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Unit 5 Overview
Unit 5 Overview
The Industrial Revolution brought on a dramatic change in how humans produced and distributed goods, transforming communities and networks around the world.
Think about the following questions as you watch the video
- How did people produce goods immediately prior to the Industrial Revolution?
- What big change led to the foundation of industrialization?
- How did industrialization change our sense of community?
- What happened to exports, labor, and CO2 emissions when states industrialized?
- What made Britain’s rapid industrialization possible? What evidence does the video use?
: Hey Kim!
: Hi Colby! Oh wow you look cold! Is there snow on the ground?
: Yeah we got five inches of snow yesterday.
: Shame you're not here in Australia with me. It's summer here.
: Seriously? But you guys you're only 18 hours ahead.
: Oh no, well I guess thanks to industrialization climate change is moving faster than we thought.
: Ahh hemisphere humor, never gets old.
: Hi I'm Kim Lochner.
: And I'm Colby Burnett. We're introducing Unit 5: Industrialization 1750-1914
: Political transformations shook the world in the long 19th century, ushering in new ideas about
: sovereignty and the rights of citizens. As if that wasn't enough, another dramatic transformation was
: taking place after 1750 but, more gradually. In this unit we'll look through the production and
: distribution frame to explore the story of that transformation: the birth of the industrialized
: world. Political revolutions changed who was allowed to participate in government. But
: the Industrial Revolution changed everything about how humans lived and worked. It sounds like I'm
: exaggerating, but really in terms of production and distribution the only thing in history
: as transformative as industrialization was the advent of farming thousands of years earlier.
: Most people living before industrialization did many things just like their ancestors had.
: The majority were farmers or herders. What they produced was for themselves
: and for local consumption. And it was made in the home or in small workshops.
: Most of the energy to do all this work came from their own muscles, from animals, or in some cases
: from water or wind. The Industrial Revolution changed all of this, pretty quickly in some places
: and slowly in others. It began with the discovery of how to use fossil fuels like coal and later oil
: to power machines to do work. Industrialization allowed humans to produce more goods and to
: transport them faster than ever before. With factories, steamships, and railroads shifts in how
: the economy distributed wealth within and between different communities were already underway
: and these new systems of production sped up those changes. Wealth was now concentrated in
: the hands of a few business leaders in industrial nations. In those nations, people moved from rural
: wage laborers. The model of an extended family
: living in the same large village broke down and was replaced by a nuclear family in a small
: apartment. While parents worked all day, schools emerged to train children to become workers.
: In this unit we focus on the diverse impacts of industrialization from 1750 to 1914.
: We investigate, "How did industrialization transform societies around the world?",
: "How did it change the way people worked, lived, and learned in the long 19th century?",
: "How did people react to these changes?", "How did all these changes contribute
: to creating the world we live in today?" One way to take on these questions is with data.
: Of course, we don't have all the numerical data for this era but we can combine the pieces we do
: have to get a picture of how things were changing. For example, countries that were industrialized
: could now make stuff quicker and cheaper than countries that weren't. This meant that they
: had more goods to export to other countries and they could sell those goods much cheaper than
: local merchants and producers could. In this chart we see how exports from Britain rose dramatically
: as it industrialized. Before about 1750, exports from all parts of Britain, including the regions
: of England and Wales, weren't that high. Sure they were slowly growing, but then in 1750 as Britain
: industrialized exports suddenly skyrocketed. We can contrast that with Spain, the Netherlands,
: and France which by 1800 hadn't really industrialized. None of these countries saw a big
: growth in exports like Britain. Then around 1800 we can also look at the dramatic decrease in the
: percentage of people working as farmers. This drop occurred in several European countries, including
: Britain and others that industrialized after it. This chart shows how quickly the percentage of
: people employed as farmers dropped in Britain around 1750 when their Industrial Revolution
: began. We can see the same change happening a little later in the Netherlands, Italy,
: and France as they industrialized. The change happened even later in Poland which industrialized
: last among these countries. Finally, we can look at the growth of CO2 emissions from 1750 on.
