Wheels are Spinning: The Potential of Industrialization
History 104 / February 20, 2013

I. The first wave (textiles)
          A. The demand side: population growth
          B. The supply side: changes in technology and organization
                   1. Processing cotton
                   2. Concentrating labor in factories
                   3. Harnessing steam
          C. Why Britain first?
II. The second wave (railroads)
          A. More changes in technology and organization
          B. The demand side: railroad mania
          C. Britain’s turn toward free trade
                   1. Agrarians vs. industrialists
                   2. The repeal of the Corn Laws (1846)
III. Industrialization on the Continent
          A. Aspects of social modernization
                   1. The abolition of serfdom
                   2. The curtailing of guilds
          B. The power of protection
                   1. Napoleon’s Continental System
                   2. List’s arguments about fledgling industries
          C. British techniques spread to entrepreneurial families
                   1. Belgium as an early leader, 1830-1850
                   2. France retains a balanced economy
                   3. Prussia storms ahead, 1850-1870