Connection Across Time: The Cell Phone

Invented by Dr. Martin Cooper, the cell phone is a landmark invention in human history.  This invention has vastly changed the world by not only making people easily accessible anywhere they go, but also by making information easily accessible.  It has changed major social and business oriented aspects of our society and is always being improved upon.  These devices were a key piece to uniting the world in our age of information. 

Communism

Created by Karl Marx in the 1800's, Communism was an idea that came as a resultant of the Industrial Revolution.  Marx aims to improve society with this type of complete socialism where the people own all means of production.  This idea says that private ownership will end and all good and services are to be shared equally.  Through Communism the government would dissolve and the country would be run by the people.  Traces of Communism can still be seen in places like China and Cuba, but these societies are not true to the original ideals.

3.2.1 Summary

3 Things I learned:

• I learned that Britain was the first country to abolish slavery, in 1833.
• I learned about inventions I had never heard about before.
• I learned that Egypt underwent an industrial revolution around the same time as the U.S.

2 Things I found interesting:

• The fact that child labor laws took so long to establish
• All of the different -isms of the revolution

1 Question I still have:

• How did the awful treatment of children in the workplace go unchanged for so long?

Child Labor Reform

The Industrial Revolution was a time of heightened tension and turmoil.  This morale led to many reforms.  The working conditions for children of this time were outrageous.  They were overworked and underpaid, to say the least.  In 1832, the Parliament of Great Britain created a committee to investigate child labor.  Their horrible findings led to the Factory Act of 1833, which made it illegal for children under the age of nine to work, and restricted the hours of children ages nine to twelve to no more than twelve hours a day. 
This reform changed the world by opening peoples eyes to the mistreatment of our children in the work place.  It led the way for stricter labor policies for our young people and better their lives.

The Flying Shuttle

Invented in 1733, John Kay's flying shuttle revolutionized the use of the loom.  This device increased the spread at which the threads of yarn were carried back and forth in the weaving process.  Kay's shuttle greatly improved the efficiency and output of weavers.  Mills were dramatically impacted by this invention, boosting their production and benefiting sales.

The Spinning Jenny

In 1764, James Hargreaves invented a spinning wheel machine that could compete with the pace of actual weavers.  This machine could spin eight threads at a time which led to it's big success.  He named his invention the Spinning Jenny after his daughter. This invention dramatically increased the efficiency of the textile industry and later spread through out Europe, ultimately revolutionizing the world.

The Steam Engine

Invented by Thomas Savery in 1698, the Steam Engine was a keystone in the Industrial Revolution.  The use of this invention in locomotives and steam powered ships was groundbreaking and sped up the revolution exponentially.  Large shipments of goods and resources now had the means to be traded long distance.  Through this innovation in American transportation, business and trade were changed forever.

Introduction

During the 1800's machines began to rapidly replace manual labor.  Goods were being manufactured in factories and workers were steadily losing their jobs.  This period in our history is known as the Industrial Revolution and is the focus of Chapter 9.  The development, spread and effect of this movement are also shown through out the chapter.
Objective: Through this blog I hope to learn more about the Industrial Revolution and it's effects on the time period.  Also, I hope to find it's connections with our modern society.