What's covered
Key facts
Britain led the Industrial Revolution because coal, capital, colonies, canal networks and a stable government coincided.
The 1848 cholera outbreak pushed Parliament toward public-health reform because polluted urban water supplies were spreading the disease.
Edmund Cartwright's power loom (1785) revolutionised cloth-making by mechanising weaving.
19th-century industrial cities were very unhealthy because overcrowding, poor sanitation and polluted water spread diseases like cholera.
Coal was central to the Industrial Revolution because it fuelled the steam engines used in factories and on the railways.
Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report on the labouring poor exposed slum overcrowding, poor sanitation and disease in industrial cities.
Vast quantities of coal were needed for steam power.
Young children worked long hours in 19th-century British factories and mines.
Factories concentrated workers and machines together in one building, replacing the dispersed domestic system.
The 1833 Factory Act outlawed the employment of children under 9 in textile factories and limited hours for older children.
Sample questions
A taste of the 29 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What invention by Edmund Cartwright revolutionised cloth-making?
- •The flying shuttle
- ✓The power loom
- •The spinning jenny
- •The steam locomotive
What problem did Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report on the labouring poor expose?
- •Mass illiteracy among the labouring classes
- ✓Slum overcrowding, poor sanitation and disease
- •The poor's lack of access to political pamphlets
- •Unsafe working conditions in the British army
Why was coal central to the Industrial Revolution?
- ✓It fuelled steam engines used in factories and trains
- •It was exported to fund factory construction
- •It was the main building material for factories
- •It was used as currency in industrial towns
Why did the 1848 cholera outbreak push Parliament toward public-health reform?
- •Cholera killed more soldiers than civilians
- •Cholera only struck wealthy London districts
- •MPs themselves caught cholera in droves
- ✓Polluted urban water supplies were spreading the disease
Which 1825 line was the world's first public steam railway?
- •Great Western Railway
- •Liverpool and Manchester Railway
- •London and Birmingham Railway
- ✓Stockton and Darlington Railway
Which 1875 act required local councils to provide clean water and sewerage?
- •Clean Water and Housing Act
- •Municipal Corporations Act
- ✓Public Health Act
- •Sanitary Reform Act
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