The Industrial Revolution

Cholera

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:34:01 +0000

Cholera is a disease that was commonly caught during the Industrial Revolution. What is cholera? Let’s find out.

Cholera is caused by bacteria called “Vibrio Cholerae”. It affects the intestines. You would get cholera if you drink water or eat food with Vibrio Cholarae. Living conditions during the Industrial Revolution were unsanitary so people were probably infected with cholera when they drank the dirty water from the water pumps.

Symptoms of cholera include diarrhea,vomiting, and dehydration, and they appear from a few hours to five days after the person is infected. You would have to be treated with oral rehydration therapy if you got the disease. If cholera is not treated, infected people would die in several days.

Inventions

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:31:38 +0000

Many inventions were made during the Industrial Revolution. Here are 3 of them: the telephone, the cotton gin, and the steam engine.

Romanticism and Realism

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:27:31 +0000

When you hear the phrase “Industrial Revolution”, you would think about the revolution of machines and technology right? Well there was not only a change technology; there was a change in art as well. Romanticism and realism are both artistic movements that began during the Industrial Revolution.

Romanticism began in the 18th century. Artists would use soft and natural colors in romantic paintings. Romantic art show scenes of nature, because they were peaceful and were an escape from industrialization. The people in the landscape are small and their faces show a lot of emotion.

Realism, on the other hand, is different. It basically shows reality as it is. Realist paintings usually depict common people and every day life. There is no strong emotion in the painting. Romanticism makes things look fancy, but realism makes things look plain and normal.

Industrial Revolution Comic

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:40:25 +0000

This was not made by me. I just found it on the internet.

Image credit:

http://bkmarcus.com/blog/images/comics/DaisyOwlIndustrialRevolution.gif

“The Work of the Weavers” Song

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:35:09 +0000

This song is about weavers during the Industrial Revolution and it shows the importance of weavers who worked factories. Even though they were paid very little and were treated badly, they were actually a crucial part of the revolution. If they did not work, the economy and revolution would not have prospered as much as it did (and there would not be any clothes).

We’re all met together here to sit and to crack
Wi’ our glasses in our hands and our work upon our back
There’s nae a trade among ‘em that can mend or can make
If it wasn’t for the work of the weavers
If it was not for the weavers, what would you do?
You wouldn’a have the clothes that’s made of wool
You wouldn’a have a coat of the black or the blue
If it was not for the work of the weavers
There’s soldiers and there’s sailors and glaziers and all
There’s doctors and there’s ministers and them that live by law
And our friends in Sooth America, though them we never saw
But we can they wear the work of the weavers
If it was not for the weavers, what would you do?
You wouldn’a have the clothes that’s made of wool
You wouldn’a have a coat of the black or the blue
If it was not for the work of the weavers
Though weavin’ is a trade that never can fail
As long as we need clothes for to keep another hale
So let us all be merry o’er a bicker of good ale
And we’ll drink to the health of the weavers
If it was not for the weavers, what would you do?
You wouldn’a have the clothes that’s made of wool
You wouldn’a have a coat of the black or the blue
If it was not for the work of the weavers

For more songs go here.

The Telephone

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:11:04 +0000

The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1870. The telephone improved communication systems. It was a result of Bell’s attempts to improve the telegraph.

The telegraph (which was a way of communicating before the telephone was invented) used Morse code, and was limited to receiving and sending one message at a time. Using “harmonic telegraph”, Bell discovered that he could hear sounds through a wire. “Harmonic telegraph” was a principle that several notes could be sent simultaneously along the same wire if the notes differed in pitch. Bell finally succeeded on March 10, 1876. He talked to his assistant, Thomas Watson, using his telephone and said the famous line, “Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.”

Image Credit:

http://static.open.salon.com/files/alexander_bell1236350558.jpg

Cotton Gin

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:05:25 +0000

Another invention used in the Industrial Revolution was the cotton gin. The cotton gin separated seeds from cotton fibers. It is a combination of wire hooks and a wire screen. Brushes would remove cotton lint to prevent jams. The earliest version of the cotton gin was made up of a single roller and a flat board (both items were made out of iron or wood). It was difficult to use and required a lot of skill. Eli Whitney created the modern cotton gin in 1793. His cotton gin cleaned 50 pounds of cotton per day. Even though it was efficient, the invention led to an expansion of slavery. Since cotton was harvested so much faster and easier, the profits increased. Plantation owners hired more slaves to plant and harvest more cotton. Southern Americans imported slaves from Africa, and by 1860, about 1/3 of the Southern population were slaves.

