Transportation Systems before, during & after the Industrial Revolution - Coursework Example

Transportation Systems Before, During & After the Industrial Revolution Brief Introduction: The Industrial Revolution What we now call the industrial revolution is a period in history that originally referred to a series of events that transformed Great Britain from a rural and agricultural society in the first half of the 18th century – around the year 1750 – to a town-centered society of people working in so-called manufactories by the year 1830 (Bergen, 2006). Advances in science and technology that discovered ways of improving mankind’s simple machines, controlling and directing the way they moved and multiplying their force, triggered these events. As Van Doren (1991, p. 213) wrote, mankind has used these five machines –lever, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, and screw – for many years. What happened shortly before and during the industrial revolution was that scientists and inventors found ways to combine these machines, control their use, and improve the efficiency in the way these machines worked. The keys to these (Van Doren, 1991, p. 214-215) were the works of great scientists – Galileo, Descartes, and Newton in the 17th and early 18th centuries – that explained why and how these simple machines did what they did. On top of this radical way of thinking, a process now known as the scientific method, were built the early inventions of Arkwright (water frame), Hargreaves (spinning jenny), Crompton (weaving), Whitney (cotton gin), and others whose machines were powered by the steam engine, developed in England by Newcomen, Watt, and Trevithick and in the United States by Evans (Bergen, 2006). The industrial revolution was marked by changes in several aspects of ordinary life: the way people worked, where and how they lived, the new uses for raw materials mined under the earth, the creation of wealth, and how the money was stored and spent. All these changes affected the transportation industry, the object of our focus in this paper. The Transport Industry before the Industrial Revolution From the etymology (OED, 2001) of the word “transport”, which combines the Latin words trans meaning “across” and portare meaning “to carry”, we propose a general definition of the transport industry as one that exists and develops to meet the growing needs of people to move themselves and their goods from one place to another. Movement or motion is one of the signs of life, and our human history chronicles the movements of peoples for different reasons: escaping from natural disasters, searching for greener pastures, trading with other people, or invading peoples and territories for enslavement, preservation of territorial peace, or the accumulation of power, among other possible reasons. In each of these examples, people moved their bodies and the things they used, including at times even their dwellings (tents or forms of shelter that were assembled and disassembled). Armies transported weapons and supplies while farmers brought to market goods to trade and returned with goods received in exchange or bought with money made from trading. Even before the industrial revolution, mankind used several modes of transport, each of varying speeds (distance covered per unit of time, usually in kilometers or miles per hour). Human power: Feet, legs, and shoulders The oldest mode can be called self-propelled transport, or that which is accomplished by means of the two legs that normal human beings possess at birth. By alternately placing one foot in front of the other, humans transport themselves and whatever loads they could carry or pull. This is the slowest means of transport, and the speed depends to a large extent on how much weight is being carried. The average walking speed of a human person not carrying any load is around five kilometers an hour (Rodrigue, 2006) and even during the early years of the industrial revolution, it was not uncommon for men (women and children walked more slowly) to walk twenty kilometers to have dinner with a friend and to walk back the same distance to get home, as Van Doren (1991, p. 403-404) mentioned Thomas Carlyle doing in his regular meetings with his friend, the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Until the industrial revolution, this mode of transport was still used by porters (one or more humans) or with a carrying-pole (a long pole with a load suspended on it is carried on the shoulders by one or more persons) to transport other humans (usually the rich) or goods. Animal Power: Horses and Beasts of Burden The next oldest mode used domesticated animals like the horse (and its “relative”, the donkey) that can normally carry or pull one or two humans. In some countries camels, elephants, oxen and other beasts, in the arctic regions dogs and reindeers, served the same purpose, transporting loads of humans and their baggage. The speed attained by this mode of transport was estimated at eight kilometers an hour (Rodrigue, 2006). Animal-based systems were an improvement over self-propelled transport in terms of speed and endurance, as animals could walk longer and farther (provided it is given enough food and water). This system developed into what became known in Great Britain and the United States as the pack transport system, which existed well into the late eighteenth century, where as many as fifty horses moved in single file carrying loads of cargoes on their backs. During this period, many enterprises in America were engaged in supplying the public with horses for this service (Grossman, 1968, p. 417). An improvement over horse-powered transportation came with the animal-drawn carriage that could carry heavier loads over longer distances. Adding more horses (or animals of the same type) to pull together and using wheels to reduce friction of movement increased the transport speed and capacity to as much as fifteen kilometers an hour (Rodrigue, 2006). Water and Wind Power: Boats, Rafts, and Ships Aside from using domesticated animals, humans harnessed the power of the wind