: These emissions came mostly from factories and other industrial sources. This map shows that
: emissions rose first in Western and Central Europe, especially in Britain, but it started
: slowly. Even in Britain industrialization was still quite limited between 1750
: and 1800 compared to later decades, then it began to rise more rapidly and other parts of Europe
: and the United States began to industrialize. Other regions followed more gradually.
: The rapid industrialization of countries like Britain was made possible by free labor and cheap
: labor as well as colonial resources. In colonies abroad it was the exploitation of resources and
: enslaved workers. At home it was the exploitation of wage laborers. Industrialization turned more
: and more women, men, and children into wage laborers. They worked in factories, farms,
: or offices for a weekly or hourly wage. Much of the world's population now formed a working class
: or proletariat: people who sold their labor because they had nothing else to sell.
: They were paid for their work and used that pay to buy consumer goods made by
: others. In other words wage laborers helped stimulate the free market economic system:
: the capitalist system. This transformation to paid work helped eliminate the legal status of slavery
: in much of the world. But the capital, free market economy also often featured low pay and terrible
: working conditions. Many formerly enslaved people now found themselves working for meager wages.
: The impact of industrialization was uneven and we can see evidence of this by zooming in on
: the British Caribbean colonies. In 1750 this was a society based on the labor of
: enslaved Africans. A middle class of overseers ran things for a ruling class of plantation owners.
: The enslaved workers experienced racism, danger, and violence, all the while they harvested and
: processed sugar that was in high demand in Europe and around the world. While political rights in
: Britain gradually expanded in the 19th century they were almost completely absent from Britain's
: colonial societies. But pressure for reform grew both from the enslaved people and from
: political liberals in Britain. Less than a century later in 1834 Britain abolished slavery and its
: colonies. Of course, the plantation owners still needed laborers. But formerly enslaved people
: wanted to grow food on their own land or start businesses. In response plantation owners...
: Plantation owners actually imported workers from other regions especially India.
: You're early.
: Well I just want to make sure we tell them that even though these
: Indian workers were not legally enslaved, they were indentured.
: Yes, they were contractually obligated to work for their employer for a period of years.
: Enslavement and indentured servitude often looked pretty similar though.
: The workers were treated terribly...
: They were treated terribly. They were confined to estates, brutally punished for any infraction,
: and paid pitiful amounts. Sorry go ahead.
: This is when you jump in.
: Oh okay. So then by the late 1840s Indian workers started to demand reforms. They wanted better
: treatment and better pay. Conditions improved only gradually. Plantation owners often tried
: to pit the formerly enslaved African workers against newly conscripted workers from India
: by offering one group advantages over the other. Eventually, workers united across the color line.
: Slowly, they achieved reforms. But labor in the sugar plantations of the Caribbean remained a
: difficult and underpaid job well into the 20th century when machines took over much of the work.
: The situation in the British Caribbean is one of many examples of the uneven effects
: of industrialization across different regions. As you will see in this unit. Egyptian
: industrialization took off and then stalled. Japanese industrialization was slow to start but
: it eventually propelled the country to great power status. Some regions, like India, saw a decline
: in production during the Industrial Revolution. Imperialism, which we discuss in the next unit,
: played a big role in these regional differences. People living in the same place also experienced
: the Industrial Revolution differently. The wealthy generally benefited from it. But workers
: and enslaved people often paid the costs. Many workers lived in crowded conditions and labored
: in filthy, dangerous jobs. Women's experiences were different from men's and the lives of rural
: people were very different from those living in cities. In each case, reformers rose to challenge
: the negative impacts of industrialization. But reform and change only came through prolonged
: struggles. Those struggles, as much as anything, help to create the world in which we live.
: So modern humans have existed for over 200,000 years,
: agricultural societies have been around for more than 12,000, but every aspect of
: modern life was from a change in production and distribution only two and a half centuries ago?
