Topic Name Description
Course Syllabus Page Course Syllabus
Page Course Terms of Use
1.1.1: The Industrial Revolution in England URL Steven Kreis' "The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England"

Read this lecture to learn about the conditions in England that helped give rise to the industrial revolution.

1.1.2: Changing Daily Lives Page Turning Points in History: the Industrial Revolution

Watch this video and pay attention to how the Industrial Revolution changed daily life in Britain and the United States.

1.2.1: Mercantilism URL Laura LaHaye's "Mercantilism"

Read this article about the history of mercantilism to learn about how this theory of trade and industry emerged.

1.2.2: Adam Smith URL The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: "Adam Smith"

Read this short biography of Adam Smith to understand the context of Adam Smith's thinking about economic change.

URL Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations, 1776"

Browse this work and read the first book to get a sense of the kinds of arguments Smith made in his writing.

1.2.3: Max Weber URL Max Weber's "Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification"

Read this excerpt from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism to get a sense of Max Weber's argument that religious affiliation affected the willingness of people to engage in capitalist enterprises. Weber is only laying out his main ideas in this opening chapter.

1.3.1: Friedrich List URL Mehdi Shaefaeddin's "What Did Frederick List Actually Say? Some Clarifications on the Infant Industry Argument"

Read this article in preparation for reading List's primary source next.

URL George Frederich List's "National System of Political Economy"

Read this excerpt from List's work.

1.3.2: Karl Marx URL University of the West of England: J. Paul Dunne's "Marxist Economics"

Read this article to for a basic outline of Karl Marx's theory of economics.

URL Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel's "The Communist Manifesto"

Read "The Communist Manifesto".

1.3.3: Joseph Schumpeter URL Joseph Schumpeter's "On the Concept of Social Value"

Read Schumpeter's article and note his argument about the connection between individualistic economic desire and the community at large.

1.4.1: The "Stages of Growth" Theory URL W. W. Rostow's "The Five Stages of Growth"

Read this chapter from W. W. Rostow's The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto for an explanation of industrialization and economic change.

1.4.2: "Dependency" Theory URL Mt. Holyoke College: Vincent Ferraro's "Dependency Theory: An Introduction"

Read this article to understand the arguments that dependency theorists make about industrialization and trade.

2.1.1: Mining URL Steven Kreis' "A Brief Social History of the Roman Empire"

Read this chapter for an overview of Roman society at its height in the first and second centuries CE.

URL The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Lynne Cohen Duncan's "Roman Deep-Vein Mining"

Read this article about Roman mining to learn how ancient Romans solved the technical problems of mining.

2.1.2: Glass Production URL Rosemarie Trentinella's "Roman Glass"

Read this article about the history and evolution of Roman glass production. The manufacture of glassware was known throughout the ancient world, but Roman craftsmen produced glass on an unprecedented scale. The invention of glassblowing during the first century BCE allowed craftsmen to quickly produce glass products in a wide range of shapes, bringing cheap glass to mass markets

2.1.3: Markets and Distribution URL The Open University: "Imperial Rome and Ostia"

Watch these 15 podcasts to learn about how Rome was built and how supplies entered and exited the city. This series of podcasts uses images of Roman ruins and scale models to illustrate the architecture and urban development of the city of Rome. Through its port city of Ostia, Rome imported vast quantities of food and other commodities and exported manufactured goods across the Roman Empire. Roman industry often relied on cheap slave labor to supply large urban markets with goods.

2.2.1: The "Four Great Inventions" URL Wikipedia's "Four Great Inventions"

Read this article to learn about the origins of China's great inventions, which include the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. After reading about China's role in inventing each of these, feel free to read the articles about each specific invention for more history of the use and development of these tools.

2.2.2: Metalworking URL Emma C. Bunker's "The Beginning of Metallurgy in Ancient China"

 Read this article to learn about the origins of bronze and copper metallurgy in ancient China.