and the availability of natural waterways to transport people and goods using boats, ships, and sails. This accounted partly for why early human settlements were close to bodies of water like the sea, a lake, or river. Making use of reeds latched together, or wood, skin, and tree barks, humans built boats that floated on waterways, propelled by poles or paddles and later by sails (Grossman, 1968, p. 426). Rodrigue (2006) estimated that the top speed of the best-designed ships went just slightly beyond fifteen kilometers an hour over water, more or less the same speed that well-constructed carriages pulled by many horses traveled over good roads. Water transport, however, had some advantages over animal power: it went farther, even to places where no road systems existed, and well-built ships do not tire, though the humans who sail and navigate them do, a problem easily solved by hiring many sets of crew members. Management of the Transport Industry (up to 1750) The characteristics of the transport industry before the industrial revolution influenced the concentration of human families into small communities, usually in places that were highly accessible because of a nearby waterway or a well-traveled road. Since land transport using animals or porters was rather expensive (Rodrigue, 2006), the activities of most people were limited within a specific radius of two and a half kilometers, covering an area of not more than twenty square kilometers, which was the size of the largest cities in the world at the time: Rome, Constantinople, Beijing, or Venice. This primitive transportation system, though, made possible the growth in global trade, mostly in luxury goods like spices. Traveling by sea was the most efficient mode of transport before the industrial revolution. Perfected by the European nations, notably the empires of England, France, Spain, the Dutch, and Portugal, maritime transport allowed nations to colonize and settle other regions of the world, harvesting raw materials, minerals and metals, goods, and slave labor. Maritime transport in this era was dominated by royal governments, churches, feudal lords or individuals favored by the royal family in Europe, although in the U.S., several of the settlers and merchantmen owned ships and barges for doing overseas trade and transporting goods. In fact, the U.S. developed its shipbuilding industry so well that by the time of the American Revolution, a third of the vessels flying the English flag had been built in America (Grossman, 1968, p. 431-432). Roads in Europe built at the time of the Roman Empire lasted until neglect and disrepair reduced their importance, making village dirt roads increase in usefulness. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that innovations in road construction were made. The French in the late 17th century and the British in the late 18th century, just as the industrial revolution was taking place, devised a system of tolls and usage fees that helped governments or the people allowed by them to maintain and repair road systems so it could stay in good condition and facilitate economic activity (Grossman, 1968, p. 433). We can summarize the state of the transportation system just before the industrial revolution as dominated by the public sector, expensive and affordable by a few, slow but efficient for its time, and limited by natural conditions like wind, animal capacity, and terrain. Transportation Industry in the Industrial Revolution The industrial revolution transformed the transportation industry in three ways. First, scientific innovations improved the existing modes of transport and added new modes that were faster and more efficient. Second, the wealth created during the industrial revolution allowed governments to invest in the transportation industry, leading to explosive growth. These two factors led to a social transformation that helped develop the transportation industry: the increased mobility of people and goods. Key Technological Improvement: Steam Engine The discovery of steam power resulted from the work of several scientists, notably Papin of France and the Englishman Savery around the year 1712, but it was Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine that James Watt improved and for which he received a patent in 1769. Watt’s steam engine had a more practical application, transforming the reciprocal motion of a piston moved by the steam into rotary motion by means of a crank and crankshaft and later, a sun and planet wheel; adding a governor and flywheel for the engine to operate efficiently (Hart, 1968, p. 357). The inventions that followed the steam engine revolutionized transportation. Transformation of the Transport Industry: Steam to Trains We can briefly outline what happened until the end of the 18th century. First, steam power gave rise to factories with machines that spun cotton into textiles, turned iron wires into pins and needles, and made more machines. Factories grew in number, pushing large numbers of people to move from farms in rural areas to cities close to ports and waterways from where mass-produced goods were shipped. Factories needed fuel to turn water into steam, and coal was mined and transported to factories. Large furnaces were built, helping in steel production in large quantities. Abundant steel led to new applications like stronger wheels and hard steel plates and rods for making new and bigger machines and horse-drawn carriages. All these needed transportation and led to innovations of mass transport: larger carriages, steam-powered vehicles, faster clipper ships of wood and steel made use of sturdier sails knitted in factories. In the United States, Oliver Evans drove the first amphibian vehicle, a paddle-wheeled flatboat with wheels and propelled by steam, in Philadelphia in 1805. In England, the railroad industry was born in 1825, and by the 1830s so-called steam carriages were a fairly common sight. The United States followed suit, and from 1830 to 1848, the number of railroads increased from zero to almost ten thousand kilometers (Grossman, 1968, p. 434-435). An important