Image Credit:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Cotton_gin_EWM_2007.jpg

The Steam Engine

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:59:20 +0000

The steam engine was one of the most important inventions used during the Industrial Revolution. It was used in steamboats, locomotives, factories, and more.

Thomas Savery created the very first steam engine in 1698. The engine was used to pump water from mines. His engine had a closed vessel, which was filled with water. Steam would force the water upwards and the water would come out of the mine. It generated 1 hp (horsepower). The problem with his engine was that it was prone to boiler explosions and could not pump a lot.

In 1712, Thomas Newcomen created a safer steam engine. His engine used atmospheric pressure to work. The pressure controlled a piston, which would move up and down. The engine would then pump water out of a mine. His engines generated 5 hp. They were large and inefficient, but were easy to use and reliable.

In 1778, James Watt improved Newcomen’s steam engine and increased its efficiency by a factor of 5. His engine had a separate condenser connected to a cylinder. His engine generated 5-10 hp, and saved 75% of coal costs.

Image Credits:

http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/0/-/E/steamenginesavery.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/5/Y/E/newcomensteamengine.jpg
http://mises.org/images/WattSteamEngine1765.jpg

List of Reforms and Acts

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:34:50 +0000

Here is a list of some reforms and acts passed by the British government:

• 1802: Health and Morals of Apprentices Act- limited the workday of apprentices to 12 hours.

• 1819: Peel’s Factory Act – cotton mills cannot employ children under the age of 9. Workdays for children 9-16 years old limited to 12 hours.

• 1833: Factory Act – 1819 act extended to all textile mills except silk and lace. Workdays for children 9-16 years old limited to 8 hours, 13-18 limited to 12 hours. Children under 13 must receive education for 2 hours per workday, paid for by the worker.

• 1842: Mines Act – women, girls, and boys under the age of 10 prohibited from underground work.

• 1844: Factory Act – (textile mills only) workday for women and children aged 8-13 limited to 6.5 hours a day. Children must receive a minimum of 3 hours of education each day. Women forbidden to do nightwork and limited to 12 hours of work.

• 1847: Factory Act – workday for women and children aged 13-18 limited to 10 hours per day or 58 hours per week.

• 1853: Employment of Children in Factories Act – children aged 8- 13 cannot work before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m., or 2 p.m. on Saturday

• 1867: Factory Act Extension Act and Hours of Labour Regulation Act – earlier factory legislation extended to include nontextile factories and workshops. Prohibits employment of children under 8. Children 8-13 years must receive minimum of 10 hours of education per week

• 1867: Agricultural Gangs Act – prohibited employment of children under 8 and employment of women and children in a field gang that includes men

Image Credit:

http://industrialrevolutionresearch.com/images/factory3.jpg

Housing

Neko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:25:49 +0000

Rich families in Britain lived in large estates. They had large gardens and mansions with many rooms. An example of one of these estates is Cliffe Castle in Keighley.

This is a picture of the modern day Cliffe Castle. As you can see, it is very big and grand. Compare it with the picture of a tenement below.

Poorer families in Britain lived in small and crowded tenements. Families with four to five children shared rooms. There was no running water, no windows, and no backyards. The stairs were steep and dangerous to climb. Families had to share an outside bathroom and water pumps. Smoke produced from factories polluted the air blocked the sunlight. Trash was thrown on the streets, and the streets were so dirty that more than 31,000 people died of diseases like cholera in 1832. Basically, tenement conditions were horrible and unsuitable for living in. People only lived in them because they were poor and had no other choice. Eventually, Parliament passed laws that made living conditions better. Proper sewers and drains were built, streets were paved, and lights were installed.

This is a cartoon about poverty. The skeleton, the people, and the water pump represent how people died from diseases.

Image Credits:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3064253.jpg
http://teacherlink.org/content/social/instructional/industrialrevolution/urbantenement.jpg
http://forquignon.com/history/global/industrial_revolution/death_dispense.jpg