The spark that ignited the Industrial Revolution : an examination of the institutions surrounding the development of the steam engine in England and France

M-DNR

The Diffusion of British Steam Technology and the First Creation of America\u27s Urban Proletariat

The intent of this thesis project is to thoroughly analyze the effects of the transatlantic transfer of British steam engine machinery to the United States during the Antebellum and Gilded Ages. The American assimilation of British steam engine technology sustained improvements in industrial production, commerce, and transportation. In the process, transforming the work habits of native-born Americans and recent European immigrants by creating the need for a more mobile labor force while leading to the first urban proletariat in American society. The transatlantic transfer of textile machine technology disseminated to America from England, during the Republic, had initiated the movement from a predominantly agrarian to and industrial society However, despite this fact, American improvements in the application of British steam engine technology perpetuated urban industrialization and westward expansion during the Antebellum and Gilded Ages. Meeting the needs of developing urban industrial centers meant being able to supply a more mobile and diverse labor force Industrial capitalists would be able to accomplish this task by totally control the means of production through the utilization of steam power in the manufacturing and transportation processes. This newly created labor force would not only include the exploitation of lower class native-born Americans, individuals from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but would also include women and children as well. Therefore, the primary focus of this thesis project will be to examine how the incorporation of American steam engine machinery in agriculture, industry, and transportation recreated American society during the Antebellum and Gilded Ages. Specifically analyzing the interaction between steam technology, labor, and the social and cultural institutions effected by its various applications. Each of these particular factors, in turn, had a profound effect on members of the labor class, and recent European immigrants, exposed to the utilization of steam machinery on a more frequent basis. The American transformation of British steam technology would not only create a more mobile labor force needed for industrial expansion, but also modify the organizational structure and function of the corporate bureaucracies that controlled labor. This particular organizational feature would be further refined with the advent of the steam locomotive connecting urban industrial and rural regions throughout the United States during the Gilded Age

Industrial policy on the frontier: lessons from the first two industrial revolutions

In this paper we revisit the histories of the first and second industrial revolutions, focussing on the experiences of countries that were already rich by the standards of the time, on or close to the technological frontier, and which could reasonably have aspired to industrial and economic leadership. Did governments intervene to promote economic growth, technological change, or industrial leadership, and if so what form did these interventions take? Were some strategies more successful than others, and if so why? The paper is structured thematically rather than chronologically, since we lack the space required to provide a proper narrative history. In the remainder of this introduction we make some general points about the history of industrial policy, beginning with a discussion of the variety of forms that it has taken over time

White Oaks Eagle, 06-18-1903

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wo_eagle_news/1395/thumbnail.jp

On their children's backs: Technological change in the Fife coal industry, 1750-1914

LD:D46995/83 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

I.G. Farben\u27s Petro-Chemical Plant and Concentration Camp at Auschwitz

This study examines the history of the petrochemical plant and concentration camp run by I.G. Farbenindustrie (the dominant German chemical company during World War II) at Auschwitz to decide upon the degree of Farben’s involvement with Hitler and the Holocaust. The study traces the construction of the plant to determine Farben\u27s participation at Auschwitz. The main sources consulted were the transcripts of the postwar Farben trial at Nuremberg along with eyewitness accounts of members of the prosecution staff. Based on the court\u27s verdict, one might conclude that I.G. Farben operated in a state of coercion during the war and could not be held accountable for most of its actions. The history of the Auschwitz plant indicates, however, that I.G. Farben had some involvement in the extermination process