Lesson 3: Britain in Transformation
The Industrial Revolution
The early part of the l7th century brought a new emphasis on coal mining; the enormous increase in the price of firewood fueled a rush to find and extract more coal. By l655, even under the most primitive mining conditions, Newcastle was producing half a million tons a year. But coal was expensive and dangerous to mine.
In l627, Edward Somerset had invented a crude steam engine. This was of little use, but in l698, English engineer Thomas Savery improved matters with his crude steam-powered "miner's friend" to pump water out of coal mines. A further advance came in l705, when Cornish blacksmith Thomas Newcomen produced his steam engine.
In l709 a major breakthrough occurred when Abraham Darby discovered that coke, made from coal, could substitute for wood in a smelting furnace to make pig and cast iron. The industrial revolution was on its way.
In l739, Benjamin Huntsman rediscovered the ancient method of making crucible steel at Sheffield, soon to become a major British steel producer. In l754, the first iron-rolling mill was established in Hampshire, the same year that the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufacture was formed.
In the l760's the Bridgewater Canal was opened to link Liverpool, England's major port (which had profited enormously from the slave trade) with Leeds, a center of manufacturing. It heralded an era of rapid canal building, joining cities and towns all over the nation and enabling manufactured goods and raw supplies to be shipped anywhere they were needed.
In l765, James Watt produced his steam engine, a far more efficient source of power than that of Newcomen. During the same year, Brindley's Grand Truck Canal began construction to link the western and eastern coastal ports of Britain. In l769, Watt entered into partnership with Mathew Boulton to produce his steam engines that would revolutionize world industry.
In l782, English ironmaster Henry Cort perfected his process of puddling iron, freeing it from its dependence upon charcoal for fuel and giving further impetus to the search for coal. The mining industry benefited greatly from Humphry Davy's invention of a safety lamp in l8l5.
The snowball effect of all these inventions continued throughout the century. In l856 Bessemer introduced his revolutionary steel-making process, and a new industry was given to England and the world. In l864, Siemens invented the regenerative furnace, improving the strength and durability of steel, needed for the vast networks of railroads sprouting up all over Britain.
