Summary of Chapter 9

In this blog we have covered three inventions that occured in the industrial revolution. We looked at the Cotton Gin invented by Eli Whitney, The Flying Shuttle invented by John Kay, and the Spinning Jenny invented by  James Hargreaves. We covered the significance of these inventions and what implications they had on the future. We also looked at a modern day invention and the impacts it too has made on our life. We talked about unionization and how workers united in order to get the employers to meet working demands. And lastly we covered communism; what it is and where it still exists today in the world. Hopefully by reading this you now have a better understanding of what occured During the Industrial Revolution and the implications it has on todays society.

Communism

Communism- a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. 

communism still exists in a few countries today like China, Vietnam, and North Korea.

Unionization of Industry

During the 1800's workers began to get fed up with the working conditions and unfair treatment the employers projected on their employees. In order to combat this workers would form groups known as "unions." Unions were like a political system in a sense. Workers would join one and union leaders would speak on behalf of the workers and whatever demands or comments they had towards the boss or owners of the company. So lets say workers are upset about the unsanitary conditions they have to work in. They would go to the union leaders and have them present their problems to people in charge of the company. But as you can probably see it's not always that easy. Sometimes in order for workers to get their demands they would have to use a little bit of collective bargaining. Workers would threaten to cease working or go on strike if they did not get their demands met.

I think that unions are a good thing because it keeps the corporations from getting to powerful and possibly wrecking the economy. But I also think that sometimes unions can be a bad thing because they can make outrageous demands to companies or run companies into the ground. This too can also be bad for the economy. So it works both ways and there just needs to be a easy median for things to run smoothly.

The Computer

The Macintosh 128k was released on January 24, 1984. It was created by a company known as Apple. This invention was probably one of the most significant inventions of all time. It completely changed the way the world ran. You would be hard pressed to not find something today that is used in business, schools, recreation, etc that would not have some type of computer component. This really set the stage for modern day technology.

Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

This Invention is called the "Cotton Gin." It was created by Eli Whitney in 1793. Now what this actually did was it would take the Cotton seeds and break them open and separate the cotton from the seeds. This machine took the place of the slaves who would hand separate the cotton from the seeds by turning a crank and grinding the while seed down. Comb like teeth would separate the cotton from the shell. This inventions was so important because it got cotton at a much faster rate. It was able to get more of the cotton from the seed thus improving efficiency, and it saved the slaves hands from being harmed because cotton seeds are razor sharp. There are still cotton gins being used today but just in a more modern form.

James Hargreaves Spinning Jenny

James Hargreaves invented as much more efficient way to spin cotton into thread. His invention was called the "Spinning Jenny." What this machine did was it took cotton and twisted it into thread and then put it on spools. This was done through a series of gears and wheels. This machine was so significant because it was able to keep pace with the weavers so textiles were continuously being produced at a constant rate. This machine would also be the starting point and inspiration of the modern machines used today to produce textiles.

John Kay's Flying Shuttle

This  invention is called a "shuttle." It was created by John Kay and changed the textile industry greatly. With this invention weavers were able to weave clothe at double the rate. The shuttle would be threaded with yarn and speed back and fourth weaving as it moved when the operator pulled a lever. This invention changed the world because it allowed the textile industry to boom because it could now produce products at a much higher rate.