: It's like one of those makeover shows where the ugly duckling becomes a swan.
: Ahh but in this unit we'll ask is a swan better than a duckling?
: Actually, they're both delicious.
: What?
: I'm kidding.
: Hi Colby! Oh wow you look cold! Is there snow on the ground?
: Yeah we got five inches of snow yesterday.
: Shame you're not here in Australia with me. It's summer here.
: Seriously? But you guys you're only 18 hours ahead.
: Oh no, well I guess thanks to industrialization climate change is moving faster than we thought.
: Ahh hemisphere humor, never gets old.
: Hi I'm Kim Lochner.
: And I'm Colby Burnett. We're introducing Unit 5: Industrialization 1750-1914
: Political transformations shook the world in the long 19th century, ushering in new ideas about
: sovereignty and the rights of citizens. As if that wasn't enough, another dramatic transformation was
: taking place after 1750 but, more gradually. In this unit we'll look through the production and
: distribution frame to explore the story of that transformation: the birth of the industrialized
: world. Political revolutions changed who was allowed to participate in government. But
: the Industrial Revolution changed everything about how humans lived and worked. It sounds like I'm
: exaggerating, but really in terms of production and distribution the only thing in history
: as transformative as industrialization was the advent of farming thousands of years earlier.
: Most people living before industrialization did many things just like their ancestors had.
: The majority were farmers or herders. What they produced was for themselves
: and for local consumption. And it was made in the home or in small workshops.
: Most of the energy to do all this work came from their own muscles, from animals, or in some cases
: from water or wind. The Industrial Revolution changed all of this, pretty quickly in some places
: and slowly in others. It began with the discovery of how to use fossil fuels like coal and later oil
: to power machines to do work. Industrialization allowed humans to produce more goods and to
: transport them faster than ever before. With factories, steamships, and railroads shifts in how
: the economy distributed wealth within and between different communities were already underway
: and these new systems of production sped up those changes. Wealth was now concentrated in
: the hands of a few business leaders in industrial nations. In those nations, people moved from rural
: wage laborers. The model of an extended family
: living in the same large village broke down and was replaced by a nuclear family in a small
: apartment. While parents worked all day, schools emerged to train children to become workers.
: In this unit we focus on the diverse impacts of industrialization from 1750 to 1914.
: We investigate, "How did industrialization transform societies around the world?",
: "How did it change the way people worked, lived, and learned in the long 19th century?",
: "How did people react to these changes?", "How did all these changes contribute
: to creating the world we live in today?" One way to take on these questions is with data.
: Of course, we don't have all the numerical data for this era but we can combine the pieces we do
: have to get a picture of how things were changing. For example, countries that were industrialized
: could now make stuff quicker and cheaper than countries that weren't. This meant that they
: had more goods to export to other countries and they could sell those goods much cheaper than
: local merchants and producers could. In this chart we see how exports from Britain rose dramatically
: as it industrialized. Before about 1750, exports from all parts of Britain, including the regions
: of England and Wales, weren't that high. Sure they were slowly growing, but then in 1750 as Britain
: industrialized exports suddenly skyrocketed. We can contrast that with Spain, the Netherlands,
: and France which by 1800 hadn't really industrialized. None of these countries saw a big
: growth in exports like Britain. Then around 1800 we can also look at the dramatic decrease in the
: percentage of people working as farmers. This drop occurred in several European countries, including
: Britain and others that industrialized after it. This chart shows how quickly the percentage of
: people employed as farmers dropped in Britain around 1750 when their Industrial Revolution
: began. We can see the same change happening a little later in the Netherlands, Italy,
: and France as they industrialized. The change happened even later in Poland which industrialized
: last among these countries. Finally, we can look at the growth of CO2 emissions from 1750 on.
