Foundations Of The Atlantic World - Mechanization

COLONIZATION AND ECONOMIC EXPANSION HIST 1301 | History Mechanization Western European countries started implementing mechanisation in the late 1700s, which is the use of machines to replace human and animal labour. The Industrial Revolution—a shift from cultures centred on agriculture and handicraft production to socioeconomic systems dominated by the manufacture of products, mostly with machines—was made possible by mechanisation. In the past, people have used machines sparingly in a number of locations, including Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, and Egypt; still, the majority of commodities were created by expert artisans for local use. The British had an agricultural revolution starting in the middle of the 1600s, which made it possible for fewer farmers to produce an excess of food while using fewer farm labourers, which in turn increased the country's population. Entrepreneurs in England discovered a means to exploit agricultural labourers who were jobless or underemployed, as well as their families, in the 1700s. A system known as "cottage labour" was established when these business owners gave farm people the raw ingredients they needed and then requested them to make completed things in their cottages. Men wove woollen fabric or linen from the thread that rural women spun from flax or wool. Some folks on farms used straw to make bonnets. Others produced lace, knitted hosiery, and painted nails. After collecting their completed goods and paying them for their labour, the business owner sold them in towns and cities. The farmers made huge profits since the labourers were not expert artisans and could not obtain high rates. Over time, businesspeople started to concentrate workers in one place—a factory. They were able to hire managers to oversee the labour of the workers, which allowed them more control over output. Additionally, it was simpler to install machinery in factories than in the cottages of labourers (though labourers may be given or leased relatively minor machines for their cottages, such knitting frames). Cities and towns became to house the majority of factories. Men and women who were unable to find employment on farms relocated to metropolitan regions along with the labour. By the late 1700s, many of these foreign labourers were being employed by British factory owners, who were encouraged by Adam Smith-inspired government regulations. Factories were more and more dependent on machinery throughout the Industrial Revolution, chief among them being the steam engine. Heat is used in a steam engine to turn water into steam, which expands and powers a piston to do work. Around the year 70 CE, Hero of Alexandria in Egypt invented the aeolipile, a basic turbine that powered toys, which resulted in the creation of the first steam engine. Until Thomas Savery, an English inventor, utilised the world's first commercial steam engine in 1698 to pump water out of mines and supply water for industrial water wheels, steam engines were little more than curious objects. Improved steam engines created by Scottish inventor James Watt were powering certain British factory activities by 1776. Steam-powered locomotives and boats quickly began carrying completed items to customers and delivering raw materials to industries. The first commercial steamboats were successfully operated by American inventor Robert Fulton in 1807. An English manufacturer named Matthew Murray launched the first profitable steam locomotive company in history in 1812. Many innovators created steam-powered automobiles that could traverse highways; but, due to the large weight of the engines and the unfavourable state of most roads, these vehicles were condemned to failure and were only found in factories, rivers, and railroads. Capitalism drove and facilitated industrialization, which brought great riches to middle-class professionals and company owners but also came at a heavy cost to labourers. Mechanised manufacturing carried out by low-paid unskilled labourers replaced the workmanship of highly trained middle-class craftsmen in the creation of commodities. Although industrialization made new consumer items more affordable for workers, they still had to put in long hours and frequently risky work in order to buy these products. Most significantly, employees no longer had influence over their working environment. While factory owners closely monitored every aspect of their workers' professional and even personal life, farmers and craftsmen, especially those who owned their land or businesses, were free to choose how and when they worked. For instance, the Hamilton Manufacturing corporation's 1848 employee handbook said that "the company will not employ any one who is known to be guilty of immorality or habitually absent from public worship on the Sabbath." Because industrialization challenged their standing as skilled labourers, some workers revolted against it. In reaction to the industrialization of their jobs, a covert group of British textile workers known as the Luddites started rioting, burning fires, and damaging textile machines starting in 1811. The legendary Ned Ludd, a labourer who allegedly destroyed a mechanised loom rather to surrender to industrialization, is the source of their moniker. The mythology of Ned Ludd expanded along with the Luddite movement, leading some labourers to assert that King Ludd, like Robin Hood in the Middle Ages, resided in Sherwood Forest and battled unscrupulous businessmen. The Luddites did not espouse any particular philosophy or higher goal. They used every weapon at their disposal to fight back because they were just enraged that industrialization was destroying their traditional way of life. The Luddites prompted swift action from British officials, who labelled some of them as a mob deserving of hanging. In response, lord and poet Lord Byron noted in 1812 that these same people created the commodities, laboured in the fields, and were part of the British Empire's military forces. In addition to warning that "it is the mob" that "enabled you to defy all the world and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair," Byron contended that the mob "often speaks the sentiments of the people." Instead of using violence, he advised the British government to deal with the striking workers by "conciliation and firmness." Disagreeing with Byron, the majority of British commercial and political elites attempted to put an end to the uprising. Industrial sabotage was deemed a capital offence by Parliament. Many Luddites were executed by British authorities, while others were sent to prison colonies. The industrialists had overthrown the Luddites by 1816. These days, the term "Luddite" is frequently used to describe someone who is against technological advancement.