Essential question: How might technology increase or mitigate unequal access, and socio-economic divides? How has technology done this in the past?
Topic 5.4 Industrialization Spreads in the Period from 1750 to 1900
Learning Objective: Explain how different modes and locations of production have developed and changed over time.
Historical Developments
The rapid development of steam-powered industrial production in European countries and the U.S. contributed to the increase in these regions’ share of global manufacturing during the first Industrial Revolution. While Middle Eastern and Asian countries continued to produce manufactured goods, these regions’ share in global manufacturing declined.
Decline of Middle Eastern and Asian share in global manufacturing:
As new methods of industrial production became more common in parts of northwestern Europe, they spread to other parts of Europe and the United States, Russia, and Japan.
Topic 5.4 Industrialization Spreads in the Period from 1750 to 1900
Learning Objective: Explain how different modes and locations of production have developed and changed over time.
Historical Developments
The rapid development of steam-powered industrial production in European countries and the U.S. contributed to the increase in these regions’ share of global manufacturing during the first Industrial Revolution. While Middle Eastern and Asian countries continued to produce manufactured goods, these regions’ share in global manufacturing declined.
Decline of Middle Eastern and Asian share in global manufacturing:
- Shipbuilding in India and Southeast Asia
- Iron works in India
- Textile production in India and Egypt
As new methods of industrial production became more common in parts of northwestern Europe, they spread to other parts of Europe and the United States, Russia, and Japan.
Reading Questions
What factors led to industrialization in the rest of Europe?
What factors led to industrialization in the United States?
What factors led to industrialization in Japan and Russia?
How did the transition from manufacturing by hand to manufacturing with machines allow Europe, Japan and the US to increased production?
What factors inhibited industrialization in Latin America?
How did the transition from manufacturing by hand to manufacturing with machines in the Global North lead to decreased production in South Asia?
How did COLONIZATION lead to decreased production in South Asia?
What is the significance of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal?
What happened to the production of iron works, ship building and textile production in India?
What is economic dependency?
What factors led to industrialization in the United States?
What factors led to industrialization in Japan and Russia?
How did the transition from manufacturing by hand to manufacturing with machines allow Europe, Japan and the US to increased production?
What factors inhibited industrialization in Latin America?
How did the transition from manufacturing by hand to manufacturing with machines in the Global North lead to decreased production in South Asia?
How did COLONIZATION lead to decreased production in South Asia?
What is the significance of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal?
What happened to the production of iron works, ship building and textile production in India?
What is economic dependency?
THE SPREAD OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution occurred only in Britain for about 50 years, but it eventually spread to other countries in Europe, the United States, Russia, and Japan. As it spread, those countries production increased. However, South Asia and China's share of production declined significantly. Because of the Industrial revolution, Global South countries began to provide raw materials for the Global North. The Global north then used those raw materials to manufacture goods for the global markets resulting in economic dependency among countries in the world.
"[Dependency is]...an historical condition which shapes a certain structure of the world economy such that it favors some countries to the detriment of others and limits the development possibilities of the subordinate economics...a situation in which the economy of a certain group of countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another economy, to which their own is subjected." (Theotonio Dos Santos, "The Structure of Dependence," in K.T. Fann and Donald C. Hodges, eds., Readings in U.S. Imperialism. Boston: Porter Sargent, 1971, p. 226) |
The cheap materials and cheap labor increased profit allowing the Global North to Industrialize further (more factories, tech…).
Fort the Global South, their economies were based on producing and exporting raw materials and Importing manufactured goods. That made the Global South dependent on the Global North.
Fort the Global South, their economies were based on producing and exporting raw materials and Importing manufactured goods. That made the Global South dependent on the Global North.
Europe
British entrepreneurs and government officials forbade the export of machinery, manufacturing techniques, and skilled workers to other countries. However, the technologies spread by luring British experts with lucrative offers, and even smuggling secrets into other countries. Additionally, European countries close to England also had large deposits of coal, rivers and workers. By the mid-19th century industrialization had spread to France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States.
The earliest center of industrial production in continental Europe was Belgium. British industrialists named the Cockrills moved there and began a textile factory. By 1840 the Cockrills had become the largest textile producers in the world. Coal, iron, textile, glass, and armaments production flourished. By 1830 French firms had employed many skilled British workers to help establish the textile industry, and railroad lines began to appear across western Europe. Germany was a little later in developing industry, mainly because no centralized government existed there yet, and a great deal of political unrest made industrialization difficult. However, after the 1840s , coal and iron production skyrocketed, and an extensive rail network was under construction. After German political unification in 1871, the new empire rivaled England in terms of industrial production. |
The US
Industrialization began in the United States by the 1820s, delayed until the country had enough laborers and money to invest in business. Both came from Europe, where overpopulation and political revolutions and the potato famine sent immigrants to the United States to seek their fortunes. The American Civil War (1861-1865) delayed further immigration until the 1870s, but it spurred the need for industrial war products, all the way from soldiers' uniforms to guns to railroads for troop transport. Once the war was over, cross-country railroads were built which allowed more people to claim parts of vast inland America and to reach the west coast. The United States had abundant natural resources such as land, water, coal and iron ore and after the great wave of immigration from Europe due to the Italian and German wars of unification and Asia in the late 19th century, it also had the labor. The industrial revolution success led the US to spread westward, defeat native resistance and defeat Mexico and continue to expand towards the sea by defeating the Spanish Empire and becoming a world force.
