Ontario Teachers' Manuals: History Part 13

(_a_) Princ.i.p.al places on the road (_b_) Branches of the road (_c_) Length and cost

5. Value of the road to the new Dominion

The cla.s.s may be asked afterwards to draw a map showing the route and the chief commercial centres served by the railway.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND, 1760-1800.

NOTE.--This lesson should be preceded by an information lesson on the making of cotton goods--the material, how and where the raw material is grown, how it is harvested, the difference between spinning and weaving, the meaning of warp and woof.

The aim of this lesson is to show how a remarkable series of inventions changed completely the processes of manufacturing, made England the greatest manufacturing nation in the world, and gave her a source of wealth that enabled her to carry on the costly wars against Napoleon.

The half century of this revolution is one of the most important in English history, on account of the results in methods of transportation, in agriculture, in social conditions, etc., and it is almost impossible to have a satisfactory knowledge of succeeding history without understanding this period. It is for this reason that it is treated at such length.

This may be divided into as many lessons as the teacher wishes. The dates given are not intended to be memorized by the pupils; they are introduced simply to emphasize the order of the inventions. To emphasize further the sequence, the cla.s.s may be asked at each step what invention would be needed next. The oral method--both pure narrative, and development--is supposed to be used.

1. _Domestic System of Manufacture._--Before 1760 the manufacture of cotton goods was carried on in the homes of the people. A spinner would procure a supply of raw cotton from the dealer and carry it home, where, with the help of his family, he would spin it into threads or yarn and return it to the dealer. The spinning was all done by hand or foot-power on a wheel that required one person to run it, and that would make only one thread at a time. The weaving was also done at home. Because of the use of Kay's flying shuttle (1732), the demand of the weavers for yarn was greater than the spinners could supply, because one weaver could use the product of many spinners, and there was great need of finding some way of producing yarn more rapidly, to keep the weavers busy.

2. _Hargreaves' Spinning-jenny._--The first important invention of the period was the spinning-jenny of Hargreaves (1764). This man was an ordinary spinner, and the story is told that one day, when he was returning from the dealer with a fresh supply of cotton, he came home before his wife expected him. Supper was not ready, and in her haste to rise to prepare it, she overturned the wheel when it was still in motion. Hargreaves, entering at that moment, noticed that the spindle, usually horizontal, was now revolving in an upright position. This gave him the idea, and a short time afterwards he invented a machine with which one person could spin several threads at once (at first eight).

From it has been developed the complicated machinery for spinning used to-day.

3. _Arkwright's Spinning-frame or Water-frame._ Sir Richard Arkwright invented, in 1771, a machine that accomplished the whole process of spinning, the worker merely feeding the machine and tying breaks in the thread. This machine was run by water-power, thus doing away with hand-power and allowing the operator to attend entirely to the spinning.

4. _The Mule._ In 1779, Crompton invented a mule, by which threads of a finer and stronger quality could be spun, and thus made it possible to weave any grade of cloth.

5. _The Power-loom._ The spinners were now able to keep ahead of the weavers, till Cartwright invented, in 1785, a power-loom that enabled the weavers to work faster and use all the thread that the spinners could make.

6. _The Steam-engine._ These machines were run by hand or water-power.

In 1785, Watts' steam-engine, invented several years before this, was used in the manufacture of cotton, and manufacturers were now able to use all the raw material they could get. The use of steam instead of water-power led to the building of factories in cities, where labour was plentiful and transportation facilities good. This meant large cities.

7. _The Cotton-gin._ Cotton had to be cleaned of its seeds before it could be used in the factory. This had to be done by hand, which greatly hindered the supply of raw material. A good deal of the raw cotton came from the United States, and the planters there grew no more than could be cleaned and sold. In 1792, Eli Whitney, an American, invented the cotton-gin, by which the cotton could be cleaned of its seed very quickly. Formerly a workman could clean by hand only five pounds of cotton a week; by the saw-gin five hundred pounds could be cleaned in an hour. (If a cotton-boll can be procured, the pupils will soon discover how difficult it is to separate the seeds from the cotton.) More cotton was then grown, because it could be sold to the factories, and England was able to get all she required to keep the factories going. It may be added here that the increase in cotton growing required more hands for its cultivation; at that time, this meant more slaves; the cotton-gin was therefore a large factor in the slave troubles in the Southern States that led to the Civil War.

8. _Coal-mining and Smelting._ These machines were made of iron, and coal was needed to run the engines and to smelt the iron. There was plenty of coal in England, but very little was mined until the steam pump was brought into use to keep the mines clear of water. When this was done, more men went to work in the mines to get out the greater amount of coal that was now needed. There was also plenty of iron ore in England, and before this it had been smelted by means of charcoal, which is made from wood. This slow and wasteful method was followed until Roebuck invented a process of smelting by coal, and thus made possible a plentiful supply of iron for the manufacture of the machines.

