Referat Im Fach English
Mai jos puteti citi fragmente din
Referat Im Fach English si de asemenea puteti face
Download Referat im fach englishCiteste fragmente din Referat Im Fach English
Reasons why the Industrial Revolution began
. The Industrial Revolution began in G.B. because social ,political and
legal conditions were particularly favourable to change. Britain was in
quite a unique position. At that time, it was the only country in the
world that had all the right ingredients in place for industrial growth
to take off. Firstly and most importantly, there was a rising
population. Between 1751 and 1851, the population of Britain had more
than doubled. This created a demand for goods, which in turn stimulated
growth and provided a labour force. Population growth was not unique to
Britain at that time, but it was the country in the best position to
meet its demands. Britain had ready access to all the raw materials it
required, such as wood for charcoal, coal, iron ore, wool, and cotton
.Britain was also at war with France; this in itself created an extra
demand for goods, but it also taught Britain to be self-sufficient. Cut
off from the rest of Europe by Napoleon, Britain had to look for other
trade routes. Its citizens also had to learn how to manufacture many of
the goods they needed themselves, as they could no longer purchase them
from their neighbours, thereby forcing the introduction and development
of new ideas. Britain also had the people to exploit these resources
through their innovative new industrialists. Many were non-conformists,
isolated from the rest of society and unable to enter fields like
politics, so they chose to shine through business and industry. The
British Government at the time was purposefully laissez-faire towards
business, allowing it to develop by itself, making Britain arguably
freer to develop than most countries, enabling the new industrialists to
prosper.
Agrarian Revolution
Change and development is continious in the history of any nation .In
some conditions development
Is so slow that the pattern of society barely seems to change in the
course of centuries.At other times
Circumstances combine to alter social and economic life so rapidly that
the change can be noted in the
Life of an individual. After centuries of comparatively slow development
in Britain, from the middle of
The 18th century ,became involved in a series of rapid agrarian and
industrial changes which both to
Contemporaries and to after generations appeared revolutionary.
The factors which brought about the greatest changes in the existing
system were the adoption of new
Farming techniques ,machines and methods , the enclosure of open fields
and the growing population.
New farming techniques consisted of improvements in crop rotation , soil
fertilization and selective
Breeding allied with the development of new machinery.
Four names are commonly associated with these innovations:
Jethro Tull (1674-1741) is best remembered for the invention of the seed
drill, which planted in rows, rather than broadcasting, thus allowing
hoeing between rows.
Charles Townsgend ( 1674-1738) introduced marl a mixture of clay and
lime –to his sandy Norfolk estates. He advocated the use of turnips
as fodder as an addition to traditional rotational crops.
Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) pioneered selective breeding and developed
quick-fattening sheep for mutton.
Thomas Coke ( 1725-1842) set out to educate farmers in new methods. He
initiated agricultural shows and encouraged his tenant farmers to
improve their methods by granting them long leases.
In 1750 much of the British countryside was farmed by an open field
system. This suited a system geared to subsistence farming. Large open
fields were divided into strips either owned by freeholders or rented
from the local squire by tenants. However, open fields farming was in
some way wasteful. It often meant long walks between a farmer’s
different parcels of land and the loss of acreage to path and tracks
among the fields. It encouraged the spread of weeds and plant diseases.
Fields were susceptible to damage from unfenced animals which also made
selective breeding impossible .This open field system was not found
everywhere. Enclosure meant joining the strips of open field to make
larger compact pieces of land. Half the country was already enclosured ,
especially the areas catering for the markets of large cities such as
London. . Some farmers had bought or exchanged land in order to
facilitate enclosure. The extent of this enclosure is difficult to
document as opposed to the later Parliamentary enclosures which were the
climax of the transformation of British agriculture. There were two
great periods of enclosure -the 1760s and 70s and the period of the
Napoleonic Wars from 1793-1815. In both cases the timing was due to the
opportunities for greater profits due to high cereal prices and the
initiative was taken by large landowners. Prior to 1740 most land was
enclosed by agreement between the major landowners but where smaller
landowners opposed it an Act of Parliament had to be obtained. After
1750 this became the accepted practice.
The effects of enclosure were both economic and social. Enclosure
facilitated new agricultural methods and led to more land under
cultivation. It enabled livestock farming to work in tandem with arable
farming and encouraged selective breeding. However, it meant a decline
in the number of small landowners and cottagers and many farm labourers
left for the industrialising cities. This migration away from the land
was compensated for by the increased volume and regularity of employment
for those who remained. There was still little labour saving machinery
and enclosure meant work putting up fences and hedges, building new
farms, and making roads to transport the increased volume of produce.
