The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course European History #24

Summary

In this episode of Crash Course European History, host John Green delves into the era of the Industrial Revolution, highlighting the seismic shifts in human lifestyle and productivity. Starting from the early 19th century, when life was predominantly agricultural and technology rudimentary, the video transitions to the drastic advancements by 1920, characterized by factories, steam power, and urbanization. The narrative covers both the positive innovations and the grim realities of child labor and exploitation. While industrialization improved efficiency and comfort, it also led to severe social and economic disparities, setting the tone for modern technological expectations.

Highlights

• In 1820, most people's lives were agricultural, contrasting sharply with 1920's industrialized society. 🌾➡️🏭
• The steam engine was a pivotal invention, transforming both industry and transportation. 🚂
• Child labor was a grim reality, with many children suffering severe injuries in factories. 🚸⚠️
• Urbanization led to rapid city growth, with Manchester's population exploding from 20,000 to 400,000. 🏙
• The bourgeoisie and proletariat emerged as significant social classes, altering Europe’s socio-economic structure. 💼🤝
• Women remained underpaid and were often relegated to dangerous or low-paying jobs. 👩‍🔧
• Industrialization dependence on slave and child labor provided a stark ethical dilemma. 🚸⚠️
• The revolution’s collaborative nature highlighted the power of collective human endeavor alongside darker themes of espionage and competition. 🤝⚙️

Key Takeaways

• The Industrial Revolution drastically altered life from rural and manual to urban and mechanized in just a century. 🚜➡️🏭
• Technological advancements like the steam engine and factory production reshaped industries and societies. 🚂
• Child labor and exploitation were rampant during industrialization, raising significant ethical concerns. 🚸⚠️
• The socio-economic landscape changed with the rise of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. 💼🤝
• Women's roles shifted, yet they faced exploitation alongside children in industrial settings. 👩‍🔧
• Innovations were often incremental and collaborative, not just the work of lone geniuses. 🧠🤝
• The revolution sparked urban growth with railways catalyzing city expansions. 🚆🏙
• Despite technological progress, the revolution was marked by significant human cost and social upheaval. 💔⚙️

Overview

The Industrial Revolution stands as one of history's most transformative periods, reshaping societies within a short span. John Green paints a vivid picture of how life in 1820 was marked by rudimentary technology and agrarian lifestyles, while just a hundred years later, society had shifted to urban centers bustling with factories and steam engines. The era not only introduced groundbreaking technologies but also transformed human expectations and daily life.

While these advancements facilitated greater productivity and connected people in unimaginable ways, the Industrial Revolution wasn't simply an age of progress. It came hand-in-hand with severe exploitation, most notably of women and children, who toiled in perilous conditions for meager wages. These working conditions underscored harsh socio-economic divides and fueled future labor movements that demanded better rights and protections.