URL Copper Development Association: "Copper and Bronze in Ancient China"

Read this article to learn more about copper in ancient China.

2.2.3: Applying Industry to Agriculture URL Purdue University: Jules Janick's "Agricultural Origins in Asia"
Watch these lectures, which provide a general overview of agricultural change in China. Chinese farmers invented a wide range of devices to increase the yield of farms and to save labor, many of which were diffused to other parts of the world, especially Europe.
2.3.1: Germania URL Jona Lendering's "Germania Inferior"

Read this article to learn about economic development in Roman-occupied parts of Europe.

2.3.2: India URL M. P. Gandhi's The Indian Cotton Textile Industry

Read the first two chapters of this book to learn about pre-European cotton manufacturing in India.

2.4.1: Merchant Capitalism in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas URL Eugen Weber's "The Rise of the Trading Cities"

Watch this video.

URL Bamber Gascoigne's "History of Capitalism"

Read these two pages to learn how early forms of capitalism developed in merchant communities in Europe.

2.4.2: Trading Companies and Consumer Goods URL Gresham College: Thomas Crump's "The History of the Dutch East Indies Company"

Read these notes and listen to this lecture.

3.1.1: The "Columbian Exchange" Page New Worlds in the Americas: Labor, Commerce, and the Columbian Exchange

Read this article about the exploitation and trading networks that resulted from European colonization in the Americas. Pay particular attention to the Columbian Exchange which provided a new basis for new agricultural production in Europe, as new types of crops from the New World came to supplement the European diet, such as potatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, squash, peppers and cacao. For example, potatoes became a vital means of sustenance for the lower classes across Europe.

3.1.2: The Agricultural Revolution in Europe URL Mark Overton's "Agricultural Revolution in England 1500–1850"

Read this article to learn about the changes in agricultural productivity in England during the agricultural revolution.

3.1.3: Demographic Change in Europe URL The Industrial Revolution – Looking to the Past: "The Causes of Urbanization and Life in Early Industrial Cities"

Read this article, which discusses how demographic changes affected urbanization in Europe.

Page Urbanization and Its Challenges

Read this section, which includes some first-hand accounts of the demographic changes that resulted from urbanization and industrialization.

Page The Transformation of Cities and the Urban Experience

Read this article which gives accounts of how industrialization transform cities and the urban experience in terms of increased pollution, health and disease, poverty and destitution.

3.2.1: Rural Manufacturing in Europe URL Duncan Bythell's "Cottage Industry and the Factory System"

Read this article to understand how the "putting-out system" (also called the "domestic system") evolved during the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain.

3.2.2: Handicraft Production in Asia URL Louise A. Tilly's "Connections"

Read this transcript of Louise A. Tilly's presidential address to the American Historical Association, which examines early forms of industrial production in South Asia, England, and France. She argues that early industrialization in England stunted industrial development in South Asia, while showing that European and Asian workers experienced major social changes as a result of their shifting economic roles.

3.3.1: Raw Materials from the Americas URL Joseph E. Inikori's "The Atlantic World Slave Economy and the Development Process in England, 1650–1850"

Read this article to learn how slavery contributed to the development of industry in Europe.

3.3.2: Labor from Africa URL Robin Blackburn's "Enslavement and Industrialization"

Read this article to learn about the debates concerning the connection between slavery and industrialization.

4.1.1: Coal Mining in England Page Industrial Revolutions

Watch this lecture by John Merriman to learn about the general course of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

URL John Lord's "General State of Industry: Coal Mines and Iron Works"

Read this excerpt from Capital and Steam Power to learn about the early history of coal in industry.

4.1.2: The Steam Engine URL Making the Modern World: "Age of the Engineer, 1820–1880"

Read these nine pages. Watch the media scenes on each page, which describe the function and evolution of early steam engines.

4.2.1: Revolutionizing Wool and Cotton Spinning URL Doug Peacock's "Spinning Machines"

Read this two-page article to learn about the rapid changes in textile technology that occurred in England in the late 18th century.