The numbers engaged in agriculture rose from 1.7 million in 1801 to 2.1
million in 1851, but this did not match the increase in agricultural
output. This meant that farm labourers were becoming more productive,
which coupled with the rise in population, released workers from the
land.
When assessing the changes in agriculture between 1750 and 1815
it is also important to look at its relationship with industry. In fact
there were no direct links - both helped each other. True, the growth in
population created a greater demand for agricultural products but at the
same time farmers embraced new methods and often helped to finance
improved transport systems which allowed them to feed the workers of the
ever-expanding industrial cities. Landowners exploited the mineral
deposits under their land, or used it for developing urban estates.
Money was also moved from country banks to the cities. At the same time
some industrialists invested in agriculture, sensing the possibility of
high profits.
In conclusion it can be seen that in as much as there was an agrarian
revolution between 1750 and 1815 it was a slow one, and a continuation
of earlier changes. There was a diffusion of new ideas , but it was
hindered by the considerable regional differences in agricultural
practice. However, the uniquely English system of landholding was well
suited to change. Large landowners had the capital to invest in
innovation. It was in the interest of the tenant-farmers to change their
existing methods and there was a large rural labour force on hand to
carry out the changes. The end of the open field system and the
enclosure of previously unusable land meant that during this period the
acreage of cultivable land increased. Finally, all this meant that
agriculture was able to sustain the increased demand for food caused by
the growth in population, while itself reaping some of the rewards of
The Industrial Revolution.
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a revolution which included the change of
industrial methods of productivity. Its most significant issue was the
development of new inventions their fast spreading. Moreover, it was a
drastic transformation from “ work done by hand to work done by
machine “ and it also changed the system of production: from the
domestic to the factory system.
The first Industrial Revolution: a) “ Iron and Coal, Steam and Textile
“
Iron and Coal:
A major breakthrough in the use of coal occurred in 1709 at
Coalbrookedale in the valley of the Severn River. There English
industrialist Abraham Darby successfully used cokeâ€â€a high-carbon,
converted form of coalâ€â€to produce iron from iron ore. Using coke
eliminated the need for charcoal, a more expensive, less efficient fuel.
Metal makers thereafter discovered ways of using coal and coke to speed
the production of raw iron, bar iron, and other metals.
These advances in metalworking were an important part of
industrialization. They enabled iron, which was relatively inexpensive
and abundant, to be used in many new ways, such as building heavy
machinery. Iron was well suited for heavy machinery because of its
strength and durability. Because of these new developments iron came to
be used in machinery for many industries.
b) Steam :
If iron was the key metal of the Industrial Revolution, the steam engine
was perhaps the most important machine technology. Inventions and
improvements in the use of steam for power began prior to the 18th
century, as they had with iron. As early as 1689, English engineer
Thomas Savery created a steam engine to pump water from mines.
HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761559533"
Thomas Newcomen , another English engineer, developed an improved
version by 1712. Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761564086"
James Watt made the most significant improvements, allowing the steam
engine to be used in many industrial settings, not just in mining. Early
mills had run successfully with water power, but the advancement of
using the steam engine meant that a factory could be located anywhere,
not just close to water.
In 1775 Watt formed an engine-building and engineering partnership with
manufacturer HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761589197"
Matthew Boulton . This partnership became one of the most important
businesses of the Industrial Revolution. Boulton & Watt served as a kind
of creative technical center for much of the British economy. They
solved technical problems and spread the solutions to other companies.
Similar firms did the same thing in other industries and were especially
important in the machine tool industry. This type of interaction between
companies was important because it reduced the amount of research time
and expense that each business had to spend working with its own
resources. The technological advances of the Industrial Revolution
happened more quickly because firms often shared information, which they
then could use to create new techniques or products.
Like iron production, steam engines found many uses in a variety of
other industries, including steamboats and railroads. Steam engines are
another example of how some changes brought by industrialization led to
even more changes in other areas.
C) Textile
The industry most often associated with the Industrial Revolution is the
textile industry. In earlier times, the spinning of yarn and the weaving
of cloth occurred primarily in the home, with most of the work done by
people working alone or with family members. This pattern lasted for
many centuries. In 18th-century Great Britain a series of extraordinary
innovations reduced and then replaced the human labor required to make
cloth. Each advance created problems elsewhere in the production process
that led to further improvements. Together they made a new system to
supply clothing.
The first important invention in textile production came in 1733.
