The Revolution Begins Trivia Quiz

Answer: Textile

As the population of England grew in the 1700s, the old way of manufacturing thread and weaving it in the home by hand could not keep up with demand.

Answer: Calico Acts

From 1690-1721, the Calico Acts banned the import of textiles into England, and restricted the sale of most cotton textiles. Parliament viewed the decline in domestic textile sales and increase in the use of imported textiles as a threat. In 1721, due to the increase in the smuggling of textiles, more stringent restrictions were placed on the use of cotton in order to promote the woolen industry, even though cotton was stronger, more easily dyed, and a lot easier to clean than wool.

It is estimated that in the 1720s, the UK was importing approximately 1.5 million pounds of cotton, however, seventy years later, the amount increased to 30 million pounds of cotton a year from India alone.

Answer: Flying Shuttle

John Kay constructed the flying shuttle with his penknife. After much trial and error over a thirty year time span, the flying shuttle was perfected. A worker would pull a piece of rope back and forth to send the wooden shuttle through threads to weave cloth. Using the small tool, a worker's output was doubled! But there was a problem! The flying shuttle wove cloth so quickly that thread could not be produced in sufficient quantities to keep up with the demand. What next?

Answer: Spinning Jenny

So, a machine was needed that would pull and twist fiber to make thread fast enough to keep up with the flying shuttle. The term "jenny" or "jen" was short for engine; the device invented by Hargreaves really was the "spinning engine"! Outfitted with eight spindles, the original spinning jenny could make thread eight times faster than the spinning wheel.

It was small enough to fit into a small home, and easily operated by unskilled workers or children. Nevertheless, most workers saw the spinning jenny as a threat to their livelihood; twenty of the machines were destroyed before they could even be used! No one ever said that change was easy!

Answer: Water Frame

In 1769, Richard Arkwright learned how to attach one of the new thread spinning machines to a water wheel. His water frame produced better thread than either the spinning wheel or spinning jenny; ninety-one spools could be spun at a time on a water frame - more than one hundred people using the spinning wheel! Aided by acts from Parliament that protected the manufacturing of textiles in England, the new industry took off!

Answer: Spinning Mule

As a mule is the result of the mating of two different animals (horse and donkey), the spinning mule was the product of the union of the spinning and weaving machines. Raw cotton could be taken in on one side of the machine to make thread, while cloth could be made on the other. Richard Arkwright, who already had built successful factories, and took advantage of the fact that Crompton failed to patent his invention.

It is interesting to note that Arkwright, one of the earliest successful entrepreneurs, began his career as a barber and wigmaker.

There is a lot to be said about being in the right place at the right time, and capitalizing on opportunities when presented! When some inventors complained that Arkwright had stolen their ideas, he replied, "if any man has found a thing, and begun a thing, and does not go forwards. . . another man has a right to take it up and get a patent for it". By 1800, and for the next fifty years, the sale of cotton textiles, which Parliament had tried so hard to outlaw earlier, made up the bulk the monetary value of Britain's exports!

Answer: Power Loom

The design of the power loom took quite a long time to refine. As in the case of the spinning jenny, many of the early power looms were destroyed by workers who feared a change to their way of life. Because of the enormous size of the machine, it had to be housed in a large building. The factory system, a term that was derived by "manufactory", was born!

Answer: James Watt

The steam engine had initially been invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1708 to extract water from coal mines. Although it worked as expected, the invention was rather slow and inefficient. In fact, it was used for sixty years before Watt had an idea about how to improve the design.

After years of struggling, however, the rotary steam engine was not improved until Watt met with the engineers and ironworkers at Soho Manufactory. The new machine was not only useful in the manufacturing of textiles, but went on to assist in the development of other industries as well.

Answer: Factories did not have to be located near water.

Many of the early machines were first powered by a water wheel, which meant that factories had to be located near a water source. Sometimes the best water sources were in rather remote areas. Many times workers would congregate around the new factories, and new communities were born, which grew into towns and cities. Large buildings were needed to house all of the huge machines, but with the use of the rotary steam engine, there were more choices as far as location was concerned.

Industrialization really took off! For example, it is said that in 1782 there were only two cotton mill factories in Manchester; within twenty years there was more than fifty.

Answer: Domestic System

Also called the putting-out system or workshop system, the domestic system was used in several industries in pre-Industrial Revolution England, including textile production, shoemaking, and the manufacturing of small firearms. It was used as a way to by-pass the guild system, which had survived from medieval times. Workers would manufacture items in their homes, and then bring them to a central location for assembling and sale.

Many times the raw materials for the items were furnished by the buyer. Considerable profit could be made by those skilled at their craft, and families could work together and stay together. Of course, the coming of the factory system changed the lives of countless people, and there were those who understandably feared the change. Luddites were people who were opposed to technological change.

Although they could not destroy every new machine invented, they did their best to try!