9. _The Safety Lamp._ Coal-mining was a dangerous occupation, because of the fire-damp that is generated in mines. The open lamps used by the miners often caused this gas to explode and many men lost their lives thereby. To remedy this, Sir Humphrey Davy invented the safety lamp in 1815, which gave the miners the light they needed and prevented these explosions.

10. _Transportation._ Now that there was so much manufacturing carried on, people turned their attention to ways of transporting the goods to where they were needed. The roads were generally wretched, and in many parts of the country goods had to be carried on the backs of horses, as the roads were not fit for wheels. Macadam, by using broken stone to form the road-crust or surface, brought about a great improvement in road-making. (Show pictures of old-time roads and of the roads to-day.)

Transportation by water was difficult by reasons of the obstructions in rivers. To overcome these, ca.n.a.ls were dug. The first one was made in 1761 between some coal-mines and the town of Manchester. Before 1800 many more were dug, and transportation became much easier.

11. _Agriculture._ The number of people engaged in the factories was increasing and these could not grow their own food. This made it necessary for the farmers to increase their output. Farms became larger; better methods of cultivation were used; winter roots were grown, making it possible to raise better cattle; fertilizers were used in greater quant.i.ties, and the rotation of crops was introduced to prevent the exhaustion of the soil.

12. _Social Conditions._ Out of the factory system grew the division of cla.s.ses into capital and labour, the struggle between which is the great problem of to-day. It was then that labour unions came into existence.

We see, as a result of these inventions, that England was changed from an agricultural country to a land of large manufacturing cities, and became the chief manufacturing centre of the world, able to supply money to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte, who is credited with the statement that it was not England's armies that defeated him, but her "spindles."

NOTE.--The teacher may refer to some of the modern social problems resulting in large part from this industrializing of the country: overcrowding in cities, bad housing and slums, urban and suburban transportation, educational problems, intemperance, decrease in physique, etc. (For the history of this period, see _A History of the British Nation_, by A.D. Innes, T.C. & E.C. Jack, Edinburgh.)

THE ROAD TO CATHAY

The aim of this lesson is to show how the desire of certain European nations to find a western route to the rich countries of the East--India, Cathay, and c.i.p.ango (India, China, and j.a.pan)--led to the discovery and subsequent exploration of America. It can be used as a review lesson on the exploration of Canada. It will also give the pupil practice in collecting information from various sources so as to show the development of history along a certain line.

The subject-matter may be divided into as many lessons as the teacher thinks best, and the oral method should be used. All the dates given are not intended to be memorized; they are used to show the historical sequence; only three or four of the most important need be committed to memory by the cla.s.s at their present stage. The map should be used frequently.

THE LESSON

One of the results of the Crusades was to reveal to the European nations the wealth of the East. Trade between the East and West grew, and Venice became one of the wealthiest and most powerful of the states of Europe.

In 1295, a Venetian traveller named Marco Polo returned from Cathay after an absence of twenty-five years. His stories of the wealth in silks, spices, pearls, etc., of those eastern countries intensified the desire of the West to trade with them. A great commerce soon grew up, carried on princ.i.p.ally by the great Italian cities--Venice, Florence, Genoa, Pisa, Milan--and as these cities controlled the Mediterranean, the only route to Asia then known, they had a monopoly of the Eastern trade, and kept for a time the other western nations--Spain, Portugal, France, and England--from sharing in it. These nations, animated by the hope of gain and by the spirit of adventure and exploration, could not long be denied their share. This spirit was stimulated by the introduction of the mariner's compa.s.s, which afforded sailors a safer guide than landmarks and stars; by the invention of gunpowder and the use of cannon, which, through lessening the strength of the mediaeval castle, tended to increase the power of the middle cla.s.ses; and by the invention of printing, which aided greatly in the diffusion of knowledge.

The problem was to find a route by which to trade with India and China.

Place the map of the world before the pupils and inquire how men travel to-day from Great Britain to India. Show that these routes were not feasible then. The route through the Mediterranean to Asia Minor and thence overland, or through the Red Sea to India, was closed by the Turks, who captured Constantinople in 1453. The Suez Ca.n.a.l was not opened till 1869. The way round the Cape of Good Hope was not discovered till 1497. The western route across the Atlantic and the Pacific was unknown.

Not till the closing years of the fifteenth century were the attempts to solve this problem successful. The discovery of the route to India by Vasco de Gama in 1497 first opened the way to the East, though the still earlier discovery by Columbus was to afford, in later years, a much more complete solution.

