1. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the factory system?
L/O – To describe what the factory system was and to judge whether factories were a change for the better or worse
Copy down definition into books for quick starter / bell work as they come in room

2. Definition
Factory System = a way of producing goods by manufacturing them with machines in a factory rather than by hand at home

3. Key Words - Recap
Starter – recap key words from last lesson, some new to today. Copy down into books if you have time.

4. Problems with the Domestic System – Recap
Recap – on last lesson. Emphasise the problems with domestic system. It was inefficient – people wanted to make more money – so solutions were made I.e. factory system

5. Arkwright and the first factory
In 1769, Richard Arkwright invented the Water Frame. It was great but had one problem – it couldn’t fit into people’s homes!
Arkwright’s solution was to put his huge machines into specially created buildings – known as factories or mills.
His first opened in 1771 at Cromford in Derbyshire.
Explain how the sheer size of new inventions in cotton industry and the need for them to be powered meant that specialised building had to be built to house them – the first factory is thus born.

6. The Factory System
Some factories were huge. This textile mill, built in 1850 by Sir Titus Salt just outside Bradford, was one of the largest of its time.
Imagine this factory in 1850 – what would it have been like to work there? Live there?

7. From Water to Steam Power
By 1800, it was clear that the factory system was a much better way of producing goods than the domestic system.
The problem was that owners wanted to run their machines 24 hours an day, 365 days a year.
Early factories used water power – a huge wheel turned by a river which drives machinery.
Read Source A. Explain what the problem was with water power.
Source A
16th Dec: The river is frozen. Our waterwheel will not turn and we have no power. The workers have been sent home because their looms do not function.
29th May: The hot weather had made the River Ribble very low. In the afternoons, our looms go very slow.
28th Aug: Work has stopped in 30 mills in Blackburn. Work will not start until it rains again.
(A factory owner’s diary, 1805)
Draw out from pupils in the source analysis that water power is unreliable – factories need a reliable source – what could it be?

8. Full steam ahead!
Water power was just not reliable enough – so factory owners turned to a new form of power that scientists had been developing – the steam engine!
Not only was steam power faster and more reliable, it also meant factories no longer had to be built next to fast-flowing rivers.
By 1850, Britain became known as ‘the workshop of the world’ as it produced over 2/3 of the world’s cotton and ½ the world’s hardware.
2.) Look at the diagram. Explain in your own words how steam power works.
Copy diagram which is in textbooks on page 18 if you have time. Make do with a simple explanation, flow diagram if not.

10. Causes and Consequences of Factories
New inventions had to be housed somewhere
1.) Describe the reasons why factories were created in the first place. What do you think was the most important cause?
Huge profits were made for factory owners
Enclosure meant there was a lot of unemployed people willing to work in factories
One worker could produce 60x more cloth than a whole family – prices of goods became cheaper
Growing population meant that factories would be guaranteed to make a profit
Britain became rich and could afford a massive empire
This task is to recap and highlight why factories were built – what were the causes? Show pupils a mobile phone, explain that certain technology had to be developed and certain events had to happen before the mobile could be invented – get them to think how the world has changed due to the mobile. Then compare that to factories, emphasising that they were a revolutionary change at the time to. Explain the causes then get them to sum up in their own words with question 1. Do the same for question 2.
Invention of steam-power meant that factories could be built anywhere
2.) Explain what the consequences of building factories were. Which was the most important consequence?
Workers had to work in terrible conditions for little pay and no holidays

11. Advantages & Disadvantages of the Factory System
Advantages of factories
Disadvantages of factories
By 1850, the Domestic System was no more and nearly all goods were produced in factories.
But what were the advantages and disadvantages of the Factory System?
Cut out and stick the cards into your books to show whether they are advantages or disadvantages
Factories provided paid work for women.
Wages were very low.
Use cards on hand-out. Pupils to cut out cards, arrange into two piles and stick into book on 1 page using the table lay-out as above. Main task of lesson so spend most time on so that you can explain and get feedback from each card

12. Advantages & Disadvantages of the Factory System
Advantages of factories
Disadvantages of factories
Now look at your finished table.
Sum up the advantages and disadvantages.
Were factories a change for the better or worse? Explain your opinion, showing you have thought about both points of view
Britain became the most powerful country in the world.
Accidents in factories killed and injured people
Britain became rich and could afford an empire.
Demand for cotton encouraged slavery in the USA
If time, or for homework, get pupils to summarise both the advantages and disadvantages with this evaluation extended writing question.
Small towns became important cities very quickly.
Workers houses were overcrowded and had no toilets
Factories stimulated other industries like coal
Men, women and children had to work 14-hour days

13. Plenary What was the Domestic System? What was the Factory System?
Why were the first factories built?
What were the benefits of factories?
What were the disadvantages of factories?
Did we meet our learning objective?
L/O – To judge whether factories were a change for the better or worse