URL "Leeds Woolen Workers Petition, 1786"

Read this article to learn how how new technology changed people's lives. Along with the next article, note that each side tries to make an argument for the common good.

URL "Letter from Leeds Cloth Merchants, 1791"

Read this article to learn how how new technology changed people's lives. Along with the previous article, note that each side tries to make an argument for the common good.

4.2.2: Resistance to Mechanization URL UK National Archives: "Luddites"

Read this introduction and explore the five original sources about machine-breaking movements.

4.2.3: The Factory System URL Making the Modern World: "Textiles: From Domestic to Factory Production"

Read these thirteen pages, which compare domestic to factory production. Review each of the "Rich Media Scenes" to learn how factories emerged as sites of production and how they differed from earlier forms of work.

URL Andrew Ure's "The Philosophy of the Manufacturers"

Read this excerpt of Ure's 1835 book, which gives a contemporary account of the benefits of the factory system in England.

4.3.1: Iron URL Saint Anselm College: Joseph S. Spoerl's "A Brief History of Iron and Steel Production"

Read this article to learn how iron and steel manufacturing became leading sectors in the Industrial Revolution.

URL Making the Modern World: "New Steel: The Bessemer Converter"

Read this page, which describes the Bessemer process and the impact it had on steel manufacturing.

4.3.2: Railroads URL Chris Butler's "Railroads and Their Impact (c. 1825–1900)"

Read this article to learn about the origins of railroads and their effect on industrialization.

URL Mount Holyoke College: Robert Schwartz's "The Industrial Revolution and the Railroad System"

Read these pages to see how early railroads were constructed and how people reacted to new industrial developments. You may wish to explore the other pages under "Opposing Voices" and "Illustrated London News".

4.3.3: Steamships URL University of California at Berkeley: Brad DeLong's "The Iron-Hulled Ocean-Going Steamship, 1870–1914"

Read pages 1–12 of this article.

4.4.1: Protection of Trade Secrets URL Northwestern University: Joel Mokyr's "Intellectual Property Rights, the Industrial Revolution, and the Beginnings of Modern Economic Growth”

Read this article.

URL Joan Brodsky Schur's "Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin"

Read this article about Eli Whitney to learn about an American case of patent law and industrialization.

4.4.2: Economic Espionage and Trade Missions URL Simmons College: Katharine Dunn's "A Manufactured City: Lowell's Grand Experiment”

Read this article to learn how industrial knowledge was transferred from England to the United States.

4.4.3: Migrations of Workers URL BBC: "Immigration and Emigration: Industrial Espionage"

Read this four-page article to learn how workers carried industrial knowledge away from England.

5.1.1: Growth of Urban Manufacturing Page Nineteenth-Century Cities

Watch this lecture by John Merriman to learn how industrialization changed urban life during the 19th century.

5.1.2: Rapid Growth of Industrial Cities URL University of South Florida: "Density of Population, 1910"

Examine this map of population density in 1910 to see where people were most densely concentrated in Europe.

URL Jackson J. Spielvogel's "The Industrialization of Europe by 1850"

Review this interactive map, which illustrates the spread of industry and urbanization in Europe.

5.2.1: Women as Workers URL Yale University: John Merriman's "Women's Work in the Industrial Revolution"

Watch Chapter 3 of this lecture, which begins at 16:29. This lecture will help you understand how the Industrial Revolution changed women's lives.

5.2.2: Child Labor URL Jane Humphries' "Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution"

Watch this lecture learn how the Industrial Revolution utilized child labor.

5.3.1: Wealth from Industry and Trade URL Donna Loftus' "The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class"

Read this article to learn how the Industrial Revolution expanded the middle class in England.

5.3.2: Political Aspirations URL University of Tennessee at Martin: Glenn Everett's "The Reform Acts"

Read this article to learn how industrialization created political conditions that led to the Reform Acts in England.