The rise of new social classes and urbanization underscored both the benefits and the profound challenges of industrialization. While the bourgeoisie profited, the proletariat contended with harsh realities of industrial life. Women's roles, though more diverse, were not free from prejudice and exploitation. This era of rapid change planted the seeds for contemporary economic and social structures, which continue to evolve today.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Industrial Revolution John Green introduces the Industrial Revolution in European history, considering a scenario from 1820 in England where most people work in agriculture, lack modern amenities like running water or electricity, and have to perform tasks manually.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Agrarian Life in 1820 vs. 1920 The chapter 'Agrarian Life in 1820 vs. 1920' contrasts the daily life of people in 1820 with that of earlier eras, highlighting the reliance on natural indicators like solar cycles to measure time. Despite technological advancements, by 1820, agrarian life had remained largely unchanged from previous centuries, resembling life in 1720, 1520, or even 1220.
• 01:30 - 04:30: Early Innovations in Textile Production This chapter discusses the significant changes in textile production and the general lifestyle from 1800 to 1920. It highlights Gregory Clark's observation that despite some innovations, the standard of living for Europeans in 1800 was not vastly different from that of earlier human societies like Neanderthals. However, by 1920, there was a dramatic shift from agrarian work to various other industries such as shops, transportation, mining, and factories. Most people no longer worked in agriculture and were now engaged in different professions, marking a significant transformation in daily life and work culture. The invention of cars and the new way of measuring time in minutes are noted as symbols of these changes.
• 04:30 - 05:30: The Role of Porcelain in the Industrial Revolution The chapter discusses the technological advancements during the Industrial Revolution, highlighting the advent of radios, refrigerators, and airplanes, which showcase the era's rapid technological growth. It also touches on the dark side of industrial advances, such as the development and use of lethal weapons like chlorine gas in warfare, reflecting on the transformative impact of these inventions on society.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Collective Efforts and Industrial Spying The chapter titled 'Collective Efforts and Industrial Spying' starts with an introduction to the Industrial Revolution. It highlights how previous agricultural revolutions boosted European productivity and trade revolutions facilitated the distribution of goods. These historical changes contributed to a greater division of labor, allowing farmers and other workers to specialize in specific tasks. The chapter likely continues to explore the collaborations and espionage activities that were part of industrial development.
• 06:30 - 08:30: Challenges and Risks in Cotton Industrial Production The chapter delves into the specialization in cotton industrial production in the eighteenth century, marking the onset of industrialization in Europe. This period followed a time of growth after prolonged conflict, pandemics, and climate challenges. The division of labor allowed farmers to concentrate on agriculture, while textile workers enhanced efficiency in textile manufacturing. Additionally, the introduction of heated beverages like coffee, tea, and chocolate played a role in improving public health by eliminating bacteria.
• 08:30 - 10:00: Child Labor and Industrial Accidents The chapter discusses the impact of imported goods on the nutritional variety and caloric density available to people, which contributed to longer lives and increased populations. This demographic shift provided more time for learning, innovation, and experimentation. It highlights how numerous artisans made small improvements to existing mechanical devices, with John Kay's flying shuttle as a notable example for enhancing the speed and productivity of textile production.
• 10:00 - 11:30: The Relationship of Slavery and Industry The chapter explores the relationship between slavery and industry, particularly focusing on the advancements in textile machinery, like the spinning jenny, invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. This invention significantly boosted productivity in the textile industry by enabling individuals, often women working from home, to spin multiple bobbins of thread simultaneously. The narrative touches on other innovators, such as Ellen and John Hacking, who contributed to developing carding machines, further enhancing efficiency in the industry.
• 11:30 - 12:30: The Steam Engine and Expanding Workforce This chapter discusses the technological advancements in the textile industry, focusing on the invention of spinning machines like the water frame by Richard Arkwright and partners. These machines, powered by water, allowed for centralized power sources, leading to the creation of the first factories. This shift was driven by the demand to increase English cloth production for both global and domestic markets.
• 12:30 - 15:30: Social Classes and Urbanization The chapter discusses the evolution of manufacturing consumer goods since the early nineteenth century, illustrated by the example of buying branded clothing items such as Polo shirts. It highlights the progress in terms of availability, affordability, and quality of products that were unimaginable in the past, also touching on the personal experience of wearing such clothing. This reflects broader social changes related to class and urban development, showcasing the transformation in consumer culture and lifestyle.
• 15:30 - 17:30: Women in the Workforce The chapter discusses the significance and impact of women participating in the workforce. It hints at historical events or individuals related to women in the workforce through a storytelling approach, although the excerpt provided diverts to a discussion about porcelain and the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger's attempts to manufacture it. The popularity of porcelain and pineapples in historical Europe, particularly among the wealthy, is mentioned, highlighting the societal aspirations linked with owning such exotic and luxurious items.
