Industrialisation and globalisation

The industrial revolution begins in Britain in the 18th century. New methods make farming more efficient and fewer farm workers are needed. The population is increasing, but at the same time, many people become unemployed. The unemployed move to the cities and become cheap labor in the newly established textile industry. These changes in agriculture and the migration to the cities lay the foundation for the industrial revolution.

In Britain, there are also abundant supplies of two commodities: Iron ore and Coal, natural resources that are important to the new industries. From iron ore, you can extract iron and coal can be used for heating. These two factors in combination help to accelerate the progress of the industrial revolution. The first machines used in industry have until now mostly been constructed of wood. This means they do not last long.

The stresses on the wood become too high. New machines of iron and steel are needed. In order to melt the iron ore and purify it into iron, a lot of fuel is needed. For fuel, they use charcoal, but there are hardly any trees left in Britain. Almost all forest has been cut down.

The British have to import the charcoal, so it’s expensive to manufacture iron. Coal can be used, but the iron becomes contaminated. So, its quality is poor. In 1784, a method is invented: a process called puddling, which makes it possible to use coal in the production of iron. Now, you can make pure iron cheaply and build lots of new machines.

One of the most important inventions in the 18th century is the steam engine. This is an engine driven by water vapor – steam. Water vapor is created by burning coal. The first steam engines are used to pump water from mines. In 1765, a mechanic, James Watt, repairs a steam engine.

He makes so many changes and improvements to this steam engine that he is usually called the inventor of the steam engine. His improvements now make it possible for steam engines to drive boats, trains and a variety of machines. The good thing about the steam engine is that now you don’t have to depend on water, wind or muscle power to drive machines. Now, a factory does not need to be by a river, but can be built anywhere. They are often built near coal mines where there is plenty of coal to be used as fuel.

Around the coal mines, large steel works often appear. And at the end of the 18th century, Britain is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of steel. The new industries require new transportation routes. Coal mines and steel works are sometimes far from towns and ports and the roads in Britain are often bad. Now, the British start to build new and better roads, which make it easier to transport heavy cargos of, for example, coal and iron ore between factories, towns and ports.

They build a network of roads, but the really big improvement in transport is the railway. In the early 19th century, Richard Trevithick builds the first locomotive driven by a steam engine. Ten years later, it is improved by George Stephenson. Now, it is possible to carry large and heavy cargos, but people are suspicious. They think that the train rushes at life threatening speed.

Some even believe you can get brain damage at the dizzying speed of 18 Kilometers per hour. But the suspicion soon passes when the British begin to understand how efficient the railway is. By the middle of the 19th century, there are railway networks throughout much of Britain. The locomotive becomes a symbol of technological success. The fire horses, as the trains are nicknamed, make real horses obsolete, and both passengers and cargo now travel by train.

And it’s not only trains that are driven by steam. Early in the 19th century, the American Robert Fulton builds the first steam boat and a 100 years later, half of all the ships on the world’s oceans are steam driven. The new inventions in the 19th century make goods from all over the world travel further and faster than ever. Continents are linked by trade. Industry and the steam engine begin what we call globalisation.