8.5 part 1 Flashcards
• What was arguably the most important “invention” of the industrial revolution?
James Watt developed perhaps the most important invention of the era with his steam engine made in 1776. In a broader sense it was large scale production, where lot’s of workers worked in one place. Factories.
What was the new method of production called in the IR?
The method of production is called “the factory system”
• How did manufacturing take place before the “factory system”?
Before the IR, production was a “cottage industry” a skilled worker working in their house
• Give examples of some of the local trades and what they made before the factory system.
- Blacksmith - iron items e.g. horseshoes, bridles, kettles, saucepans, pots
Weavers - they wove cloth from yarn
Cartwrights - carts for loads and buggies
Wheelwrights - all shapes and sizes of wheels
Miller - ground to wheat, to flour and then to bake bread
Contrast the “skill” level of the old system with the “Skill” level of the factory system.
Old system->skilled worker/new system-unskilled.
Fewer of these workers were skilled because most of the manufacturing was done by machines.
• How were the machines in the new factories powered?
Watermills first then steam, later electricity
What was produced in the first factories?
Cotton mills.
• What were the inventions that enabled the cotton mill to mass produce cotton and wool?
Flying shuttle, spinning jenny, water frame, Crompton’s mule.
• How did the flying shuttle work?
It allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics, which meant it was much faster then by hand.
• How did the spinning jenny work?
Spins multiple yarns of cotton thread at once.
What was innovative about the water frame?
Was an improved spinning machine, powered by water.
• What did the invention known as Crompton’s mule allow?
A single power source to power multiple machines.
