Download - Economy & Society
Enclosure• Public lands shared doing the Middle Ages were enclosed by fences,
allowing private farming and private gain.
Urbanization• Cities grew.
Domestic System• An arrangement where most of the cotton was woven into cloth in
homes or small shops.
Flying Shuttle• Invented by John Kay which sped up the weaving process.
Spinning Jenny• Invented by John Hargreaves which was capable of spinning vast
amounts of thread.
Cotton Gin• Invented by Eli Whitney allowing massive amounts of cotton to be
quickly processed in the Americas and exported to Europe.
Steam Engine• Developed by Thomas Newcomer by improved by James Watt. Used
to generate power for industry and also for transportation.
Steamship• Built by Robert Fulton.
George Stephenson• Built the first steam powered locomotive.
Interchangeable Parts• Invented by Eli Whitney so machines that broke down could be easily
replaced.
Assembly Line• Invented by Henry Ford so each factory worker added only one part
to a finished product.
Adam Smith• Wrote in "The Wealth of Nations" that economic prosperity and
fairness is best achieved through private ownership.
Free Market System (Capitalism)• Individuals owning the means of production and sell their products
and service in an open market, where demand for goods and service would determine prices and availability.
Laissez-Faire Capitalism• When government remove themselves entirely from capitalism
regulations.
Karl Marx• German economist and philosopher who pointed factory workers
were being exploited as a consequence of capitalism. Wrote in "The Communist Manifesto" that the working class would eventually revolt.
Marxism• Served as foundation of socialism and communism.
Socialism• The government owns some of the means of production.
Factory Act of 1883• Passed by British Parliament that limited hours of each workday,
restricted children working in factories. and required owners to making working conditions safer and cleaner.
Labor Unions• Employees bargaining for better working conditions, or threatened to
strike.
Social Mobility• Ability to work their way up from one social class to the next.
Social Darwinists• Claimed the dominant races or classes of people rose to the top
through a process of "survival of the fittest".