: These emissions came mostly from factories and other industrial sources. This map shows that
: emissions rose first in Western and Central Europe, especially in Britain, but it started
: slowly. Even in Britain industrialization was still quite limited between 1750
: and 1800 compared to later decades, then it began to rise more rapidly and other parts of Europe
: and the United States began to industrialize. Other regions followed more gradually.
: The rapid industrialization of countries like Britain was made possible by free labor and cheap
: labor as well as colonial resources. In colonies abroad it was the exploitation of resources and
: enslaved workers. At home it was the exploitation of wage laborers. Industrialization turned more
: and more women, men, and children into wage laborers. They worked in factories, farms,
: or offices for a weekly or hourly wage. Much of the world's population now formed a working class
: or proletariat: people who sold their labor because they had nothing else to sell.
: They were paid for their work and used that pay to buy consumer goods made by
: others. In other words wage laborers helped stimulate the free market economic system:
: the capitalist system. This transformation to paid work helped eliminate the legal status of slavery
: in much of the world. But the capital, free market economy also often featured low pay and terrible
: working conditions. Many formerly enslaved people now found themselves working for meager wages.
: The impact of industrialization was uneven and we can see evidence of this by zooming in on
: the British Caribbean colonies. In 1750 this was a society based on the labor of
: enslaved Africans. A middle class of overseers ran things for a ruling class of plantation owners.
: The enslaved workers experienced racism, danger, and violence, all the while they harvested and
: processed sugar that was in high demand in Europe and around the world. While political rights in
: Britain gradually expanded in the 19th century they were almost completely absent from Britain's
: colonial societies. But pressure for reform grew both from the enslaved people and from
: political liberals in Britain. Less than a century later in 1834 Britain abolished slavery and its
: colonies. Of course, the plantation owners still needed laborers. But formerly enslaved people
: wanted to grow food on their own land or start businesses. In response plantation owners...
: Plantation owners actually imported workers from other regions especially India.
: You're early.
: Well I just want to make sure we tell them that even though these
: Indian workers were not legally enslaved, they were indentured.
: Yes, they were contractually obligated to work for their employer for a period of years.
: Enslavement and indentured servitude often looked pretty similar though.
: The workers were treated terribly...
: They were treated terribly. They were confined to estates, brutally punished for any infraction,
: and paid pitiful amounts. Sorry go ahead.
: This is when you jump in.
: Oh okay. So then by the late 1840s Indian workers started to demand reforms. They wanted better
: treatment and better pay. Conditions improved only gradually. Plantation owners often tried
: to pit the formerly enslaved African workers against newly conscripted workers from India
: by offering one group advantages over the other. Eventually, workers united across the color line.
: Slowly, they achieved reforms. But labor in the sugar plantations of the Caribbean remained a
: difficult and underpaid job well into the 20th century when machines took over much of the work.
: The situation in the British Caribbean is one of many examples of the uneven effects
: of industrialization across different regions. As you will see in this unit. Egyptian
: industrialization took off and then stalled. Japanese industrialization was slow to start but
: it eventually propelled the country to great power status. Some regions, like India, saw a decline
: in production during the Industrial Revolution. Imperialism, which we discuss in the next unit,
: played a big role in these regional differences. People living in the same place also experienced
: the Industrial Revolution differently. The wealthy generally benefited from it. But workers
: and enslaved people often paid the costs. Many workers lived in crowded conditions and labored
: in filthy, dangerous jobs. Women's experiences were different from men's and the lives of rural
: people were very different from those living in cities. In each case, reformers rose to challenge
: the negative impacts of industrialization. But reform and change only came through prolonged
: struggles. Those struggles, as much as anything, help to create the world in which we live.
: So modern humans have existed for over 200,000 years,
: agricultural societies have been around for more than 12,000, but every aspect of
: modern life was from a change in production and distribution only two and a half centuries ago?
: It's like one of those makeover shows where the ugly duckling becomes a swan.
: Ahh but in this unit we'll ask is a swan better than a duckling?
: Actually, they're both delicious.
: What?
: I'm kidding.