The main characteristic of the industrial revolution in the United States was the change from an agricultural to an industrial economy. The process was slow and thus took almost a century with Samuel Slater often receiving recognition as the pioneer of the process through his opening of the first industrial Mill in 1790. 1 People began moving away from home business characterized by the hand making of commodities, to a machine-based production in the factories. The revolution changed several areas including manufacturing, transportation, and communications hence transforming the lives of many Americans. The industrial revolution in Europe was also a gradual process that spread over the continent gradually. One of the main factors that facilitated the change was the growth of population experienced at the turn of the 18th century which created an immense reservoir of workers. 2 As such, the continent needed more efficient methods of production that would supply the basic needs of the vast population. Great Britain is among the European countries that enjoyed a strong industrial revolution due to a strong agricultural system and a vast number of creative investors. The textile industry is one of the areas the immensely benefitted from the application of technology in industrial production. The invention of devices such as cotton gin and flying shuttle that began in Europe and later spread to America in the course of the 18th century made the textile manufacturing industry more efficient.
Industrial Revolution in the Textile Industry
In Britain, Industrial revolution traces back to the 1700s. Britain was a significant colonial force and thus used its colonies in America and Asia to acquire resources such as tobacco, silk, gold, sugar, and cotton. In turn, it provided its colonies with finished products such as metalware and textile products. However, as the population of Britain, including that of her colonies, began to increase, Britain had to find new ways it could use to satisfy the demand for its products. Before the industrial revolution, textile products were produced in the cottage industry using hands. The workers, therefore, decided their schedule leading to an increasingly unproductive process. Britain was a significant supplier of textile products to overseas countries and thus resorted to new technological inventions such as the spinning jenny, water frame, and the Watt steam engine. The technologies improved the thread quality and also the speed of production.
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With regards to America, industrial revolution in the textile industry started slightly late at around 1780. Before then, the industry was mainly based in Britain until Samuel Slater borrowed the British ideas and took them to the United States. More technological inventions saw the development of a tool known as the cotton gin developed by Eli Whitney which enabled an efficient production of textile. 3 The advantage of the cotton gin was that it enabled the separation of seeds from the cotton more swiftly thus guaranteeing the US the ability to produce up to 50 times more cotton than it used to do before. Therefore, the industrial revolution in the US was as a result of the ideas borrowed from Britain. Another individual known as Francis Cabot Lowell borrowed the use of the power loom among other factory ideas from Britain into the US. As such, it was possible to process raw cotton and further develop them into cloths in the same location.
The Role of Samuel Slater
As initially noted, Great Britain began its industrial revolution way before the United States started the process. In analyzing this transformation process, Samuel Slater is usually regarded as the link between the spread of the art from Britain into the US. Britain remained a force in the production of the textile for many years because it deeply held to secrets that it was not ready to allow any other country to access. The policy of secrecy was held on for many years implicating other nations such as the US to remain behind in this front. However, America remained a determined country to develop its textile companies during the start of the 1980s. 4 They therefore resorted to offering rewards to English workers in the mills to leak the information to their counterparts in America. It was, however, illegal to export any form of textile technology from England to America. As such, Slater had to memorize the construction concepts of a textile factory. Thus, by the 1790s, America had begun to build many textile industries as a result of memorization by Slater.
Comparing the Technologies
The industrial revolution in Europe took a new twist when an individual known as James Hargreaves in 1764 invented the spinning jenny with the potential of spinning eight threads of cotton yarn. The machine utilized eight different spindles onto which the spinning of the threads would occur. Therefore, it was easy for a single operator to spin eight different yarns at once. Improvements in the technology saw the capacity of the machine to spin eighty threads at once. However, the invention of the device was not spared of any resistance especially in its area of origin in England. The tool meant that many people would be rendered jobless as work that was done by eight people would now be done by a single individual. The original machine was vandalized and rejected across many countries in Europe. The invention of the cotton gin mainly highlighted the breakthrough in textile processing industry in America. The machine was invented by an individual known as Eli Whitney in 1792. 5
The cotton gin allowed for the separation of cotton fibers from cotton seeds hence enabling a single worker to remove seeds from a whopping 50 pounds of cotton per day compared to the initial rate of one pound per day experienced when using hands. 6 The invention of the cotton gin and the subsequent mechanization of the production of textile ensured that the cotton superseded the wool and flax textile production. The output of cotton also increased to approximately eight times since the invention of the cotton gin to around 1801. Eli Whitney was mainly inspired by the fact that he saw many slaves working relentlessly in a bid to separate the seeds from the cotton fiber. He, therefore, wanted to invent the machine that would not only do similar work but in a simpler way. The cotton gin had teeth used to pull the fiber from the seeds. The device became more popular and spread across America. As such, many plantations in the South demanded the new invention in a bid to enhance safety in their work. The cotton gin by Eli Whitney increased the production of cotton from a paltry 4000 bales in 1790 to a whopping 1,400,000 bales by 1840. 7 However; the downside of the invention was the fact that it increased slavery, something that Whitney initially wanted to end.