URL Marjie Bloy's "The Reform Act Crisis"

Read this article to learn more about how industrialization created political conditions that led to the Reform Acts in England.

URL Marjie Bloy's "Terms of the 1832 Reform Act"

Read this article to learn more about the Reform Acts in England.

5.4.1: French Socialism URL Steven Kreis' "The French Revolution and the Socialist Tradition: Early French Communists"

Read this article to learn how intellectuals and labor leaders viewed the impact of industrialization on politics and society.

URL Steven Kreis' "The French Revolution and the Socialist Tradition: English Democratic Socialists"

Read this article to learn how intellectuals and labor leaders viewed the impact of industrialization on politics and society.

5.4.2: Utopian Socialism URL Steven Kreis' "The Utopian Socialists: Charles Fourier"

Read this article to learn how intellectuals and workers tried to use industrialization to create utopian societies.

URL Steven Kreis' "The Utopian Socialists: Robert Owen and Saint-Simon"

Read this article to learn how intellectuals and workers tried to use industrialization to create utopian societies.

5.4.3: Chartism URL Ohio University: James Chastain's "Chartism"

Read this article to learn about the basic goals of the Chartist movement in England.

5.5.1: On the Road to Revolution Page Revolutionary Movements

Watch this lecture, which explains the ideologies and events leading up to the revolutionary year of 1848.

5.5.2: Causes URL Ohio University: Yvonne Crewbow's "French Economic Situation, 1847–1852"

Read this article.

5.5.3: Spread URL Hanover Historical Texts Project: "Documents of the Revolution of 1848 in France"

Read these primary source documents. These documents were issued by the provisional government of France in 1848. The actions and ideals espoused by the revolutionaries in France quickly spread to many other European nations.

URL Carl Schurz's "A Look Back at 1848, 1907"

Read this excerpt from a memoir by Carl Schurz, a German revolutionary in 1848 who later immigrated to the United States and became a general in the Civil War. Note how Schurz describes the excitement sweeping through Europe following the Revolution in France.

5.5.4: Restoration of Order URL Ohio University: Steven Kale's "Conservative Resistance to Revolution in France"

Read this article to learn about the social groups that opposed the Revolution of 1848 in France. Similar groups throughout Europe resisted the revolutions and ultimately prevented the most radical revolutionary forces from making lasting reforms.

6.1.1: Proto-Industrialization and Trade in Qing China URL London School of Economics: Kenneth Pomeranz's "Skills, Rights and Resources in the East Asian Path to Development"

Listen to this lecture to learn about the basic path of industrialization in Asia.

URL Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Peter C. Perdue's "Rise and Fall of Canton Trade System"

Read this article to learn how trade was conducted between China and western European countries along with the United States.

6.1.2: The "Great Divergence" URL Peter C. Perdue's "Review of The Great Divergence"

Read this review of Kenneth Pomeranz's The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy to learn about the basic argument presented concerning the diverging development paths of China and Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution.

URL Columbia University: Kenneth Pomeranz and Bin Wong's "China and Europe: 1780–1937"

Read this three-page article to learn how the industrial trajectories of Europe and China diverged during the nineteenth century.

6.1.3: The Opium Wars and Western Imperialism URL Wikipedia: "The Opium Wars"

Read these articles about the two Opium Wars.

6.2.1.1: Exclusion Acts URL Wake Forest University: Sarah Lyons Watts' "The Seclusion of Japan"

Read this article and the primary source excerpts that follow it to learn about the Japanese policy of seclusion from world trade.

6.2.1.2: The Opening of Japan URL National Diet Library, Japan: "The Opening of Japan and Japan-Netherlands Relations"

Read this article to learn about how Japan began to loosen restrictions on trade with the outside world.

6.2.2: Proto-Industrialization in Japan URL Junichiro Suzuki's "A Resume of the History of Japanese Industries"

Read this chapter on pages 533–549 to learn how Japanese officials viewed the evolution of industrialization in Japan before 1900.

