Why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain, and the machines that drove it

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C. Card A, a chart in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum): Spinning cotton in Manchester, before and after the machines. Where it was spun: before, by hand in people's homes; after, in mills with rows of machines. What powered the work: before, human hands; after, water, and from 1782 steam. Who could run the machine: before, skilled hand spinners; after, unskilled workers who fed in cotton and changed bobbins. Mills in Manchester: more than 50 by 1802. People in Manchester: 188,000 by 1831, double what it was 20 years earlier. Card B, a note in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum): Richard Arkwright's water frame spun cotton yarn more quickly and in greater quantities than ever before. Sources differ on its date: a breakthrough in 1767, development with John Kay in 1768, and a patent granted in 1769. Card C, a chart in our words, written today (from National Geographic): Why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Coal: Britain had switched to coal as its main fuel by the end of the 1600s, and steam engines first pumped water from coal mines. Iron: a wood shortage led to coke, made from coal, for smelting iron, which gave more wrought iron for machinery. Farming: new tools such as Jethro Tull's seed drill, around 1701, brought bigger harvests that fed a fast-growing population. Cotton cloth: demand for cotton was rising after East India Company ships brought Indian cottons, and machines could spin faster than people working by hand. Historians weigh these causes differently.

2. 1.

   Card A is a chart made today. Which question can it help answer, Ari asks?

   • Why Arkwright, and not another inventor, built the first mills, since the chart describes the new machines
   • How much cotton one mill spun in a day
   • How spinning cotton changed from hand work in homes to work in mills with machines
   • How the workers felt about leaving their homes for the mills, since the chart shows that move
3. 2.

   Card B says sources differ on the water frame's date. What does that tell a historian, Bo asks?

   • The museum is unreliable, since it gives three dates
   • The patent date of 1769 is the right one, since a patent is the official record of when it was made
   • The dates may mark different steps, a breakthrough, development and a patent
   • One date must be wrong, so the earliest, 1767, is the right one since inventors invent before they patent
4. 3.

   Card C lists four causes. What can it help answer, Esme asks?

   • Which of the four causes mattered most, since the chart lists coal first and puts it at the top
   • What Britain had that helped industry begin, such as coal, iron, farming and cotton demand
   • Whether industry could have started without farming, since the chart lists farming as a cause
   • Why Britain had coal by the 1600s
5. 4.

   Card A says mill machines could be run by unskilled workers. A student concludes: "Mill work was easy." What does Card A support, Jun asks?

   • Less skill was needed, but the card does not say whether the work was easy or hard
   • Mill work was hard, since 188,000 people were crowded into Manchester by 1831 and crowds mean heavy work
   • Skilled hand spinners earned more in mills, since mills paid well for the machines they ran
   • Mill work was easy, since a job that needs no skill is a light job that anyone can do
6. 5.

   A student writes: "Coal was the most important cause, because Card C lists it first." What does Card C say, Kira asks?

   • The order does not rank the causes; the card says historians weigh them differently
   • The student is right, since coal drove the engines that pumped the mines and powered the factories
   • The student is wrong, since iron was the main cause
   • The student is right, since charts like this list causes from most important to least important

7. Use this

   Cards D to F. Card D, a summary in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum): Enslaved people forced to grow cotton on plantations in the southern United States met Manchester's demand for raw cotton. The museum says the cotton gin of 1793 resulted in about a million more enslaved people being forced to grow cotton in the United States. East India Company ships had brought Indian cottons, and in West Africa British traders exchanged cloth for captured people. Card E, a summary in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum and UK Parliament): Mill work meant very early mornings, long hours and repetitive tasks. In 1833 new laws banned mill work for children under nine. Card F, a summary in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum and National Geographic): Locomotives ran in Britain after 1825. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830, and its first goods wagon held 136 bales of cotton.

8. 6.

   A student writes: "Manchester's cotton industry depended just on British farms and workers." What does Card D say, Luz asks?

   • No: the raw cotton came from India on East India Company ships
   • No: raw cotton came from plantations in the southern United States worked by enslaved people
   • Yes: the mills stood in Manchester, so the cotton they spun was grown on British farms nearby
   • No: British traders in West Africa exchanged raw cotton for captured people before it reached Manchester
9. 7.

   Cards F and D together: how do the railway and the cotton supply fit, Milo asks?

   • The railway ended the need for plantation cotton, since trains moved raw cotton so much faster
   • The railway of 1830 carried cotton for an industry that already had large supply and demand
   • The railway grew out of the cotton gin
   • The railway caused Manchester's cotton industry, since its first goods wagon carried cotton bales
10. 8.

    Cards D and E describe two groups linked to cotton. What do they show, Noah asks?

    • Mill workers had an easy life next to the growers, since a law in 1833 protected the youngest of them
    • Mill workers were enslaved like the growers, since both groups had very long and hard working days
    • One group, since people who grew the cotton and people who spun it did the same job and had the same freedoms
    • Two groups in different conditions: forced growers of cotton, and mill workers with long hours

11. Use this

    Cards A to C. Card A, a chart in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum): Spinning cotton in Manchester, before and after the machines. Where it was spun: before, by hand in people's homes; after, in mills with rows of machines. What powered the work: before, human hands; after, water, and from 1782 steam. Who could run the machine: before, skilled hand spinners; after, unskilled workers who fed in cotton and changed bobbins. Mills in Manchester: more than 50 by 1802. People in Manchester: 188,000 by 1831, double what it was 20 years earlier. Card B, a note in our words, written today (from the Science and Industry Museum): Richard Arkwright's water frame spun cotton yarn more quickly and in greater quantities than ever before. Sources differ on its date: a breakthrough in 1767, development with John Kay in 1768, and a patent granted in 1769. Card C, a chart in our words, written today (from National Geographic): Why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Coal: Britain had switched to coal as its main fuel by the end of the 1600s, and steam engines first pumped water from coal mines. Iron: a wood shortage led to coke, made from coal, for smelting iron, which gave more wrought iron for machinery. Farming: new tools such as Jethro Tull's seed drill, around 1701, brought bigger harvests that fed a fast-growing population. Cotton cloth: demand for cotton was rising after East India Company ships brought Indian cottons, and machines could spin faster than people working by hand. Historians weigh these causes differently.

12. 9.

    Card C says cotton demand was rising. Card B dates the water frame. A student says the machine created the demand. What do the cards show, Pia asks?

    • The machine created the demand, since machines came in 1767 to 1769 and cotton mills followed
    • Demand and the machine are unrelated, since they appear on separate cards with separate dates
    • Indian cottons caused the water frame, since Card C names them as a cause of machines
    • Card C names rising demand as a cause of machines; Card B only gives the machine's dates
13. 10.

    Card A says more than 50 mills by 1802. Which statement is fair, Zee asks?

    • There were exactly 50 mills by 1802, since 50 is the number printed on the card for that year
    • There were fewer than 50 mills by 1802
    • Each of the mills used steam by 1802, since the first steam mill opened in 1782 and steam spread
    • There were over 50 mills by 1802, but the card does not say how many used steam