CKHG Unit 5: The Industrial Revolution: Changes and Challenges
Focus:
In this unit, students examine the sweeping transformation in how people worked and lived during the Industrial Revolution, 1760s–1830s. This revolution, which began in Great Britain and spread to Europe and America, lured people away from the land to factories and cities in massive numbers; spurred new inventions; opened the doors to wealth and advancement for inventors and investors alike; and led to the primacy of capitalism as a social and economic system in the West.
Students also learn that these benefits did not come without a cost. Alongside the significant growth of employment opportunities and a burgeoning economy, there was also income inequality along with dangerous working conditions, environmental damage, and political unrest. Over time, issues such as these prompted a push for social reform.
Number of Lessons: 12
Instruction Time:
45 minutes (Each lesson may be divided into shorter segments.)
Additional Search Terms:
social studies • nonfiction • informational text • geography • map skills • steam engine • industrialization • Patience Kershaw • free market • serfdom • James Watt • Robert Fulton • John Kay • spinning jenny • James Hargreaves • Eli Whitney • cotton gin • capitalism • mercantilism • Adam Smith • supply and demand • laissez-faire • Charles Dickens • Benjamin Disraeli • Luddites • Robert Owen • socialism • Karl Marx • Friedrich Engels • The Communist Manifesto • class struggle
