Lecture 42: Spread of the Industrial Revolution to 1900

Spread of the Industrial Revolution to 1900 ...................................

LECTURE

What made the Modern Revolution so different is that instead of

dying away like this, the process of innovation continued and spread

around the entire world—and it’s still continuing today, more than two

centuries later.

W

ithin just two centuries industrialization had transformed the

entire world. No earlier transformation in human history had

been so rapid or so far-reaching. This lecture describes the impact

of industrialization before 1900. There were four main waves of change

before 1900. The ¿ rst wave began in the late 18th century. It mainly affected

Britain and the western edge of Europe. New technologies included a more

productive Agrarian sector, improved steam engines, the mechanization of

textile production, and increased production of coal and iron.

The second wave took place early in the 19th century. Innovation accelerated

in many parts of western Europe, and also along the eastern seaboard of the

newly independent U.S. Technological changes included the increased use of

steam engines in manufacturing and the spread of railways and steamships.

Steam transportation sped up commercial exchanges and cut transportation

costs, which stimulated commerce and manufacturing, particularly in large

countries such as the U.S. or Canada, where cheaper land transport had a

revolutionary impact on commerce in general.

The third wave dominated the middle decades of the 19th century.

Industrialization accelerated within Europe, particularly within Germany

(now united economically within a common custom zone, the Zollverein)

and in the eastern U.S. Technological innovations included the industrial

production of chemicals (such as dyes and arti¿ cial fertilizers), steel-making

(with the introduction of the Bessemer process), and the industrial use of

electricity. Domestic lighting revolutionized patterns of work and leisure by

lighting up the night. Railways, and new and more powerful weapons such

as machine guns, revolutionized warfare. The American Civil War was the

¿ rst major war of the industrial era. The telegraph (¿ rst introduced in 1837)