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Russia
During the late 1800s, industrialization spread to Russia and Japan, in both cases by government initiatives. In Russia the tsarist government encouraged the construction of railroads to link places within the vast reaches of the empire. The most impressive one was the Trans-Siberian line constructed between 1891 and 1904, linking Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. The railroads also gave Russians access to the empire's many coal and iron deposits, and by 1900 Russia ranked fourth in the world in steel production.
Japan
The Japanese government also pushed industrialization, mainly due to defensive purposes. Commodore Mathew Perry's arrival with an American "suggestion" to open up Japan's ports to trade convinced the Japanese that they had to modernize. They introduced the Meiji Reforms. This led to hiring thousands of foreign experts to instruct Japanese workers and mangers in the late 1800s. Railroads were constructed, mines were opened, a banking system was organized, and industries were started that produced ships, armaments, silk, cotton, chemicals, and glass. By 1900 Japan was the most industrialized land in Asia, and was set to become a 20th century power.
The Japanese government also pushed industrialization, mainly due to defensive purposes. Commodore Mathew Perry's arrival with an American "suggestion" to open up Japan's ports to trade convinced the Japanese that they had to modernize. They introduced the Meiji Reforms. This led to hiring thousands of foreign experts to instruct Japanese workers and mangers in the late 1800s. Railroads were constructed, mines were opened, a banking system was organized, and industries were started that produced ships, armaments, silk, cotton, chemicals, and glass. By 1900 Japan was the most industrialized land in Asia, and was set to become a 20th century power.
Shifts in Global Production
Latin America and Africa
Latin American countries faced many economic challenges. While some countries were industrializing, Latin America was going through decades of war due to Independence. Many countries in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and southeast Asia became highly dependent on one cash crops - such as sugar, coffee, cotton, and rubber - giving them the nickname of "Banana Republics." Such economies were very vulnerable to any change in the international market. Foreign investors owned and controlled the plantations that produced these crops, and most of the profits went to them. For example, the United Fruit Company would own 60% of Guatemala's land. Local governments were controlled by dictators that were supported by the United States and Europe to guard economic interests. Very little of the profits actually improved the living conditions for people that lived in those areas, and since they had little money to spend, a market economy could not develop.
Yet another example is mining in Mexico. The discovery of copper in the region of El Boleo by a rancher named José Rosas Villavicencio in 1868 led to English and American mining companies to begin to exploit the region. Mexican president, and dictator Porfirio Diaz would help these companies in extracting the natural resources while controlling the local workers.
Cananea became another region that British and American companies also began to mine. Cananea today has one of the largest copper reserves in the world, with an estimated reserves of 4.52 billion tons of ore. Mexican mines in 1906 would strike for better wages in Cananea.
India
India's share of the global production of textiles, began to be outpaced by Europe. That combined with the British imposing a tariff on Indian cotton would lead to the decline of textile production in both India and Egypt. In time, India gradually began to produce raw cotton for the British textile mills.
India's mountains contained high amounts of minerals needed to produce coal, iron, and steel. But, again, the control by the East India Company, led to high tariffs making iron production not very profitable. After the Sepoy Rebellion, the British government took over and shut down many of the mines. The Arms Act of 1878 restricted India's ability to mine minerals and develop firearms altogether.
Similar to iron, the British came into the India and restricted shipbuilding or took the ships for their own use. The Indian navy was disbanded in 1863 and the British took complete control of Indian Ocean trade.
India's share of the global production of textiles, began to be outpaced by Europe. That combined with the British imposing a tariff on Indian cotton would lead to the decline of textile production in both India and Egypt. In time, India gradually began to produce raw cotton for the British textile mills.
India's mountains contained high amounts of minerals needed to produce coal, iron, and steel. But, again, the control by the East India Company, led to high tariffs making iron production not very profitable. After the Sepoy Rebellion, the British government took over and shut down many of the mines. The Arms Act of 1878 restricted India's ability to mine minerals and develop firearms altogether.
Similar to iron, the British came into the India and restricted shipbuilding or took the ships for their own use. The Indian navy was disbanded in 1863 and the British took complete control of Indian Ocean trade.
Results
Industrialization greatly increased the economic, military, and political strength of the societies that embraced it. By and large, the countries that benefited from industrialization were the ones that had the necessary components of land, labor and capital, and often government support. However, even though many other countries tried to industrialize, few had much success.
An international division of labor and economic dependency resulted: people in industrialized countries produced manufactured products, and people in less industrialized countries produced the raw materials necessary for that production. Industrial England, for example, needed cotton, so turned to India, Egypt, and the American south to produce it for them. In many cases this division of labor led to colonization of the non-industrialized areas.
Industrialization greatly increased the economic, military, and political strength of the societies that embraced it. By and large, the countries that benefited from industrialization were the ones that had the necessary components of land, labor and capital, and often government support. However, even though many other countries tried to industrialize, few had much success.
An international division of labor and economic dependency resulted: people in industrialized countries produced manufactured products, and people in less industrialized countries produced the raw materials necessary for that production. Industrial England, for example, needed cotton, so turned to India, Egypt, and the American south to produce it for them. In many cases this division of labor led to colonization of the non-industrialized areas.
Sea travel became much more efficient, with journeys that had once taken months or years reduced to days or weeks. By 1914 two great canals shortened sea journeys by thousands of miles. The Suez Canal built by the British and French in the 1850s linked the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, making it no longer necessary to go around the tip of Africa to get from Europe to Asia by sea. The Panama Canal, completed in 1913, did a similar thing in the western hemisphere, cutting a swath through Central America that encouraged trade and transportation between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.