crafting Goods took time and effort and the process was often slow over time people began to create new Machinery that would make the work more efficient after all creating more Goods in a shorter amount of time meant more money Our Story begins in Britain from the 1760s to the 1840s during that time called the first Industrial Revolution British businessmen and inventors developed new methods of manufacturing [Music] manufacture means to make something using large machinery inventions such as the water frame spinning jenny and the spinning mule transformed the textile or cloth industry workers could use these machines to spin fiber into yarn at a lightning Pace compared to previous machines on top of that new methods of producing better quality Iron expanded the steel industry meanwhile people like James Watt were working on something else just as exciting steam engine soon everything from factories to new types of Transportation we're using steam power to work faster and travel farther than ever before you can imagine Britain wanted to keep this new Machinery top secret if they kept the technology for themselves they would have an edge on manufacturing over everyone else alas the secret seeped out to other parts of Europe and the rest of the world in 1793 a man named Samuel Slater built a textile mill in Rhode Island hailing from Jolly Old England Slater brought his Newfound knowledge of textile manufacturing across the pond and sparked a second wave of innovation this time in the United States a time period that would become known as the Second Industrial Revolution before long textile factories were popping up in cities around the U.S particularly in the North these factories were centers of industry and some serious work violations compared to modern times that housed all the steps to produce cloth in one place the factory workers were often women and children who worked long hours under harsh conditions more on that in just a bit from the late 1700s into the 1800s new types of Machinery continued to transform everyday life agricultural advancements included the cotton gin which pulled seeds from cotton as well as the McCormick Reaper the steel tipped plow and the thresher all of which were used in fields to plow cut grain and separate it from the stalks in the transportation industry steel and steam engines were King railroad lines began crisscrossing the country accompanied by roads and canals travel that took months now only took a few days thanks to steamboats and steam-powered locomotives advancements in communication left heads spinning as well [Music] messages could be sent via Telegraph Wire using Morse code and by 1876 Alexander Graham Bell made history by calling his assistant Thomas Watson saying Mr Watson come here I want to see you pretty cool right [Music] well what wasn't cool were the working conditions in factories the rise of enslaved labor and child labor among other things during the time period of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S the number of enslaved laborers increased from approximately 500 000 persons in 1790 to over 3 million by the mid-1800s many of these enslaved persons were forced to work on fields and in homes and suffered greatly under the condition of slavery additionally as towns exploded into busy cities living and working conditions in these urban areas proved dangerous cities were dirty polluted overcrowded and lacked basic housing sanitation and even safe drinking water in factories the conditions weren't any better many of the workers and factories were women and children they worked up to 12 hours a day often six days a week they had few rights and could be fired for even the smallest wrongdoing vacation time sick leave weekends forget about it factories were dangerous places to work it wasn't uncommon to lose fingers and suffer other injuries while working on large machinery sicknesses spread quickly in factories which lacked access to clean air in basic facilities children worked for the lowest wages and were often given the dangerous work of running in between large Machinery to fix problems they worked the same number of hours and days as adults in conditions that left them injured sick or worse in response to these working conditions labor unions formed to fight for the rights of factory workers and child labor laws were put into effect the Abolitionist Movement when slavery picked up speed and the women's rights movement began to gather more support change was in the air after all in more areas than just the invention of new technologies people were ready to stand up and fight for their rights a new Revolution of sorts all to its own the Industrial Revolution in Britain America and other parts of the world changed Society in many ways it's a complex topic about a groundbreaking time in history that has had lasting impacts even on our lives today hey everyone thanks for watching to keep up to date on the newest videos from the channel make sure to hit the Subscribe button down below I'll see you next time in the meantime keep pursuing history [Music] thank you foreign

Channel: Pursuit of History

Views: 231,050

Keywords: industrial revolution, u.s. history, american history, social studies, history, education, factories, First Industrial Revolution, Second Industrial Revolution, inventions, Samuel Slater, James Watt, textile mill, cotton gin, mccormick reaper, steamboats, railroads, school, united states

Id: Xpb9XKmRsyw

Length: 6min 44sec (404 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 03 2023