Christopher Columbus was a native of Genoa in Italy. An eager student of geography, he became convinced that the earth was a sphere or globe and not a flat surface. He believed that he could reach India and Cathay by sailing west, as well as by going east through the Mediterranean--a route that had been closed since the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. "This grand idea, together with his services in carrying it out, he offered first to his motherland of Genoa. But Genoa did not want a new route to the East. Then he turned, but in vain, to Portugal.

The hopes of Portugal were set upon a pa.s.sage around the south of Africa. To England and to France Columbus held out his wondrous offer; but these countries were slow and unbelieving. It was to Spain he made his most persistent appeal; and Spain, to his imperishable glory, gave ear." Through the self-denial and devotion of Queen Isabella of Castile he was enabled to put his dream to the test.

A special lesson should be given on the life of Columbus--his efforts, perseverance, courage, failures, successes. The teacher may add at will to the facts given here. Read Joaquin Miller's Poem, "Columbus," _High School Reader_, pp. 143-145.

When Columbus landed on the island-fringe of America in 1492, he thought he had found what he had set out to find--the eastern country of India; and he believed it all his life. This idea survived for several generations, partly because of the great wealth of Mexico and Peru. When Europeans were at last convinced that it was not India, they began again to seek a way to the East, and looked on the continent of America merely as an obstacle in their path. To find the road to Cathay was still their chief ambition.

In 1497, John Cabot, under a charter from Henry VII of England, set out to find a way to the East, and landed on North America; in 1498, his son, Sebastian Cabot, explored the coast from Labrador to South Carolina, with the same object.

In 1534, on his first voyage, Cartier thought, when he arrived at Gaspe and saw the great river coming from the west, that he had discovered the gateway to the East.

With the same object in view, Champlain, in 1609, explored the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. In 1613, he listened, only to be deceived, to the story of Vignau about a way to the East up the Ottawa River to a large lake and into another river that would lead to the Western Sea.

Henry Hudson made four voyages in search of a way through or round the continent. On the first, second, and fourth, he tried to go round by a North-west or a North-east pa.s.sage. On the third voyage, in 1609, he sailed up the Hudson River for 150 miles, only to find his way blocked.

A curious fact is that on this voyage he must, at one time, have been only about twenty leagues from Champlain, when the latter was exploring Lake Champlain on the same errand. (Show this on the map.) On his fourth voyage, in 1610, Hudson discovered the bay that now bears his name, and he must have thought, when he saw that great stretch of water to the West, that he was at last successful. He wintered there, and when the ice broke up in the spring, his men mutinied and set him, his young son, and two companions, adrift in a boat, and they were never heard of again. (See _The Story of the British People_ pp. 234-235.)

The Mississippi was long looked upon as a possible way to the Pacific Ocean. La Salle explored the great lakes and the Ohio, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers. This last he found to flow south into the Gulf of Mexico, instead of west into the Pacific Ocean. His settlement on Montreal Island was called _La Chine_ (the French word for China), in allusion to his desire to find the way to that country.

Later, others were led by the same desire to explore the western part of what is now Canada. Verendrye, in 1731, travelled from Lake Nepigon by way of Rainy Lake, the Winnipeg River, and the Red River, to the junction of the latter with the a.s.siniboine, where Winnipeg now stands; also up the Saskatchewan River to the Forks. His son, in 1742, explored the Missouri River and came within sight of the Rocky Mountains.

Men of the Hudson's Bay Company and of the North-West Company--Mackenzie, Fraser, Thompson, Simpson, Hearne--amid great hards.h.i.+ps and through thrilling adventures, continued the work of exploring the waterways of the West to find an opening to the Pacific.

It has remained to the people of Canada to conquer the pa.s.ses of the Rockies and Selkirks, build great transcontinental railways and steams.h.i.+p lines, and thus afford a direct short route from Europe to Cathay. What men had striven for during more than four hundred years it has been our lot to accomplish.

Other topics of interest suggested by the lesson may be taken up afterwards; for example, the opening of the Suez Ca.n.a.l and its effect on trade--why it did not restore supremacy to the Italian cities; the opening of the Panama Ca.n.a.l and its probable effect on commerce; the reasons why merchants prefer water routes to land routes, etc.

TOPICAL a.n.a.lYSIS OF LESSON ON THE ARMADA

The purpose of this lesson is to show how to construct a topical outline of an important event in history. It is a.s.sumed that the teacher will use, in preparing similar lessons, a larger history of Britain than the Public School text-book, in order that the cla.s.s may be asked, after the lesson is taught, to read in their text-books an account somewhat different in treatment from that of the teacher. The headings should show the sequence of events and should be concise. The smaller print indicates the facts that the brief headings should recall to the pupils after the lesson. The events preceding the coming of the Armada are suggested here among the causes. These headings may be placed on the black-board as the lesson proceeds; they may be suggested by either teacher or pupils. The actual teaching should be by both narrative and development methods.