Revolutions of Industrialization
Dominique McNamara
Period 1
Chapter 18: Revolutions of Industrialization
Every kind of society has embraced at least the idea of industrialization since it started in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant elements of Europe’s modern transformation.
Initial industrialization period was 1750–1900, drew on the Scientific Revolution. Utterly transformed European society, pushed Europe into a position of global dominance, was more fundamental than any breakthrough since the Agricultural Revolution
I. Explaining the Industrial Revolution
A. The global context for the Industrial Revolution lies in a very substantial increase in human numbers from about 375 million people in 1400 to about 1 billion in the early nineteenth century. Accompanying this growth was the utilization of fossil fuels, which made unprecedented proportions of energy available for human use. Access to this new energy gave rise to an enormously increased output of goods and services. 1. use of new energy sources (steam engines, petroleum engines) 2. in Britain, output increased some fiftyfold in the period 1750–1900 3. based on a “culture of innovation” 4. before 1750/1800, the major Eurasian civilizations were about equal technologically 5. greatest breakthrough was the steam engine a. soon spread from the textile industry to many other types of production b. agriculture was transformed 6. spread from Britain to Western Europe, then to the United States, Russia, and Japan
B. Why Europe? 1. many scholars have debated why industrialization appeared first in Great Britain, and why it started in the late nineteenth century 2. earlier views attributing it to something unique in European society or culture have been challenged by: a. the fact that other parts of the world (e.g., China, the Islamic world) have had
Period 1
Chapter 18: Revolutions of Industrialization
Every kind of society has embraced at least the idea of industrialization since it started in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant elements of Europe’s modern transformation.
Initial industrialization period was 1750–1900, drew on the Scientific Revolution. Utterly transformed European society, pushed Europe into a position of global dominance, was more fundamental than any breakthrough since the Agricultural Revolution
I. Explaining the Industrial Revolution
A. The global context for the Industrial Revolution lies in a very substantial increase in human numbers from about 375 million people in 1400 to about 1 billion in the early nineteenth century. Accompanying this growth was the utilization of fossil fuels, which made unprecedented proportions of energy available for human use. Access to this new energy gave rise to an enormously increased output of goods and services. 1. use of new energy sources (steam engines, petroleum engines) 2. in Britain, output increased some fiftyfold in the period 1750–1900 3. based on a “culture of innovation” 4. before 1750/1800, the major Eurasian civilizations were about equal technologically 5. greatest breakthrough was the steam engine a. soon spread from the textile industry to many other types of production b. agriculture was transformed 6. spread from Britain to Western Europe, then to the United States, Russia, and Japan
B. Why Europe? 1. many scholars have debated why industrialization appeared first in Great Britain, and why it started in the late nineteenth century 2. earlier views attributing it to something unique in European society or culture have been challenged by: a. the fact that other parts of the world (e.g., China, the Islamic world) have had