Industrial RevolutionThe Beginnings of Change

Section 12.2

Life in Pre-industrial EuropeSection 1

• Most people made a living by farming • Majority of population lived in rural areas• High infant mortality rate kept family sizes small• Low life expectancy• People rarely traveled outside of their village• Villages were subsistent

Enclosure Movement• Parliament passed laws that allowed

landowners to take over and fence off private and common lands

• Landowners felt that large farms with enclosed fields would increase farming efficiency and productivity

• Many small farmers, dependent on village lands, were forced to move to towns and cities to find work.

Agricultural Revolution• When innovation and competition replaced

traditional methods of farming• Improved quality, quantity and profitability of

agriculture• Switch from subsistence to commercial farming• Able to provide more food for people living in cities,

many of whom were displaced farmers

The Industrial Revolution began

when power driven machinery in factories replaced work done at

home.•New Textile machinery was too large and costly for most workers to use in their homes•Production of goods moved to large buildings•Workers came to the machines•Production increased

Factors influencing growth of Industry• Capital-Money to invest

– Parliament passed laws encouraging people to invest– Aristocracy and Middle Class began investing

• Natural Resources- – Iron, Coal, Water– Places that had lots of natural resources and waterways flourished

• Labor Supply-– Displaced farmers moving to the cities to find work– People were living longer

– Food was more available and healthier, – Better medicine

• Technology– Advances in Machinery – Advances in travel

Why Great Britain was the first to Industrialize Section 3

• Natural resources readily available• Large labor force• British laws banned anyone from leaving the

country with knowledge of industrial machinery

• Growing Middle class meant more people able to invest in industry

Other important factors

• Mass Production- Precise machines produce huge quantities of identical goods

• Division of Labor- Each worker performs a specialized task on a product as it is moved on a conveyor belt or assembly line

• Capitalism- Free Enterprise• Business cycle-

Business Cycle

Depression- Lowest point in the business cycle, prolonged contraction in economic activity

Expansion/

Boom

Contraction/

Bust

Business Cycle