In Europe, another critical technology that revolutionized the textile industry was known as the water frame. Just like the spinning jenny, it also functioned by a mechanically spinning thread. It was the first machine that utilized power from water. Furthermore, it was automatic. The inventor of the machine was Richard Arkwright in 1769. 8 After patenting it, Arkwright developed into a wealthy entrepreneur during the process of industrial revolution in England. One of the most significant issues about the water frame was its ability to produce threads stronger than those made by the spinning jenny. However, since the machine was water-powered, most of the factories had to be built near water bodies. Another downside of the spinning-frame machine was the fact that it was too large to be operated by hand. As such, Arkwright experimented with horses but with much success. He, therefore, decided to set a factory near River Derwent in a bid to utilize energy from the water. Thus, the machine came to be referred to as the water-frame.
The water frame reached America thanks to Samuel Slater who exported the textile innovation from England to the Americas. By December of 1790, the water-powered machine for spinning cotton threads had been established in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Samuel Slater used a design similar to that created in England. The mill built by Slater was the first ever to utilize the water frame in the production of cotton yarn. Assessing the textile revolution in America cannot be complete without analyzing the role played by Francis Cabot Lowell. In 1810, he visited the textile mills in Great Britain and took note of all the available technologies that were currently not present in the US. One of the machines he took note of was the power loom which was used to weave the thread into cloth. Carrying the ideas with him to the US, Lowell managed to create the Boston manufacturing Company by 1812. He generated a lot of money from the project which he subsequently used to create a water-powered mill. One of the things that Lowell is credited for is the building of a factory that would enable the process of cotton to cloth under one roof in a process referred to as the "Waltham-Lowell System" which further led to the reduction in the prices of cotton. Lowell, therefore, established a cheaper company after the introduction of the power loom from Britain to the US. As such, the textile industry boomed causing a majority of people to venture into the textile industry in the early 1830s.
In both Europe and America, the invention of the steam engines played a significant role in the revolution of textile production. 9 Before the steam engines, industries used the power provided by either the animals or winds to ensure production. However, these sources of energy proved unreliable. The industrial revolution would not have been possible without the input of the steam engines. The introduction of the steam power in the 18th century was not only used in engineering but also in the textile production. It brought an end to the manual labor and introduced a machine-based production which was first, reliable, and efficient. In Europe, James Watt made an immense contribution in the area of the steam engine. He modified a steam engine that had initially been built Thomas Newcomen by adding an external condenser. He made further improvements and partnered with Mathew Boulton leading to the production of steam engines that could be used in the textile industry.
Another piece of technology developed during the industrial revolution was the flying shuttle. John Kay invented this tool in 1773 that would go ahead to improve the efficiency of production in Europe. The invention meant that an individual would operate the shuttle across a wide loom hence increasing the rate of cloth production. The flying shuttle has a huge legacy given that it entirely revolutionized the weaving of textiles. As such, it played a significant part in initiating the industrial revolution. 10 The invention brought about by Kay was unique in that it consisted of tiny “hammers” which worked by knocking the shuttle in either direction of the warp thread. Therefore, the flying shuttle machine was a vital step towards initiating an automatic weaving. It prevented the traditional behavior of throwing or passing the shuttle from side to side by the hand. In such a system, weavers had to sit side to side to ensure that the shuttle passed efficiently between them. The flying shuttle, therefore, ensured that only a single weaver could weave fabrics of any size, more than what two weavers could have done before. The technology spread from England to the rest of Europe at a faster rate until it was finally adopted in the Americas at the turn of the 19th century.
In conclusion, industrial revolution began in Europe before it was adopted in America. In the textile industry, England was the embodiment of Europe’s textile processing because it had the raw materials and necessary expertise. One of the reasons why America became successful in its textile processing is because it borrowed immensely from the English people. Samuel Slater is regarded as one of the pioneers of the revolution due to his export of information and secrets that Britain had held on for long. The two continents have several similarities that include using similar technologies such as the spinning jenny, water frame, steam engines, the cotton gin, and the flying shuttle in improving the textile industry. Both places enjoyed a massive boost in the textile industry with the formation of many new factories. Slavery reduced as the new technologies boosted efficiency. One of the significant differences including the fact that Europe was always ahead in terms of inventing the machines while America was only reduced to borrowing and in some instances acquiring the knowledge fraudulently.
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