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Industrial Revolution Spreads Reading

By Amy C Gilstrap
Last updated about 4 years ago
10 Questions
Industrialization Spreads

Remember: Factors of production are land, labor and capital.
KEY IDEA The industrialization that began in Great Britain spread to other parts of the world.
Other countries followed the example of Britain and began to change their economies to an industrial base. The United States was one of the first. Like Britain, it had water power, sources of coal and iron, and a ready supply of workers. The United States also benefited from conflict with Britain. During the War of 1812, Britain stopped shipping goods to the United States. As a result, American industries had a chance to supply the goods that Americans wanted.

The switch to an industrial economy began in the United States in the textile industry. In 1789, based on memory and a partial design, a British worker brought the secret of Britain’s textile machines to North America. He built a machine to spin thread. In 1813, a group of Massachusetts investors built a complex of factories that made cloth. Just a few years later they built an even larger complex in the town of Lowell. Thousands of workers, mostly young girls, came to these towns to work in the factories.

In the United States, industry grew first in the Northeast. In the last decades of the 1800s, a rapid burst of industrial growth took place that was more widespread. This boom was fueled by large supplies of coal, oil, and iron. Helping, too, was the appearance of a number of new inventions, including the electric light. As in Britain, railroad building was also a big part of this industrial growth.

Businesses needed huge sums of money to take on big projects. To raise money, companies sold shares of ownership, called stock. All those who held stock were part owners of the company. This form of organizing a business is called a corporation.

Industrial growth spread to Europe as well. Belgium was the first to adopt British ways. It was rich in iron and coal and had good waterways. It had the resources needed.

Germany was politically divided until the late 1800s. As a result, it could not develop a wide industrial economy. However, west-central Germany was rich in coal and did become a leading industrial site.

Across Europe, small areas began to change to the new industries. Industrial growth did not occur in France until after 1830. It was helped by the government’s construction of a large network of railroads. Some countries—such as AustriaHungary and Spain—had problems that stopped them from building new industries.

The Industrial Revolution changed the world. Countries that had adopted an industrial economy enjoyed more wealth and power than those that had not. The countries of Europe soon began to take advantage of lands in Africa and Asia. They used these lands as sources of raw materials needed for their factories. They saw the people only as markets for the goods they made. They took control of these lands, a practice called imperialism. The Industrial Revolution changed life forever in the countries that industrialized.
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1.

Select the conditions that the United States and Britain shared that allowed industrialization to occur in both?

2.

What is captial?

3.

Which part of the United States was the first to industrialize?

4.

What are shares of ownership in a buisness called?

5.

Which European country was the first to industrialize after Britain?

6.

What natural resources were needed for countries to industrialize early?

7.

Businesses that sell stock to raise capital are called ________.

8.

Put the countries in order of the first to industrialize to the last

  1. United States
  2. Belgium
  3. France
  4. Britain
  5. Germany
9.

Name 2 inventions from the reading that aided in industrial growth.

10.

Why did industrialized nations renew their efforts to imperialize other nations?