1. The Reasons for the Industrial Revolution

• Changing Landscapes Interactive (basic) chart showing how the different factors below interacted.

     a) Population Growth:

• Population Trebles BBC article on the impact of growth 

     b) Agricultural Revolution to feed the growing population:

• Agricultural revolution. Excellent key points from BBC bitesize site:
  • The open-field system   
  • Agricultural improvements and improvers 
  • The Enclosure Movement

Agricultural Revolution in England 1500 - 1850 Detailed and thorough BBC site. From the 16th century onwards, an essentially organic agriculture was gradually replaced by a farming system that depended on technology.

Biographies from the BBC of : Jethro Tull & Robert Bakewell

     c) Inventions to clothe the growing population:

• Inventions and inventors Basic description of the main inventions.
• Steam power. Detailed BBC Bitesize account.
• The Cornish Beam Engine Animation of how this worked!! The1834 engine was originally developed to pump out floodwater from the deep mines that are found in Cornwall.
• Building Ironbridge Go on a virtual tour of the 1777 bridge. Abraham Darby III began designing and erecting 378 tons of cast iron, to build a bridge in the Shropshire gorge, on the banks of the River Severn.

     d) Raw Materials to produce and fuel the new inventions:

• Coal:
  • The coal industry The first page gives the overview, the others show how the industry grew. BBC Bitesize.
  • James Watt & Thomas Newcomen Basic outline as a starter
  • Coal mines & Children in Coal Mines - worksheet Basic outlines as a starter
• Iron:
  • The iron industry The first page gives the overview, the others show how the industry grew. BBC Bitesize.

     e) Transport to get raw materials & products to the customers:

• Road transport in the 18th century,  Turnpike Trusts &  Road improvers The key points from BBC Bitesize.
• Water transport, The Duke of Bridgewater, James Brindley & The new canal system. The key points from BBC Bitesize.
• Railways The key points from BBC Bitesize.

     f) Money to pay for the machines, raw materials and factories:

Slave-related trade & Profit margins. Two articles from the BBC's Abolition of the Slave Trade site that show how the Slave trade helped to provide the money to pay for Britain's early industrialisation as well as its first key overseas markets.

     g) Enterprising individuals to take advantage of the changes:

• Textile Entrepreneurs. List of the early entrepeneurs from Spartacus. Including
  • Richard Arkwright 
  • John Bright
  • John Fielden
  • Samuel Greg
  • Robert Owen
  • Titus Salt

• Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire?  History Simulation game from the  BBC. You have to plan a cotton factory to make as much money as possible! As you play, your stacks of money will rise and fall, depending on the choices you make, and you'll find out if you can make it as a Victorian entrepreneur. Choose well, make money and the business will survive. Choose badly, and the businessman could end up in debtors' prison.

      h) General

Pre-conditions of the Industrial Revolution. Clearly set out listing of factors from the Victorian Web. Good place to start. See also the well detailed Chronology.

The Workshop of the World The Industrial revolution promoted the world's first industrial and consumer-oriented society in Britain. Pat Hudson looks at the forces that made Britain the workshop of the world and explains why this industrial dominance lasted such a short time.

• Was there an Industrial Revolution? Looks at what really did start the revolution, or if it was not even a sudden change at all. Excellent key points from BBC bitesize site

 

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4. Life in the new industrial Towns

• Life in Industrial Towns   Disease in industrial towns Basic outlines as a starter
• Use these detailed Spartacus pages for descriptions, images and source support on:
  • Towns & Cities (Click on a specific town from this page)
  • Poverty, Health and Housing (click for a particular reformer or to see poverty in the key towns)
  • London in the 19th Century (click for a key building, area or event from the time in London's history)
• The Workhouse The Workhouse often conjures up the grim world of Oliver Twist, but its story is a fascinating mix of social history, politics, economics and architecture. This site is dedicated to the workhouse — its buildings, inmates, staff and administrators, even its poets...
• Muck and Brass In this game you have to help iron out some of these extremes and improve the image of "Cottonopolis". To succeed you will have to think and act like a Victorian. The results of your decisions will be measured in a macabre combination of coffins and coins. Your unenviable task is to keep the city's coffers full whilst trying to save as many of your citizens as possible from an early grave. The choices are tough and the dilemmas real. How ready is your conscience for the realities of Victorian Britain? Play 'Muck and Brass' to find out.

Population Growth in a 19th century City & Housing & Health in a 19th century City. Well illustrated and detailed, but difficult in places. See also the section on Work in the City which has good pictures of the various types of jobs done to keep the new cities at work.

Working Life and the First Modern Census detailed BBC essay which uses the census of 1801 and 1901 to show that Britain's working practices changed dramatically during the 19th century, and that the changes varied greatly throughout the land.

London's 'Great Stink' and Victorian Urban Planning Cholera epidemics, the 'Great Stink' and miasmas combined to create a death rate in Britain's cities higher than at any time since the Black Death. This lengthy BBC site shows how the Government was forced to face up to the need to improve conditions.

Saltaire: A successful industrial township The Industrial Revolution and its social consequences. Looks in detail at the working of Titus salt's factory town. BBC site with good pictures and links to other sites.

 

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