Monday, February 14, 2011

3.2.1.

One thing that I learned from this chapter was that the industrial revolution was not localized in Europe, but spread across the entire globe. I also learned that it was a revolution because of modernization of different industries due to many new inventions. And I also learned that the revolution sparked many reforms and different ideas about the role of government. One thing that I found interesting was the fact that children were being treated like adults in the workplace, being beaten and forced to work long hours. Another thing that I found interesting was the function of the many inventions created during the revolution. They were all created to make work easier and more efficient. One question I still have is why the legislative reforms didn't happen sooner. Why didn't people realize how bad the working conditions actually were?

Connection Across Time

One -ism that exists today that was introduced during the industrial revolution was the idea of communism. Communism is a form of complete socialism in which the means of production are owned by the people. Private property would cease to exist, and all goods and services are shared equally. Communism exists in several countries today, including China and North Korea.

Reform

Both the United States and Great Britain saw the need for new legislation. The new laws made made up what was known as the legislative reform. The new laws reformed some of the worst abuses of industrialization. In 1832, Parliament set up a committee to investigate child labor. They passed the Factory Act of 1833, making it illegal for children under the age of nine to be hired. In 1842, the Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. In the U.S., a group of progressive reformers organized the National Child Labor Committee. As a result, the Supreme Court allowed individual states to legally limit the working hours of women and, later, of men. In my opinion, the legislative reform was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before someone realized that a child working a 14 hour workday was intolerable.

Connection Across Time

One invention that has revolutionized the way we get around is the device known as satellite navigation. It uses a network of satellites known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS for short. The network consists of 24 Navstar satellites that were deployed by the U.S. Air Force. The GPS uses signals to determine our position on the earth, and it can give us directions to take in order to reach our destination. It has made traditional maps obsolete.

Water Frame

When the flying shuttle and the spinning jenny were first integrated into the textile industry, they were operated by hand. In 1769, a man named Richard Arkwright invented the water frame. The water frame used water from rapid streams to drive the flying shuttles and the spinning jennys, thus reducing the work that workers had to perform.

Spinning Jenny

In 1764, weavers were working much faster than spinners as a direct result from the flying shuttle. As a result, a man named James Hargreaves invented a spinning wheel he named after his daughter. The spinning jenny allowed one spinner to work eight threads at one time. It also allowed the spinners to keep up with the fast paced weavers, and it helped to further modernize the cotton industry.

Flying Shuttle

In 1733, a machinist named John Kay invented a machine that was meant modernize the cotton industry. He made a shuttle that sped back and forth on wheels. The machine was a boat-shaped pieve of wood to which yarn was attached. This, "Flying Shuttle", doubled the work a weaver cound do in one day. 

Introduction

This blog contains information on Chapter 9. Chapter 9 focuses on the Industrial Revolution, which took place from 1700-1900. An objective I have for this blog is to provide information on the Industrial Revolution and the many innovations that came as a direct result from it.