development in England was the construction of roadways. From 1760 to 1774, the government constructed thousands of kilometers of turnpikes that charged toll fees from users and that allowed coaches to “race” over roads at speeds of 16-18 kilometer per hour (Grossman, 1968, p. 433). Until the mass production of motorcars in the early 20th century, these roadways were threatened with extinction by the coming of the trains that were faster, offered a smoother ride, cheaper, and more affordable. Three major events in the United States and England early in the 19th century revolutionized transportation. The first was the inauguration of the Erie Canal in November 1825, what one historian called the most decisive single event in the history of American transportation, which connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. The second was the boom in turnpike construction, mostly privately financed, such that in 1810 there were at least 180 turnpike corporations in New England alone. The third was the opening of the Stockton & Darlington railroad in England to bring passengers from Liverpool to Manchester (Beatty, 2001, pp.60-61). The following figures illustrate these developments. Figure 1 shows the development of the transportation system in the United Kingdom before, during, and after the industrial revolution. [Insert Figure 1 here] Figure 2 shows a similar diagram for the United States. [Insert Figure 2 here] Figure 3 is a graph showing the migration from farms to the cities, indicating the growing demand for efficient modes of transport over a 90-year period. [Insert Figure 3 here] Figure 4 shows the development of turnpikes in Great Britain. [Insert Figure 4 here] Figure 5 is a chart of the development of railroad systems in the five continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America, which shows how the rail system in the U.S. was the most extensive in the world before the 20th century. [Insert Figure 5 here] By 1830, the industrial revolution had given rise to new modes of transport that led to its explosive growth, creating greater efficiencies and innovations that made transport faster, capable of transporting more people, and cheaper. After the industrial revolution, transport speeds ranged from twenty-five kilometers per hour (steamships) to over 100 kilometers per hour (steam-powered trains), cutting down travel times by a large factor (Rodrigue, 2006). Figure 6 shows some of these improvements in transport speeds from different modes in use during the period. [Insert Figure 6 here] Management of the Transport Industry (1750s to 1850s) Governments continued to invest in the transport system infrastructure during the industrial revolution, but the explosion of wealth generation during the period placed money in the hands of merchantmen that launched new businesses involving the transport of goods from the colonies to their home nations. There was a gradual shift of economic power from the government and mercantilists or traders before the industrial revolution towards the industrial capitalists, who accumulated more wealth because of their ability to add value to their products (Rodrigue, 2006). In the United States, the government undertook the construction of the Erie Canal, but private businesses invested in turnpikes for land transport. Public and private capital were invested in railroads at the turn of the 19th century, which prepared the way for the radical transformation of road transportation by the middle of the century. Transportation System after the Industrial Revolution The changes started during the industrial revolution spread throughout the world. Steamships, trains and railroads, and other forms of mass public transport systems were developed in the U.K. and the U.S. and then spread to other countries. These two nations were at the forefront of transport system developments during the period after the industrial revolution, waging a competition against each other for faster and greater economic growth. One possible reason for the intense pace of developments is that the United Kingdom, the world power at the time, and the young, recently independent United States of America were still at odds and were struggling to establish global supremacy (Chandler, 1977, pp. 36 and 47). New developments in technology soon found their applications in instruments of war and turned these advances into a sign of the power struggle that marked the relationship between the two nations, using economic growth and social development into instruments for global politics. The economic changes that took place in the United States and England after the industrial revolution, notably after the three early 19th century events that revolutionized transportation and commerce, were breathtaking. As Beatty (2001, p. 63) recounts, travel time from Cincinnati to New York was cut down from the twenty days it took using a network of steamboat, canal, and railroad that dominated until 1851, to an eight-day train ride by 1852. In 1869, the year after the Union Pacific Railroad was joined with a gold spike to the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah the U.S. had only 23 percent of the world’s industrial production, behind England with 32 percent and ahead of Germany with 13 percent. Thirty years later, the U.S. led the world with 30 percent; England was second with 20 percent; and Germany still third with 17 percent (Chandler, 1994, p. 17). Other significant developments in the transportation industry during this period were the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869 that promoted trade between Europe and the Far East, the standardization of railroad gauges to 4 ft 8½ inches in the 1880s that allowed continuous shipments of cargo, the discovery of the gasoline powered internal combustion engine in the 1890s that led to the creation of the automobile industry in the 20th century, the use of steel for ships, and the first steam-powered airplane in 1848 (Grossman, 1968, pp. 436-437). One century after the industrial revolution, the global transportation system consisted of four