British inventor HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761575691"
John Kay created a device known as the flying shuttle, which partially
mechanized the process of weaving. By 1770 British inventor and
industrialist HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761575569"
James Hargreaves had invented the spinning jenny, a machine that spins
a number of threads at once, and British inventor and cotton
manufacturer HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761578828"
Richard Arkwright had organized the first production using
water-powered spinning. These developments permitted a single spinner to
make numerous strands of yarn at the same time. By about 1779 British
inventor Samuel Crompton introduced a machine called the mule, which
further improved mechanized spinning by decreasing the danger that
threads would break and by creating a finer thread.
Throughout the textile industry, specialized machines powered either by
water or steam appeared. Row upon row of these innovative, highly
productive machines filled large, new mills and factories. Soon Britain
was supplying cloth to countries throughout the world. This industry
seemed to many people to be the embodiment of an emerging, mechanized
civilization.
D) The final developments were made in transport
Between the period of 1760 and 1810 canals were built , macadamised
roads and railways from 1825.
The second Industrial Revolution : “ Electricity and Chemicals “
The second Industrial revolution utilized the power of electricity to
help the development of technology and to help social and home life .
Further more inventions like
the telegraph by S. Morse ( 1836)
the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (1876)
the development of the first electric generator by Michael Faraday
(1831)
the electric coil/ the Tesla coil by Nicholas Tesla ( 1880)
the diesel engine by R. Diesel (1892)
……. Facilitated the
development of all industries and trade !
Social conditions
In the factories, people had to work long hours under harsh conditions,
often with few rewards. Factory owners and managers paid the minimum
amount necessary for a work force, often recruiting women and children
to tend the machines because they could be hired for very low wages.
Soon critics attacked this exploitation, particularly the use of
HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761552027"
child labor .
The nature of work changed as a result of HYPERLINK
"http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761562402"
division of labor , an idea important to the Industrial Revolution that
called for dividing the production process into basic, individual tasks.
Each worker would then perform one task, rather than a single worker
doing the entire job. Such division of labor greatly improved
productivity, but many of the simplified factory jobs were repetitive
and boring. Workers also had to labor for many hours, often more than 12
hours a day, sometimes more than 14, and people worked six days a week.
Factory workers faced strict rules and close supervision by managers and
overseers. The clock ruled life in the mills.
Children were exploited and forced to work in dreadful conditions. They
were beaten when they didn’t do their work. Most children became very
tired and were frequently found asleep on the mill floors. This was not
surprising when children as young as 6 or 7 were working 14 hour days,
with no substantial breaks for meals, some with only half an hour in the
middle of the day to sit down, eat and rest. Even heavily pregnant women
and women who had just had children were known to be working in the
mills and mines.
There is evidence in reports from the mid 1800’s, including one in
1843 which said that young children working in the cotton mills and
factories were beaten cruelly for making minor errors. They were said to
be beaten with whatever tools their boss could find, including hammers,
sticks with leather attached to them, whips, straps and files. Some
children were also punched and kicked.ÂÂ
At most work places there was hardly any safety precautions taken at
all. There were no protective guards on the machines and most workers
wore bare feet. A lot of the workers were in constant danger whilst
doing their jobs. Young and small children were forced to put their
lives at risk by picking up cotton from underneath deadly machinery that
was still in motion. Also at the mills, older children that were too big
to crawl under the machines had to pull heavy baskets all day long.
The tired children and adults that worked all day long at tip punching
machines were in constant danger of their fingers or hands being punched
off, some children’s arms were even broken.
Apprentice system : children had to be apprenticed to a trade ,but
didn’t earn money for their work.
Another bad point about the Industrial Revolution is that the living
conditions also got worse after 1750. As many peoples’ jobs moved into
the towns and cities the people also ended up moving house with their
jobs. The houses were built very closely together in narrow streets.
Lots of them were terraced houses.
. The houses were built very closely together. People bought, for
example, an acre of land and then built and sold as many houses as they
could on the land with no reference to drainage or anything. Nobody
could do anything about it. Most of the houses didn’t have a water
supply. Some people went down to the nearest river to collect their
water, although this wasn’t sufficient for drinking or washing. In
some towns the water was turned on for a certain amount of time each
day, in Liverpool it was turned on for four hours. The poor had to tap
for it.
Another bad thing was that there were no proper refuse collections.
Rubbish was thrown into the middle of the narrow streets along with
sewage and all sorts of refuse. Some of the sewage in towns such as
London went down gutters into the rivers, along with dead bodies of
animals and humans which were also thrown in. This sounds bad enough but
the place where this sort of thing was thrown was very close to where
people collected their water for washing and drinking.
