British Agricultural and Industrial Portfolio Guidelines British Industrial Revolution How did the development of factories system and changes in labor affect individuals, the communities and/or the world? British Industrial revolution was an important period of time in Britain's history. It changed the lifestyle of the British people. It also had an impact on the world by creating new innovations. These innovations were from the hunches in Great Britain colliding with other hunches from the other countries.The British Industrial Revolution changed the individuals and the societies. One major change was the growth of the development of factories and the changes in labor. The concepts of Steam Power, Cotton Gin and the Spinning Mule caused this change. These concepts had a big influence on the development of the factories and labor. This was part of the general Industrial Revolution in Britain and motivated people to move from villages to cities. Steam Power first got attention in 1712 after Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine. His engine harnessed the steam. Then this invention collided with new hunches improving the invention and creating new innovations. One big improvement was the James Watt condenser. This method got adapted throughout Britain and the world. The steam power used a lot of coal and this was great for Britain because there was abundance of coal located there. Factories didn’t have to be located near the water. According to wikipedia, by using a steam engine, a factory could be located anywhere, not just close to water. Water power varied with seasons and was not available at times due to freezing, floods and dry spells (2015). So sometimes when the water dried up or floods occurred the system of factory didn’t work so well but the power of steam prevented that. With steam engine factories, the machines were powered by steam that was time saving and limited the labor work.This also had a negative affect because less labor meant less people required so many people lost their jobs and it made their living very hard. Steam engine also improved the transportation which was essential to the factories. Transporting goods and materials became much more easier with the steam power trains and more products could be produced this way. People had more clothing material and the steam engine changed the lifestyle of the individuals, community and the world. 8 British Agricultural and Industrial Portfolio Guidelines The second concept, cotton gin was a huge invention in the cotton industry. Cotton was the main material during that time. People depended on cotton for clothing. There was an adequate amount of it in Britain. It was hard to remove the cotton fibre and the seed of the cotton. It took a lot of time and was very difficult. Then in 1794 Eli Whitney invented a machine called cotton gin. It could separate the seeds and the fibre easily with a comb. Then more cotton could be harvested. The seeds could grow more cotton and the fibre was used for clothing. Cotton gin was very time efficient and could do a lot of work. “One gin could do the work of fifty people”(uen.org, n.d). W
ith the invention of cotton gin, cotton became more famous and it started to be exported to other areas. Though this meant more slavery because more cotton was needed to be harvest. Slaves became very common. The third concept that made a change in the lifestyle of the individuals and societies is spinning mule. Spinning Mule was invented by Samuel Crompton. It is a combination of the Spinning Jenny and the water frame. Spinning Jenny and Water frame weren’t so efficient and took time to produce products like yarn. Spinning Mule limited the time and labor required. It was very time efficient. Due to less labor required, individuals lost their jobs. Some people had to leave and some of them were children so leaving could resent death and starvation. More products could be produced since there were many spinning mule spindles on one spinning mule. Spinning Mule was worked in pairs and it could also produce cotton and other yarns. Spinning Mule was a great step towards clothing. There were different types of materials available for clothing. Factories also made a lot of 9 British Agricultural and Industrial Portfolio Guidelines money by transporting some of the materials to the other factories. This invention of Spinning Mule was later on improved by William Horrocks in 1813 which improved its speed. There were many other innovations and inventions during the British Industrial Revolution. Some of them were related to agriculture and some of them were related to transportation. These inventions were improved later on. During this period of time Britain became very industrialized and it affected the other countries too like America. This period changed the lives of individuals and the communities differently. These 3 concepts that I mentioned had a big impact on the development of the factories and the changes in labor. It caused the people to move from villages to cities to industrialize and develop their lifestyle. 10 British Agricultural and Industrial Portfolio Guidelines References “Wikipedia.” Wikipedia . Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/steam_power_during_the_industrial_revolution “The Cotton Gin.” The Cotton Gin . Web. 29 Nov. 2015. http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/cotton_gin/pages/lesson.html “The Cotton Gin.” The Cotton Gin . Web. 29 Nov. 2015. http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/cotton_gin/pages/lesson.html “Crompton's Spinning Mule Frame, 1770s.” ­ . Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/textiles_machinery/1912­317.aspx “UEN Resources.” Utah Education Network . Web. 25 Nov. 2015. http://www.uen.org/ 11