6.3.1: New Industrial Policies URL SOAS University of London: Simon Partner's "The Merchant's Tale"

Watch this video.

URL National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan: Kenichi Ohno's "Meiji: Key Goals of the New Government"

Read this article to learn how the Meiji government approached the problem of industrialization.

6.4.1: The Scramble for Africa URL Wikipedia: "Scramble for Africa”

Read this article to learn how the economic imperatives of industrialization led European nations to expand their imperial control into Africa.

6.4.2: The New Imperialism URL Yale University: John Merriman's "Imperialists and Boy Scouts"

Watch this lecture to learn how increasing industrialization led to a new type of imperialism in the nineteenth century and how that imperialism set the stage for the First World War.

7.1.1: Large Corporations URL University of Houston, Digital History: "The Rise of Big Business"

Read the ten articles in this unit to learn how large corporations emerged in the industrializing United States.

7.1.2: Cartels and Monopoly Capitalism URL Henry Demarest Lloyd's "The Lords of Industry"

Read this article from the late nineteenth century to learn about industrial trusts and cartels and why people objected to them.

7.1.3: Taylorism and Fordism URL NetMBA: "Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management"

Read the article to learn about Frederick Taylor's contribution to industrial management.

URL Frederick W. Taylor's "The Principles of Scientific Management, 1911"

Read this excerpt of Frederick Taylor's work.

URL Willamette University: Fred Thompson's "Fordism, Post-Fordism and the Flexible System of Production"

Read this article.

7.2.1: Workers and Capitalists in the United States URL University of Houston, Digital History: "Industrialization and the Working Class"

Read the fifteen articles in this unit to learn how American workers responded to changes in industry.

7.2.2: Workers and Capitalists in Europe Page Mass Politics and the Political Challenge from the Left

Watch this lecture by John Merriman. Focus on how labor movements formed political organizations in Europe.

7.2.3: Workers and Capitalists in Asia URL Kazuo Nimura's "The Formation of Japanese Labor Movement, 1868–1914"

Read this article about the formation of the Japanese labor movement.

URL Fusataro Takano's "Chinese Tailors' Strike in Shanghai"

Read this article about a labor protest in China.

7.3.1: Industrialized Agriculture URL John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Shawn Mackenzie's "A Brief History of Agriculture and Food Production: The Rise of Industrial Agriculture"

Read these slides, which provide a background on agriculture and the history of the industrialization of agriculture.

7.3.2: Mass Communications and Mass Marketing URL University of Houston, Digital History: "The Rise of Mass Communication"

Read this article to learn about the new media industries that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

URL George Mason University: Michael O'Malley's "Understanding Advertising"

Read this article to learn how advertising helped industries reach new consumers and sell products in new ways.

8.1.1: Industrial Rivalry in Europe URL Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's "Division of the World among Capitalist Associations"

Read this chapter of Lenin's book Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism to learn about the growing competition between capitalist businesses in the years leading up to 1914.

8.1.2: Industrialized Warfare URL Making the Modern World: "Age of the Mass, 1914–1939: World War One"

Read these seven pages and explore the linked content.

8.1.3: The United States and World War I URL Henry J. Sage's "America and World War I"

Read this article about U.S. involvement in the Great War.

8.2.1: Boom and Bust in the 1920s Page PBS: "Commanding Heights"

Watch these videos.

URL Gene Smiley's "Great Depression"

Read this article to learn about the main events of the Great Depression.

8.2.2: Recovery Efforts URL Frank G. Steindl's "Economic Recovery in the Great Depression"

Read this article to learn how governments tried to recover from the Great Depression.

8.3.1: Causes URL Wikipedia: "Causes of World War II"

Read this article on the causes of World War Two.

8.3.2: The U.S. Economy During the Second World War URL Christopher J. Tassava's "The American Economy during World War II"

Read this article to learn how World War Two transformed the U.S. economy.

8.4.1: Postwar Planning and the Bretton Woods Conference URL "The Conference at Bretton Woods"

Read this summary of agreements reached at the 1944 United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods to learn about the significance of the conference.

