Industrial England
Open the map in 1800 and zoom in on northern England. Find Manchester and its port, Liverpool, about 50 km to the west. Why would factories grow up between coal-rich hills and a sea port?
Open this view on the mapIndustrial Revolution · 1780-1850
Cottonopolis: Manchester and the factory age
Steam engines, cotton mills and coal turn a small English town into the world's first great industrial city. Students follow cotton from the plantations of the American South to the mills of Manchester and weigh the progress and the misery of the factory age.
- Length
- 50 minutes
- Ages
- 11–14
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1800
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 3 on the map
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
Steam engines, cotton mills and coal turn a small English town into the world's first great industrial city. Students follow cotton from the plantations of the American South to the mills of Manchester and weigh the progress and the misery of the factory age.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Explain how machines, steam power and coal changed the way goods were made.
- Describe living and working conditions in factory towns such as Manchester, including child labour.
- Connect British industry to cotton grown by enslaved people in the Americas.
Explore the map
15 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
Cities explode
Turn on Cities and find London. Drag the time slider from 1800 to 1900 and watch its dot. How much bigger did it grow, and what problems would that bring?
Open this view on the mapCotton across the ocean
Open the map in 1800 and turn on Trade Routes. Follow the Atlantic Triangular Trade. In which English port does it begin and end? What did ships carry on each leg?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
15 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Before factories, cloth was spun and woven at home. What changed for families when work moved into mills?
- Children worked long hours in mills because they were cheap and small. Why did it take until 1833 to limit their work?
- Most of Manchester's raw cotton was grown by enslaved people in the American South. How far was British industry built on slavery?
- The Luddites smashed machines. Were they against progress, or against losing their living?
- Is an "industrial revolution" happening today? What is changing work now?
Game round
10 minNo Rule History ruler ran a factory. Play Napoleon Bonaparte: his Continental System tried to ruin Britain by closing Europe to British goods. Discuss: why could Napoleon not defeat a country of factories and ships?
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.