How did the steam engine impact industrialization?

Question

please refer to us history and site all references.

Answer 1

you can find an exellent paper done on this topic at:

http://soks.wustl.edu/steam.pdf


Also, November 15, 1996 - February 23, 1997

The Museum of American Heritage pays tribute to the Age of Steam in this exhibit, Dreams of Steam: The History of Steam Power. The age of steam is etched firmly into America's historical memories through its romantic association with railroading, folk songs, travels with Mark Twain on the Mississippi and the personal experiences of generations of Americans.

About 2,000 years ago, Greek mathematician Hero experimented with steam power, constructing a rudimentary rotary steam engine. A spinning ball driven by steam jets, he considered the device a toy. More than 1600 years later, two British inventors began to turn steam power into practical devices -- Thomas Savery in 1698 and Thomas Newcomen in 1705. James Watt further improved on their inventions, patenting several designs that earned him the title of father of the modern steam engine.

Applications of steam power grew during the 1700s, when steam engines began to find use powering stationery machinery such as pumps and mills, and its usages expanded with time into vehicles such as tractors, ships, trains, cars and farm/industrial machinery. The age of steam lasted almost 200 years, until the internal combustion engine and the electricity took over. Even so, efficient steam turbines are still used today for submarine torpedo propulsion, for electricity generation by electric utilities and for naval propulsion systems.



Steam Power and the Industrial Revolution

Between 1780 and 1830, in less than the space of three generations, the industrial world changed irrevocably. The world became a place where humans handled great amounts of energy to an extent inconceivable in the preceding agrarian age. The defining feature of the Industrial Revolution was a dramatic increase in per capita production, made possible by the more efficient manufacturing processes of the new, steam driven factories.

The relentless force of steam, expanding out of boilers, powered the Industrial Revolution. It replaced the fatigue-ridden muscle power of humans and animals and allowed people to do things that muscle power alone could not do. Before the 1700s, most factories depended on wind or water for power. Steam power inspired invention in many areas; ships, railroads, mills and mines, to name a few. Steam became so widely used that the period of the Industrial Revolution is also called "The Age of Steam". Though steam engines have passed the prime of their usefulness, their legacy remains, for they first put into human society the fantastic and fruitful notion of using heat to produce mechanical movement. It is this idea, more than any other, that has shaped our whole technical civilization. While it is difficult to specify the exact time and place the Industrial Revolution started, by by 1760 all the scientific and technological developments were in place to make the Industrial Revolution inevitable.

The Industrial Revolution started in England, and at its root was coal, which England had in abundance. Wood had been England's primary fuel, but the forests were being burned faster then they could be replaced. As a result, people turned to coal, but coal was not easy to mine. It was often found deep in the earth, frequently under water. Steam became the source of power to pump out the water and to lift to the surface the fuel the engines burned.

The Industrial Revolution had major social impact: It changed agrarian societies to industrial societies. Populations migrated from farms to cities as cities became places of opportunity and personal development in ways that had never been possible in the closed, static rural society. However, industrial work was often more tedious, unhealthy and dangerous than work in agriculture or domestic industries. Women and children were exploited until the introduction of protective labor laws in the twentieth century. The skills of many workers were made obsolete, and nearly all workers became dependent upon market forces far beyond their control. The machines seemed to become their masters. Eventually, workers found strength through common experience, developing labor unions and political organizations to correct the worst excesses and protect their interests.

In the long run, the Industrial Revolution has benefited most nations by providing an escape from the poverty trap; the cycle of low income, low consumption, low demand and low production. In some areas of the world, the process can be observed to this day. Despite the resistance of the warlords, monks, and autocrats being displaced by skilled professionals and merchants, the process of industrialization yields a new, large middle class endowed with a high degree of literacy, economic power, political influence and capital -- and willing to endorse quantitative measurement and experimentation.

A question to consider: Are there parallels between the role of steam in the Industrial Revolution and the role of the computer at the close of the twentieth century?

Answer 2

It helped goods and services to move from place to place a lot faster. Industrialization was the creating of industries in the world that used natural processes to create products. Steam engines not only helped with train transportation of final goods, but it also helped with the first automated assembly line process that utilized steam power instead of human power.

Answer 3

The Progressive era brought changes in the federal government by bringing an accountability through laws that brought regulations to banking, business, mining, transportation, working conditions for workers and farmers. The Senate was elected by the people rather than state legislatures. States developed programs for children and the elderly, while city governments were more accountable to the citizens by publishing their annual budgets and holding hearings for major changes. The changes gave the public healthier foods, more care for children through community agencies and safer workplaces for labor. The Unions were strengthened and became useful to its members.

Answer 4

The steam engine was a way for factories to move their goods quickly to the west which was too far for carriges or horses. As the number of railroads grew so did the number of factories.

Answer 5

Look in the book you loser!