8.4.2: The Marshall Plan URL George C. Marshall Foundation: "The Marshall Plan

Explore this page to learn about the key elements of the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after 1945.

9.1.1: The Bolshevik Revolution Page PBS: "Commanding Heights"

Watch this video.

9.1.2: Economic Policy under Lenin URL Lewis Siegelbaum's "1917: Economic Apparatus"

Read this article and the related links.

URL Lewis Siegelbaum's "1921: The New Economic Policy"

Read this article and the related links.

9.1.3: Stalinist Industrialization URL Lewis Siegelbaum's "1924: Industrialization Debate"

Read this article and the related links.

URL Lewis Siegelbaum's "1929: Shock Workers"

Read this article and the related links.

URL Lewis Siegelbaum's "1929: Year of Great Change"

Read this article and the related links.

9.2.1: The Chinese Revolution URL King's College: John Bowblis' "China in the 20th Century"

Read this overview of Chinese history in the 20th century to understand how the revolution changed Chinese industry.

9.2.2: Sino-Soviet Cooperation URL International Institute of Social History: "Sino-Soviet Cooperation"

Read this article, which discusses how the Soviet Union and China cooperated.

9.2.3: The "Great Leap Forward" URL Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savana, and Ronald E. Dolan's "China: The Great Leap Forward, 1958–60"

Read this article to learn about the objectives of the Great Leap Forward.

URL International Institute of Social History: "Great Leap Forward"

Read this two-page article to learn about the objectives of the Great Leap Forward.

9.3.1: India under British Rule URL University of Groningen: Angus Maddison's "The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India"

Read this chapter.

9.3.2: State Capitalism and the Five-Year Plan Page PBS: "Commanding Heights"

Watch these videos.

9.3.3: Import Substitution URL Wikipedia: "Import Substitution Industrialization"

Read this article to learn about the theory and application of ISI policies that were implemented in Latin American countries during the 20th century.

10.1.1: Post-1945 Prosperity URL Eric Solsten's "Germany: The Social Market Economy"

Read this article about how Germany recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity.

URL Eric Solsten's "Germany: The Economic Miracle and Beyond"

Read this article for more information about how Germany recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity.

URL United States Country Study: "The Postwar Economy: 1945–1960"

Read this article about how the United States recovered from the Second World War and entered a period of industrial prosperity.

10.1.2: Problems of the 1960s–1970s Page PBS: "Commanding Heights"

Watch these videos.

10.1.3: Economic Origins of the European Union URL European Union: "1945–1959: A Peaceful Europe and the Beginnings of Cooperation"

Read this page and explore the images and films available. Be sure to read more about the Schuman Plan.

10.2.1: Reconstruction of Japan URL National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan: Kenichi Ohno's "Postwar Recovery 1945–1949"

Read this article to learn how Japan recovered from the destruction of the Second World War.

URL National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan: Kenichi Ohno's "Post High Growth 1950s–1960s"

Read this article to learn how Japan recovered from the destruction of the Second World War.

10.2.2: The "Four Tigers" URL Catherine R. Schenk's "Economic History of Hong Kong"

Read this article.

URL Myung Soo Cha's "The Economic History of Korea"

Read this article.

URL Kelly Olds' "The Economic History of Taiwan"

Read this article.

URL Michael Sarel's "Growth in East Asia: What We Can and What We Cannot Infer"

Read this article.

10.3.1: Industrialization and Free Trade around the World Page PBS: "Commanding Heights"

Watch these videos.

10.3.2: From the GATT to the WTO URL The Open University: "Development: Context and Practice"

Watch lectures 21, 23, and 25 to learn about China's entry into the world economy.

URL BBC: "Timeline: World Trade Organization”

Read this timeline to learn how the GATT organization transformed into the WTO.

URL BBC: "Profile: World Trade Organization”

Read this overview of the WTO.

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