Intuitive Industrialization and the Lost Childhoods

A recent class activity involved finding and defining a few terms under a given category in a reading on the Industrial Revolution. The overarching question we would soon know the answer to: what was “revolutionary” about industrialization?

My group’s topic was resources. We found that coal was a major energy source when producing iron. Iron itself is also a resource and during the Industrial Revolution Abraham Darby’s experiments lead to a system to purify coal that improved the quality of iron. One use for iron was and still is machine building, which would soon be utilized creating the steam locomotive and steam boat, both invented at this time in the 1800s. Another less crafty resource was capital, or the money British men received by taking part in the slave trade and other money making pass times. Capital, once obtained was usually invested, helping the British economy.  Cotton was the last resource we read about. Imported from India, cotton became very popular at this time, and naturally the British wanted to get in on the production process. Hence, the “pulling out” system is born. The peasants would receive the raw Indian cotton, and after weaving it into threads, they would turn the thread to cloth. The cloth would then be brought to the Artisans who would dye and finish the cloth. The “pulling out” process was extremely time consuming and would eventually be moved to factories with the majority of workers being young children.

James Watt's Steam Engine, from the 1832 Edinburgh Encyclopedia

A second topic that interested me was technology. The steam engine, one of the engines still in use today was invented during the Industrial Revolution. A little while after this incredible invention, Abraham Darby’s improved iron smelting helped to boost the economy with cheaper and more abundant iron. All too soon came the machines that would replace the current “pulling out” cotton process. John Kay’s flying shuttle allowed a single person to weave a wider cloth than before. The second machine, the Spinning Jenny, was able to spin many threads at one time and the third invention, a Water Frame used water to quicken the spinning process. All these machines were presented to the work force before safety regulations and labor laws were set in place so it became common to see children working and to have someone loose a hand or several fingers because of one of these machines.