• 17:30 - 20:30: Emergence of Worker Organizations and Industrial Resistance The chapter explores the emergence of worker organizations and industrial resistance during a time of significant change. It delves into the Industrial Revolution's narrative, spotlighting the collective effort of numerous individuals rather than singular inventors. The chapter also touches upon the challenges faced in domestic production, such as the example of porcelain manufacturing, highlighting the intersection of necessity and innovation. The story of Böttger's near imprisonment until his breakthrough with porcelain serves as a metaphor for the struggles and triumphs of the industrial era, emphasizing the collaborative aspect of technological and industrial advancements.
• 20:30 - 23:30: Spread of Industrialization Across Europe The chapter discusses the spread of industrialization across Europe, emphasizing the role of incremental improvements and collaboration. It highlights the importance of industrial espionage in adopting advanced manufacturing techniques from regions that were more advanced than Europe at the time. Examples include technologies like colorfast dyes, heat-resistant dishware, fine weaving and spinning, and metallurgy.
• 23:30 - 26:00: Conclusion: The Unending Revolution This chapter discusses the role of Richard Arkwright and the copying of textile designs during the Industrial Revolution. It highlights how imported cotton textiles from India and China sparked consumer interest and created wealth for importers and innovative manufacturers. These manufacturers were able to replicate the desirable qualities of these textiles, such as their lightweight, colorful, and washable nature. Despite the success in replicating these features, the industrial production of cotton remained a risky business venture, with a high failure rate of over 50 percent. This reflects the broader challenges and uncertainties of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course European History #24 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Hi I’m John Green and this is Crash Course European History. So we’re going to turn our attention now to the Industrial Revolution, one of the most significant developments in human history. Like, imagine with me that it’s 1820. I got this idea from the economist Robert Gordon by the way. You live in, say, England. You probably work in agriculture. When you walk to town, you’re either pulling your own cart, or if you’re lucky you have a horse. You have no running water or electricity. When you wash your few items of clothing, you do so by hand.
• 00:30 - 01:00 You cook over a fire. You think of time not primarily in minutes and hours, but mostly in relationship to solar cycles--how close it is to night, or to morning, or to midwinter. And in all these respects, your life in 1820 is basically identical to the lives of people in 1720, or 1520, or for that matter 1220. That’s not to say life hasn’t changed in those hundreds of years--as we’ve explored
• 01:00 - 01:30 in this series, lots has changed--but as Gregory Clark observed, in terms of standard of living, Europeans in 1800 basically led lives similar to those of Neandrathals. Now imagine that you close your eyes in 1820 and wake up in 1920. By now, most people in England do not work in agriculture. They may work in shops, or transportation, or mining, oe workshops, or in factories. They measure time in minutes. Cars exist.
• 01:30 - 02:00 Some people have radios, which transmitted information through thin air. A few people even have refrigerators, which dramatically decrease food spoilage and the risk of foodborne illness. Occasionally you might even see an airplane flying in the sky. Oh, and also, your country has just emerged from an astonishingly deadly war fought with highly lethal weapons such as chlorine gas, weapons that people of 1820 could not possibly have imagined.
• 02:00 - 02:30 Welcome to the Industrial Revolution. [Intro] In this series, we’ve already talked about revolutions in agriculture that increased European productivity and revolutions in trade that increasingly distributed goods among people in towns and cities instead of having each individual family produce everything it needed. And these forces combined to help create more division of labor: like, farmers could focus
• 02:30 - 03:00 on farming, and textile workers could focus on textile creation, which was more efficient than having each family do every kind of work. So let’s begin in the eighteenth century, when European industrial production is said to have begun. Europe’s population was growing after centuries of non-stop wars, plagues, and the worst of the little ice age. Meanwhile, products such as coffee, tea, and chocolate made with heated water killed bacteria,
• 03:00 - 03:30 while products from abroad expanded and varied the pool of nutrients, with corn and potatoes, for instance, generally more calorie-dense per acre than wheat. In short, lives were getting longer and populations rising. This meant that on average people had a little more time to learn, tinker, and experiment. Many different artisans invented small improvements to existing mechanical devices. Perhaps most famously, John Kay’s flying shuttle increased the pace and productivity
• 03:30 - 04:00 of weaving. Weavers then needed a greater amount of thread. So tinkerers made that happen by producing inventions such as the spinning jenny, created around 1764 by craftsman James Hargreaves. The spinning jenny was a machine used by individual women working at home. And it allowed a person, using just the power of their hand, to spin not one bobbin of thread, but up to 120 at once. In England, Ellen Hacking and her husband John were among those devising carding machines
• 04:00 - 04:30 to straighten cotton and wool fibers for spinning. And at about the same time, Richard Arkwright and his partners invented the water frame, another kind of spinning machine that used water power. And when spinning machines could be linked to a central power source such as water, many could be placed in a single building. So, the world’s first factories arose in part from the pressure to increase production of English cloth for global and domestic markets. Did the center of the world just open? Is one of my Polo shirts in there?
