The transport revolution and urbanisation
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Question
What was the Bridgewater Canal (1761)?
Answer
One of Britain's first industrial canals, built to carry coal from the Duke of Bridgewater's mines into Manchester. It roughly halved the price of coal in the city.
Question
Define a canal.
Answer
A man-made waterway dug for boats and barges to carry goods, especially heavy bulk cargo like coal.
Question
Why were canals so valuable for moving coal?
Answer
One horse could tow tonnes of coal on water for a fraction of the cost of road carts, making cheap coal — and steam power — affordable.
Question
What was Stephenson's Rocket (1829)?
Answer
George Stephenson's steam locomotive that won the Rainhill Trials, reaching about 30 mph and proving steam railways worked.
Question
Why was the Liverpool–Manchester Railway (1830) important?
Answer
It was the world's first fully steam-powered inter-city railway, linking a port to a factory city and carrying both goods and huge numbers of passengers.
Question
What was 'Railway Mania'?
Answer
The rush of investment in the 1840s that laid thousands of miles of track, giving Britain a national rail network by about 1850.
Question
How did steamships change trade and migration?
Answer
Unlike sailing ships, steamships did not depend on the wind, so they crossed oceans reliably. This sped up world trade and let millions migrate to the Americas.
Question
Define urbanisation.
Answer
The fast growth of towns and cities as people move in from the countryside, often to find factory work.
Question
How much did Manchester grow by 1850?
Answer
From a town of about 25,000 in 1770 to over 300,000 by 1850. Birmingham and Leeds boomed too.
Question
What were conditions like in early industrial cities?
Answer
Overcrowded and unplanned, with poor sanitation, deadly disease like cholera, and heavy coal-smoke pollution.
Question
Compare canals and railways as transport.
Answer
Canals were very cheap but slow and goods-only; railways were fast, flexible, ran in most weathers, and carried both goods and passengers.
Question
Why is transport both a cause and a consequence of industrialization?
Answer
It caused growth by cutting costs and widening markets, but booming industry also created the demand and money to build the canals and railways.
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Full study notes for The transport revolution and urbanisation
Topic 12.2 hub
Development of industrialization
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