Professor Jeremy Black:
The Industrial Revolution was created by men who saw opportunities to make money. One example was James Watt, who redesigned the steam engine to make it much more efficient, transforming the supply of power to British industry.
Part of the reason Watt was able to develop his invention was because of the intellectual climate in Britain in the 18th century.
There a prolific exchange of scientific and technological ideas.
Over the previous 100 years a cascade of scientific breakthroughs had swept across the country.
For example, Sir Isaac Newton was able to explain the force of gravity for the first time. While Robert Boyle showed that air and gas had physical properties.
In Britain scientific ideas were not censored by the government or the church, as happened in many European countries.
Britain was a parliamentary monarchy what that meant was that it was parliament that passed the laws and parliament that controlled expenditure. This helped to ensure political stability in which the rule of law was fundamental.
And that encouraged the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs as people set up businesses and sought profit.
Political liberty paved the way for the industrial revolution. Men had the freedom to think up all sorts of practical uses for new scientific discoveries
Across the country from the prestigious Royal Society in London and in countless regional coffee houses, industrialists and scientists, often from very different backgrounds, met to share their ideas and observations.
In the West Midlands, the Lunar Society was set up in the 1760s, so named because its members met at the full moon, which lit their way home, in an era before street lamps.
All these creative men took advantage of the liberal culture that enabled them to think up, and try out, astonishing new ideas and inventions, which transformed not just the country, but the world.
Video summary
Coal and steam are easy factors to identify in the Industrial Revolution but brains were another key factor.
Eminent scientists like Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle had made important discoveries about gravity, and the behaviour of gases.
These discoveries were harnessed and turned into business ideas by men like James Watt and his business partner Matthew Boulton.
Britain’s political system aided these developments.
Compared to most European states, the British Parliament held very little control over the economy, preferring to leave businessmen to run businesses rather than interfering.
At the same time, there was very little censorship or control of ideas and publications, so ideas could be circulated and developed.
In London, scientists met and discussed ideas at the Royal Society.
In the Midlands, the Lunar Society did much the same. Many scientists were interested in knowledge for its own sake, but there were others who were able to turn these ideas into new technologies to make fortunes too.
This short film is from the BBC series, Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here.
Teacher Notes
This short film could be used as part of a study of the causes of the Industrial Revolution.
Students might already have been introduced to a range of other factors, and could use the clip as a stimulus to assess the role of the individuals referred to in the short film, as well as individuals such as Darby, Hudson, Owen and Salt.
Students could be allocated different individuals to research in depth, perhaps presenting their findings to the rest of the group.
Students could then be asked to weigh up the importance of individuals in comparison to other factors such as access to materials, transport and social change.
This short film is suitable for teaching history at Key Stage 3 and GCSE, Third Level and National 4 & 5, in particular units on the Victorians and the Industrial Revolution.
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