Industrial Revolution Research

Industrial Revolution - Textile Industry

Spinning Jenny

The textile industry significantly grew during the Industrial Revolution. The demand for cloth grew, so merchants had to compete with others for the supplies to make it. This raised a problem for the consumer because the products were at a higher cost. The solution was to use machinery, which was cheaper then products made by hand (which took a long time to create), therefore allowing the cloth to be cheaper to the consumer. In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell set up the first American textile factory. It combined the tasks that were needed to transform raw cotton into finished cotton. One of the new spinning machines to produce cloth faster was the “spinning jenny,” invented by Englishman James Hargreaves. This new machine connected multiple spinning wheels in such a manner that up to eight threads can be processed at once. Unfortunately, this machine was so beneficial that it replaced workers- resulting in riots. In 1789, Samuel Slater memorized the secrets to textile manufacturing and brought them over to America to build the first water-powered cotton mill in America; being set up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

With the growth of the concept of factories, England experienced a huge increase in textile production. Previously, production had taken place in the cottages. By the late 1700s, new factories were built in northern England that employed thousands of workers. Small factory towns grew into cities almost seemingly overnight.

England's new factory cities were dominated by the economic activity surrounding the textile mills. However the new cities were poorly planned due to their rapid growth and soon became heavily polluted. They lacked sewers, paved streets, and safe water supplies. Workers lived in poorly constructed shacks in the crowded areas near the factories. Specifically, Manchester's population grew from 25,000 in 1700 to 450,000 in 1850! As such, Manchester became the leading producer of textile products.

The cities' population was clearly divided into two social statuses: the mill owners and the workers. The mill owners were hard-working, aggressive people who were able to turn small investments in to fortunes. They were often ruthless in their pursuit of profits. Unfortunately, most of them cared little about their workers, who lived in poverty. The mill owners became the wealthiest and most powerful people in the new industrial cities. The workers, however, made up the majority of the population and owned almost nothing. They lived in the worst sections of the city and constantly struggled to make enough money to survive. They often worked fourteen or sixteen hours a day in the textile mills for very low wages. Conditions in the mills were unhealthy: the air was filled with dust from the cotton, and the temperature was extremely hot in the summer and very cold in the winters. Accidents often occurred when exhausted workers fell asleep at their machines.

International trade was very important to the success of the factories. The production of clothing and other cotton items increased dramatically with the use of the new machines. The English people (especially near Manchester) bought much of the clothing that was produced, but didn't need all of it. As such, manufacturers needed new markets for their cotton goods. For many years, England had traded its products with other nations, and with growth of the factory system, England's trade increased substantially. A large portion of England's textile production went to China, India, Africa, and other parts of the world that had not begun to industrialize.

England also needed to broaden its trade to ensure sources of cotton. English farmers could not grow cotton because of the cold climate, so it had to be imported from other countries. At first, most of the cotton can from the West Indian Islands (a colony of England). After 1800, more and more cotton came from the slaved plantations of the southern United States. By 1840 England obtained three-fourths of its cotton from the United States.

Industrial cities began in other European countries soon after they appeared in England. France, Belgium, and Germany soon saw their cities develop many of the same characteristics that Manchester had. However, none of these cities ever approached the level of production or degree of poverty for which Manchester was notorious.