History
Steam power
The development of steam power was crucial to the Industrial Revolution because it was the main source of power that operated the machinery used in industry.
The developments in equipment helped to increase production, formed the basis of railway transport and introduced new machinery for agriculture.
The first steam engine
The Industrial Revolution would not have happened without the steam engine.
The first steam engine was not invented by Thomas Savery in 1696, as many books claim. Savery’s engine filled a cylinder with steam, and then cooled it, thereby condensing it. This created a vacuum that sucked up water from the mine. It did not work.
Watt's improved engine of 1788
The first working steam engine was Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine first used in a mine in Dudley in 1712. He used the vacuum created by condensing the steam to power a piston. The piston was attached to pump rods, which worked a pump to pump out the mines.
James Watt working in partnership with Matthew Boulton took the steam engine and developed it further. The improvements he made created the machine that became the basis of all the power in the Industrial Revolution. Watt’s inventions included:
Watt's inventions 1765-1788
| Date | Invention | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1765 | Separate condenser | Watt cooled the steam by exhausting it into a separate chamber. The cylinder could, therefore, always be kept hot and the separate condenser always cool. This meant huge amounts of fuel were saved. |
| 1781 | Sun and planet gear | Turned the up-and-down motion of the piston into a rotary motion, which allowed the steam engine to be used to power machinery and wheels. |
| 1782 | Dual action | Abandoned atmospheric pressure and used steam pressure to force the piston both ways. This invention became the basis of the steam train. |
| 1788 | Governor | Regulated the admission of steam into the cylinder, which not only made the engines safer, but meant they could be kept at a regular speed. |
Six effects of the steam engine
- Power for industry – in textile factories after 1785, then in distilleries, iron forges and blast furnaces, coal mines, engineering firms, waterworks.
- Transport – at first, railways used stationary steam engines to wind wagons up banks. Then in 1800, Trevithick invented the steam-powered locomotive. The first steam-powered boat was built in 1802. This had significant effects, not only on industry and agriculture and the transport of goods, but on the transport of people and their mobility and social lives (eg holidays at the seaside).
- Agriculture – steam ploughs, steam threshing machines.
- Location of industry – the steam engines used coal, so industry was located on the coalfields.
- Organisation of industry – steam engines were expensive, so mainly large firms could afford them. The steam engines allowed large-scale production.
- Conditions of labour – the steam engines never flagged or stopped, so this required significant changes in the way people worked. There was now no requirement for workers to be strong or skilled and, if a person was big, it could now be a disadvantage. The steam-powered machine did all the work, so children replaced men as the key workers in industry.
Revision and answer preparation
Revision tip
To help you revise this section, use the list of six effects of the steam engine to make an allegorical drawing of the effects of the steam engine.
Answer preparation
As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain:
- What Newcomen, Watt and Boulton contributed to the development of the steam engine.
- How the steam engine affected Britain.
Now try a Test Bite