9781422282724

EMPLOYMENT AND WORKERS’ RIGHTS

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution in Western Europe and North America led to dramatic innovations in technology that permanently changed working conditions. In 1764, for instance, the spinning jenny was invented. The machine allowed workers to make more than one spool of thread at a time. Within 15 years, there were more than 22,000 spinning jennys being used in Great Britain. There were other innovations in textiles and iron production, but one of the most significant advances was the invention of the steam engine by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, with later improvements made in the 1760s and 1770s by James Watt. The steam engine revolutionized manufacturing and transportation. The use of the steam engine in railroads and boats dramatically increased the speed and reliability by which supplies and goods could be delivered. The invention of the telegraph in 1837 would also significantly speed up communications. These new technologies meant that some skilled artisans were replaced by machines, while working conditions and worker safety dramatically declined.

An illustration of a spinning jenny created by the inventor James Hargreaves.

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