Industrial Revolution
The Original Accumulation
The entry into Europe of huge quantities of precious metals passed from America and the profits from the slave trade and trade in the world system, produced in the northern countries what Marx called "original accumulation", that is, growth of capital available for the development of capitalism.
A key element of capitalism is the beginning of the activity to obtain benefits in the future. Therefore, the role of the entrepreneur is to take that risk.
Protestan Reformation
In addition to the social, scientific and technological changes brought about by the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, which we saw in the previous unit, The change produced by the Protestant Reformation: the separation of the Catholic Church from hundreds of thousands of Christians, especially in the center and northern Western Europe, who established particular churches without an obedience to the Pope. He questioned the papacy and corruption in Rome for the practice of selling indulgences, while, as he claimed, salvation depends only on the grace of God and not on the forgiveness of men.
Other reformers stood out, such as the French John Calvin, the Swiss Ulrich Zwingli, and King Henry VIII, who decided to separate the entire Church of England from the obedience of the Pope.
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution is the change experienced in production conditions due to the introduction of machinery, initially transferred to steam, which replaced labor.
From it will emerge society, the unusual growth of cities, the struggle of the proletariat to improve their working conditions, international competition and many other changes. From England it spread to Western Europe and the United States.
Iron, Steam and Machines
The mechanization of the textile industries, the development of iron processing, and the introduction of the steam engine were three pillars of the Industrial Revolution.
From 1733 the loom was mechanized. The first step was the flying shuttle, patented that year by British inventor John Kay, which greatly increased the speed of the fabric.
Another British inventor, Edmund Cartwright, patented the first mechanical loom in 1786. In the years that followed, constant improvements were made.
When these mechanizations were coupled with the driving force produced by the steam engine (invented by James Watt and built in 1774 and consisting of an external combustion engine that transformed the thermal energy of water vapor into mechanical energy), there was a growth exponential of textile production.
The Development of Capitalism
This growth was made possible by the original accumulation of capital and the reinvestment of profits by private entrepreneurs, who expanded their facilities to generate more growth. The labor required by the industries was available in the large neighborhoods of the main cities.
Christian Peralta 9noF