different modes: sea, rail, land, and air. Figure 6 shows the evolution of transportation systems in the last 250 years (Williams, 1992 in Rodrigue, 2006). Developments very early in the 20th century, like the mass production of automobiles by Ford, the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, and the invention of steam and gasoline powered bulk ships to transport large quantities of goods across wide oceans all contributed to the explosive growth of the transportation industry that gave it economies of scale. Prices of transport vehicles went down, encouraging more people to travel. Advances in technology also improved the comfort of travel. In 1969, Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet airliner, capable of containing hundreds of passengers, started being used successfully for commercial air travel. This encouraged more people to travel for business and pleasure, allowing greater commercial activities to take place. The speed and convenience of transportation systems fed its own demand, resulting in better innovations that continue to answer the human need for travel and the commercial need for transport. Management of the Transport Industry (1850 to the present) Mass transport systems are managed and owned by a complex mix of private and public parties. Ownership is influenced by a combination of political and commercial issues. The U.S., for example, has private train companies running on government-owned railroads, private airlines on public airports, and private bus systems on public roads. Another important development in the 20th century is the evolution of the science of management, which allowed transport systems to be more efficient, affordable, and profitable. Competition in the transport industry is intense, and as we see in the experience of money-losing airlines and the highly profitable but extremely volatile shipping sub-sector, bankruptcy is a constant threat in such a capital-intensive industry. Management science helps owners and managers of companies in the transportation industry to find ways to deliver transport services conveniently and profitably (UNCTAD, 2005). Conclusions There is no doubt that the industrial revolution, by transforming the transport industry, changed the face of society in the last two and a half centuries. The radical thought processes encouraged by the discovery of the scientific method brought about huge changes in technology, allowing mankind to develop modern machines that improved the quality of life. These technological advances first put to use to address basic human problems like clothing, food, and removing water from swamps (the first application of the steam engine was to run a pump to do this) found their way to the development of faster and more efficient transport systems, a crucial component of economic growth in this age of globalization. References Ausubel, J.H., Marchetti, C., and Meyer, P. (1998). Toward green mobility: the evolution of transport. European Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 137-156. Beatty, J. (2001). Colossus: how the corporation changed America. New York: Broadway. Bergen County Technical School (2006). Industrial Revolution. Bergen County Electronic Database. Retrieved March 25, 2006, from http://www.bergen.org/technology/indust.html Bogart, D. (2004). Turnpike Trusts and the Transportation Revolution in Eighteenth Century England. Retrieved March 25, 2006, from http://orion.oac.uci.edu/~dbogart/transportrev_oct13.pdf Chandler, A. D. Jr. (1977). The visible hand: the managerial revolution in American business. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Chandler, Alfred D. Jr. (1994) Scale and scope: the dynamics of industrial capitalism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Grossman, W. L. (1968). History of Transportation. In Collier’s encyclopedia. (Vol. 22, pp. 416-439). New York: Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation. Hart, I. B. (1968). James Watt. In Collier’s encyclopedia. (Vol. 23, p. 357). New York: Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation. Hoyle, B.S. and Knowles, R.D. (1992). Modern Transport Geography. London: Belhaven Press. Lowson, M.V. (1998). Surface transport history in the UK: analysis and projections. In Proc. Institution of Civil Engineers, Transport, No. 129, February, 14-19. OED (2001). Transport. In Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved March 25, 2006, from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=transport Rioux, J-P (1989). La révolution industrielle 1780-1880. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Rodrigue, J. P. (February 2, 2006). Transportation in the pre-industrial era. Historical evolution of transportation – Part I. Retrieved March 26, 2006, from http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_1en.html UNCTAD (2005). Review of Maritime Transport 2005. New York and Geneva: United Nations. Van Doren, C. (1991) A history of knowledge: past, present, and future. New York: Ballantine. Figures Captions Figure 1. Development of the UK Transport System from 1750 to1990 Figure 2. Growth of the US Transport System from the 19th to the 21st Century. Figure 3. Share of the Population in Agriculture, Early Industrial Countries, 1820 to 1910. Figure 4. Turnpikes in Great Britain, Late 18th and Early 19th Century. Figure 5. Evolution of the Railway Network (in kilometers) from 1850 to 1913. Figure 6. Development of Operational Speed (in kilometers per hour) for Major Transport Modes from 1750 to 2000. Figure 7. Evolution of the Transport Technology from 1750 to 2000. Figure 1. [Source: Lowson, 1998 in Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 2. [Source: Ausubel, Marchetti, and Meyer, 1998 in Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 3. [Source: Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 4. [Source: Bogart, 2004 in Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 5. [Source: Rioux, 1989 in Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 6. [Source: Rodrigue, 2006] Figure 7. [Source: Williams, 1992 in Rodrigue, 2006] Read More