In 1750, almost all cloth in Britain was spun and woven by hand, at home. A family might spin thread all winter. By 1850, huge mills full of whirring machines made more cloth in a day than a whole village could make in a year. Something big had changed.
Key idea
Steam engines burned coal to boil water; the steam pushed a piston back and forth. Thomas Newcomen built engines to pump water out of mines in 1712, and James Watt made a far better, more efficient one in the 1770s. In 1830, the first railway between two big cities, Liverpool and Manchester, opened, with steam locomotives like George Stephenson's Rocket.
Factories made goods cheaper, and over time many families became better off. But early factory work was hard and dangerous. Workers, including young children, often worked 12 or more hours a day, and city streets were crowded and dirty. Reformers pushed for change: in 1833 Britain's Factory Act limited children's working hours, and later laws required children to go to school.
Worked example: Faster
- 50 ÷ 1 = 50.
Answer: 50 hand spinners.
Common mistake
Try it at home
- Hold a race: one person makes five paper cards alone (fold, draw a star, write a name). Then a team of three makes five, each person doing one step, like a factory line. Which is faster? Which is more fun?
- Look around your home: what was made in a factory? Is anything handmade?