The population rose very quickly. Between 1801 and 1841 the population
doubled from 10.5 million to 21 million. Industrial towns grew even more
quickly. Manchester’s population rose from 75,000 to 450,000. Many
towns grew so fast that living conditions become worse. Some families
lived in the cellars of houses.
Some families managed to fit about 9 people in one tiny cellar, and also
a couple of pigs! The 1840 Report on the Health of Towns recorded 39,000
people living in 8,000 one-room cellars under houses. These statistics
show that living conditions were very poor in the cities in the
1840’s. Of course not everybody lived in city slums with overcrowded
conditions and poor waste disposal, although the country cottages were
often cold and damp.
Many children that were born died before they grew up. Cholera was the
new killer disease at the time. It came into Sunderland from abroad and
was spread through the water supply. There were epidemics in 1832, 1838,
1848 and 1854. Thousands died from it. Seven thousand died of cholera in
September 1849 in London alone! There were also many more infectious
diseases including typhoid, spread by lice and tuberculosis, carried by
bacteria in the air. There were no vaccinations or cures to these new
diseases, so nothing could be done but to let the children and other
sufferers die.
There was a lot of poverty and quite a few homeless people.
IV. Reforms
In 1842 Parliament appointed a Royal Commission to find out about
working conditions. In the mines the commission discovered the bad
working conditions and did something about them. The Mines Act of 1842
stated that no females could be employed in mines and neither could boys
under 10 years of age. The Factories Act of 1833 stated that no child
under the age of 9 must work in a textile mill and that those up to
thirteen must work for no longer than 48 hours each week and must attend
school for 12 hours each week.
The wages and conditions of many workers improved with the reforms and
increasing power of the trade unions. More people were allowed to vote
after the 1867 Reform Act, and in 1870 the Education Act provided
schooling for all children .Instead of having to work from a young age
,children of the poor were given the opportunity to learn to read and
write.
The 1874 Factories and Workshops Act made a maximum of a 56 and a half
hour week for all factory workers. This meant a ten-hour day Mondays to
Fridays and 6 and a half hours on Saturdays. The 1878 Factories and
Workshops Act applied all previous laws and sent inspectors to every
workplace with machinery, so all workers in industry were protected.
Working conditions were quite pleasant after these acts had taken place
and the government inspectors had inspected all of the mines and
factories. These reforms had improved the quality of work for nearly
everybody.
There were also important reforms in living conditions. The problem of
the disposal of human waste was solved by the 1875 Public Health Act.
That act stated that there must be drains, toilets and underground
sewage systems in all streets. The problem about the filthy water supply
was solved in 1848, by the Public Health Act that stated that home
owners could receive piped water in their houses for a small charge. The
other main problem was the poor quality housing. This was solved by the
1875 Artisans Dwellings Act that stated that slums must be cleared,
there should be thicker walls on houses and that all houses must have a
sewage system.
The 1875 Public Health Act also solved the problem of poor personal
hygiene. Public Baths were opened, which gave the public a place to
wash.
Results of the Industrial Revolution
Before the Industrial Revolution most families stayed at home for most
of the day working, some even spent their leisure time at home. During
the Industrial Revolution, mainly in the late 19th century, there was a
growth in new entertainment. This was partly because of the working
people who were beginning to get more time off work. Another reason why
so many people began to travel away from their home towns and cities was
because of the excellent railway network, with its’ cheap fares. This
was ideal for travelling easily and quickly all around the country. It
became common for factory workers to be given the Saturday afternoon off
and in 1871 Bank Holidays were introduced. Many people visited their
local pub and drank heavily. Others discovered new forms of
entertainment including day excursions, football matches, music halls
and circuses.
Another very popular form of entertainment was the music halls. All of
the major cities had one, Birmingham and Liverpool had six each and
London had 50. A variety of shows were on including singers, comedians,
magicians and acrobats.
Another place that the whole family would enjoy visiting was the circus.
People could see amazing acts and things that they had never seen
before. Some famous circuses toured the whole of the country including
the Barnum and Bailey’s circus.
All of these changes to entertainment that happened in the Industrial
Revolution were good ones because they gave people something to do in
their spare time. They let people explore places that they’d never
been before, enjoy themselves with their family and friends and see
unusual performances and shows, instead of staying in their own town and
not going out, apart from to their local pub.
Also in the cities and towns a lot of public facilities were built for
the people including shops, libraries, public baths, music halls and
schools. Some of these I have already mentioned. The public could go out
and enjoy themselves and again see things that they’d never seen
before and find out more about the world outside of their local
environment.
ì¥Â