The Industrial Revolutions

In the late 19th Century, the nature of imperialism was evolving. Driven by Realist geopolitics, capitalist forces, and racist assumptions, Westerners scrambled for power over the rest of the world. In this chapter, we will explore the impact of this transformation in China, Africa, and the empire of the United States.

A guest episode from the podcast History Daily ! As we discussed back in Chapter 52, the new railroads played a major role during the U.S. Civil War. About a year into that war, a band of Union spies stole a train to sabotage the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital supply line at the heart of the Confederacy.   Please be sure to check out History Daily . Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham ( A...

In the mid-19th Century, two eastern empires were humiliated by industrialized powers. To avoid further humiliation, they both decided to industrialize themselves. In the late 19th Century, Russia and Japan went through rapid modernization. But which of the two succeeded would shock everyone, come 1905. In this episode, we will cover: The emancipation of the serfs in Russia The Witte System Japane...

The Second Industrial Revolution more or less coincided with the lifespan of the German Empire. From 1871 to 1914, the new nation adopted a fairly democratic constitution, saw massive population growth, and experienced extraordinary economic development. Along the way, they created innovative new goods and services, as well as worker protections unseen anywhere else in the world. It was largely th...

At the end of the 19th Century, workers throughout the world were fighting increasingly bitter, bloody battles against their capitalist bosses and the governments protecting them. In this episode, we will cover such topics as: Worker internationalism Paris Commune The Great Upheaval of 1877 The Haymarket Massacre The Homestead and Pullman strikes The Belgian General Strike of 1893 And more!

During the late 19th Century, socialism fractured into numerous schools. In this episode, we explore the growing field of socialist thought, as well as its many colorful characters. Topics in this episode include: Edward Bellamy and his novel, Looking Backward French Solidarism Ferdinand Lassalle, Eduard Bernstein, and the German Social Democrats The Fabian Society Henry George and his treatise, P...

Beginning in the 1870s, the Neoclassical School of Economics emerged. Borrowing the idea of marginal analysis from calculus, and applying it to the ethical theory of Utilitarianism, they revolutionized the way economics was discussed. Today, we discuss the various “Marginalists” of this school, and the impact they had on the history of economic thought.

As industrialization drove economic growth all over the Western World, financial systems had to keep growing in complexity and value. And as they did, they continued to drive industrialization further in turn. And, then as now, they were susceptible to greedy players, bad decisions, and panic.

Americans had long believed their country was a classless society. But by the end of the 19th Century, that myth had been shattered. In the Gilded Age, a super-rich elite emerged. They spent lavishly on houses, parties, and luxuries, while also investing in education and philanthropy. In this chapter, we’ll discuss this new upper-class, as well as how wealth in the United States became so imbalanc...

The live recording of my recent Mill Talk at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.

In the mid-19th Century, two new industrial developments were underway. In the UK and US, new discoveries were made for the refining of crude petroleum into numerous useful oils. Meanwhile, in France and Germany, engineers were starting to produce the first commercially viable internal combustion engines. Together, these two breakthroughs would open up a world of possibilities and, in time, put an...

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Electric power has become a staple of our daily lives. In this episode, we’ll discuss how it was made possible. Topics covered include: The rise of the modern engineer and the many technological breakthroughs made in the late 19th Century; The life of Thomas Edison; The development of the lightbulb; The spread of electrical distribution; and The War of the Currents. Get Surfshark VPN at https://su...

It is simply impossible to imagine life today without the mass-production of steel and rubber, made possible during the Technological Revolution. In this episode, we’ll discuss the inventions of the Bessemer converter and the Siemens-Martin process for steel making, the expanding steel empire of Alfred Krupp in Germany, and the efforts of Alexander Holley and Andrew Carnegie to make the U.S. the g...

More so than in the First Industrial Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution saw big changes in consumer markets. Thanks to mail-order catalogs, dry goods palaces, and new department stores, consumers had more options than ever before. Whether it was clothing, furniture, grooming products, cameras, musical instruments, processed food, or bottled soft drinks, people from all backgrounds could...

In this episode, we talk about the many changes to American life brought about by the railroads in the late 19th Century. Topics include: New construction tools like dynamite; George Pullman’s sleeper cars; Railroad tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould; The development of modern corporations; Innovations in time management; The growth of the American beef industry; and The spread of con...

A quick introduction to the Second Industrial Revolution. Become a patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

In the mid-19th Century, scientists would upend everything human beings understood about themselves and the world around them, and they would drive that world forward into a second industrial revolution. In this chapter we discuss the new fields of genetics and evolutionary biology, the philosophy of Positivism, the development of thermodynamics, the discovery of the electromagnetic field, and the...

In an age of expanding railroads, steam-driven ocean liners, transnational telegraphs, and more, the world experienced its “First Wave of Modern Globalization.” In this episode, we discuss the ways it played out in the mid-19th Century, including massive waves of migrations, gold rushes, remittances, trade, foreign investment, international cooperation efforts, missionaries, the new tourism indust...

In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, human beings were becoming increasingly aware of the things that united them and the things that divided them, as they identified themselves more and more along the lines of nationhood. In this episode, we discuss that push-and-pull as it started in the 19th Century, with special attention paid to Italy, Germany, and India.

In this episode, we talk about the super-deadly conflicts that happened between the First and Second Industrial Revolutions: The Crimean War, the U.S. Civil War, the Paraguayan War, and the Taiping Rebellion. Click here to become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

In the mid-19th Century, cities across the industrializing world began to modernize. New infrastructure was added, new layouts of streets and city resources were devised, and greater emphasis was placed on improving the quality of life for all people. Topics covered in this episode include: Edwin Chadwick’s efforts to modernize Britain’s sewers; Ellis Chesbrough and the construction of Chicago’s s...

The 19th Century was fraught with public health challenges – many of them spurred by the Industrial Revolution. In this episode, we look at environmental health, alcoholism, and cholera, in particular. And we see how the scientists, policymakers, and mass movements of the age addressed these challenges.

This month we explore the life, times, and ideas of one of history’s most controversial figures. The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in history, and Karl Marx used a combination of philosophy, economics, politics, and history to try to explain it – and what comes next.    To get up to 75% off at the NBA store, visit www.podgo.co/nba

A look back on all the incredible changes the world saw in the First Industrial Revolution, and some looking forward to the future.   Submit your questions for this month’s AMA: www. IndustrialRevolutionsPod.com/contact   Become an Industrial Revolutionary: www. Patreon.com/indrevpod