• 04:30 - 05:00 This cost like $41. Twice a year I go to a Polo outlet in Southern Indiana and just buy as many of these things as they’ll sell to me. And look, I’m not here to advertise Polo shirts, but this thing is incredibly comfortable, and also, it’s like dyed a specific color. Everything about this was completely unimaginable in the early nineteenth century. In fact, you know what? It’s so soft to the touch, I think I’m going to put it on. Is that weird. Oh yeah! I feel like I’m the bad guy in an 80s movie. How do I look, Stan? Oh, Stan says I look like Steve Bannon. OK.
• 05:00 - 05:30 Thus ends that experiment, now back to the show. Let’s talk about porcelain. Another tinkerer was the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger who promised the king of Saxony that he could figure out how to make porcelain. Porcelain was such an obsession that wealthy people collected it and even those with far less would try to buy a piece or two—a cup or plate—as we see in many Dutch, French, and other paintings. Two things you see a lot in European paintings of the affluent or those who aspired to affluence: porcelain and pineapples, which were also quite rare and expensive and difficult to
• 05:30 - 06:00 produce domestically. Porcelain was also practical, because Europeans did not know other ways to make heat resistant dishware for their hot drinks. So Böttger was virtually imprisoned until around 1708 when he figured out how to make porcelain, although not as beautifully as the Chinese or Japanese did. What we’re trying to get at here is that while people love a great story of an inventor and their invention, the Industrial Revolution was the story of lots and lots of people working
• 06:00 - 06:30 together, making a series of incremental improvements, rather than, like, geniuses from on high creating amazing things. The real genius of humans is collaboration, and also spying. Like for instance, Industrial spies helped with every development because other regions were far more advanced than Europe in manufacturing, for instance, color fast dyes and heat-resistant dishware, fine weaving and spinning, or even metallurgy.
• 06:30 - 07:00 Arkwright, for example, mostly copied designs from imported textiles. And it was those cotton textiles that caught the imagination of consumers and filled pockets, first of the people who imported textiles from India and China, and then of the daring manufacturers who were successful at copying the lightweight, and colorful, and washable cotton clothing. But industrial production of cotton was really risky—the rate of business failure during the Industrial Revolution was over 50 percent.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Because of that, experimenting manufacturers worked to keep labor costs as low as they could. One way was to use unpaid orphans from government, religious or charitable institutions as labour. At a time when people didn’t know a lot about steam powered machinery and its dangers, industrial accidents happened all the time, and children were often the victims. Children worked incredibly long hours and deaths were common. Little Mary Richards was caught up in a machine and six- and seven- year old orphans working
• 07:30 - 08:00 alongside her witnessed the quote “bones of her arms, legs, thighs, etc successively snap... her head appeared dashed to pieces... her blood thrown about like water from a twirled mop.”2 Now I know that’s very graphic, but I think it’s important to understand the extent of industrial oppression, including the industrial oppression of children. Workers lost arms, eyes, breasts, and fingers or were otherwise disfigured.
• 08:00 - 08:30 Production and profits came first to avoid financial ruin. And industry had other repercussions. It initially increased the demand for slaves even more. Slaves produced food for workers who had left farms for factories. Slaves also produced tropical crops such as sugar, and tobacco, and coffee that boosted the energy of many types of workers. And slaves provided the palm and other tropical oils to keep machinery running as well as the raw materials for industry, especially cotton.
• 08:30 - 09:00 It’s important to understand that industry thrived due to slave labor and inexpensive child labor, and also through the labor of women, who were paid less than men. Over time, more and more people began working in industrialized settings, or in economic sectors that supported industry due in part to the development of the steam engine. In 1776, English inventor James Watt launched a steam engine that improved earlier models.
• 09:00 - 09:30 Now as far back as Roman Egypt and then Ottoman Egypt and China, people had known about steam engines, But Watt’s engine was more efficient, which made it useful in replacing animal and water power, not just in mines but also powering textile factories, and then other machinery. For millennia, almost all human power came from our muscles. Then we harnessed some animal power, and eventually some wind and water power. But steam power completely revolutionized how much work could be done on behalf of humans,
• 09:30 - 10:00 and also of course changed transportation when it was attached to covered and uncovered wagons and ships to make trains and steamships and eventually automobiles. And the train created another kind of demand: as urbanization soared around railway hubs, small and grand train stations were built along with all the other buildings to house the railway’s primary and secondary employees.
• 10:00 - 10:30 By secondary employees I mean, it wasn’t just station-masters, ticket-sellers, and conductors, there was a need for shopkeepers, and pharmacists, and construction workers, and teachers, and doctors, and and drivers of coaches, not to mention sanitation workers, police, and urban administrators. Industrialization had a snowball effect and it wasn’t gonna be turned back. And all this mean that everyday life also transformed. Two classes became prominent alongside the aristocracy and peasants in the social structure:
• 10:30 - 11:00 the bourgeoisie and proletariat or working class. The bourgeoisie initially referred to people who lived in towns and cities or burgs/bourgs. But the term came to refer to those who owned factories, banks, transportation networks, and large tracts of land for raising livestock and crops. The proletariat comprise the many factory and other workers who lacked tools or land to support themselves but instead rather labored for factory owners and others who had the
• 11:00 - 11:30 means to produce. In between were the rising professional groups, called the middle class in Europe: the doctors, lawyers, teachers, and others with special skills that serviced society as a whole. We will see this configuration change over the next two centuries and watch tensions unfold among these groups, and at times boil over. Women also experienced a transformation of everyday life. In the preceding centuries, they had generally worked on farms or in workshops alongside
• 11:30 - 12:00 their artisan husbands or on their own as hatmakers, and seamstresses, and weavers, and spinners. During the early days of industrialization, women who had been spinning or weaving at home often switched to factories. And they did many other kinds of work; for example, eighteen-year-old Ann Eggly with her younger sister worked twelve-hour days in the coal mines pushing carriages filled with 800 pounds of coal (which was then used to make steam power).
• 12:00 - 12:30 She had done this kind of work since she was seven. I don’t know if you know any seven year olds, but they should not be working in coal mines. Now you’ll recall that the French and American revolutions, with their emphasis on motherhood and laws stripping women of their property, led to women being discouraged from work. But many continued to do so even when their wages belonged to their husbands. Factories also created (and still create) outwork done by women at home: polishing knives
• 12:30 - 13:00 or painting porcelain buttons for example. But, ideology simultaneously shifted to say that women were to be “angels in the household,” providing comfort from the horrors of industrial life, a cultural norm that discouraged work outside the home. In the meantime, the classes became aware of their individual identities. The French had outlawed guilds during the revolution. Industrial and other workers formed their own clubs to protect their interests.
• 13:00 - 13:30 They created singing, gymnastic, and sports clubs--this is why early English football teams had names like Royal Engineers AFC and Civil Service FC. These groups often had a lively cafe culture, where they discussed politics and read newspapers, often allowed to their comrades because each cafe usually only had one newspaper. Manufacturers and wealthy individuals in cities likewise formed groups based on their common class position; they founded chambers of commerce to protect their financial interests and museums
• 13:30 - 14:00 to show off their city’s achievements and good taste. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble. 1. Initially, the rise of factories saw those left out of industrial work life, 2. such as artisans and small farmers, 3. protest by breaking machinery or threatening to do so. 4. The “Swing riots” in Britain are one example of what has been called “primitive” rebellion. 5. Instead of dealing with change by organizing to benefit from and shape the change, 6. so-called primitive rebels went about breaking things.
• 14:00 - 14:30 7. Wreckers of machinery were called Luddites 8. (as they still are today) 9. because menacing notes found alongside sabotage were often signed Ned Ludd. 10. Ludd was an inspirational figure -- a weaver who allegedly smashed a textile machine in the 18th century. 11. But gradually, workers inside the factories formed mutual aid societies 12. and eventually unions that negotiated for better terms with owners. And when negotiations failed, 13. they went on strike as a group instead of wrecking the machines with which they earned
• 14:30 - 15:00 their living. 14. All in all, industrialization wreaked havoc on people’s lives even as it provided many with livelihoods. 15. Towns grew astronomically: like textile center Manchester England went from 20,000 people in the 1750s to 400,000 a century later. 16. Conditions in Manchester were abominable, including the development of slums, and the spread of disease. 17. They came to lack fresh and safe supplies of water. 18. Garbage and sewage, not to mention animal excrement, filled muddy streets,
• 15:00 - 15:30 19. creating, in the words of one commentator, “a universal atmosphere of filth and stink.”[1] 20. and Conditions in other industrial cities hardly differed. Thanks Thought Bubble. So, Industrialization spread from England and the low countries where it began thanks to the capital raised by worldwide trade, and because that trade made possible successful imitation of foreign products. But industrialization then spread. It traveled the continent through the 19th century, although industrialization was less
• 15:30 - 16:00 dense in eastern Europe. There, many peasants continued to live hand-to-mouth, but as we’ve seen, so did the poor in industrial cities. So was the Industrial Revolution a revolution? Well, if a revolution is an event full of impact on people’s lives, it certainly was. But often historians look at revolutions as, like, ending, which the Industrial Revolution really hasn’t. Unlike the comparatively brief English Revolution or American Revolution, many see the Industrial
• 16:00 - 16:30 Revolution as continuing to make dramatic changes in our way of life today. Today, we expect technologies to change dramatically in our lifetimes. We expect to use different tools to communicate and work than our parents used. But that expectation is only a couple hundred years old. It makes you wonder. If you closed your eyes in 2020, and woke up in 2120, how weird is the world gonna be.
• 16:30 - 17:00 Ugh. Thinking about that is stressing me out.Next time, we’ll look further at the cultural and political aspects of industrialization. I’ll see you then. Thanks for watching. ________________ [1] Quoted in Lynn Hunt et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, 6th ed. (Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2019) 21.