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Chapter 13
A Nation in Transition (1750–1832)
In This Chapter
Recognising how industrialisation changed Scotland
Seeing how the Highlanders were forced from their homes
Supporting the British Empire
Looking at Scotland’s role in the Enlightenment
Seeing the emergence of political radicalism
Between the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden in 1745 (see Chapter 12) to the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832, Scotland was a nation in transition. It was evolving from a largely rural society to an industrial/urban one. The old ways were disappearing or transforming, as Scotland entered a new age.
The rapid growth of industry was accompanied by a shift of population from the countryside to the towns – in some cases voluntary (as in the Lowlands) and other cases violently (as in the Highlands). The unpla
On the back of these changes, groups that advocated a radical philosophy based on the rights of man emerged in the 1790s and continued into the 1820s. These groups threatened to overturn the old, corrupt political order of the landed classes.
The Scots were living through turbulent times. Nobody could predict how things would turn out.
Transitioning from an Agrarian Society to an Industrial One
Industrialisation is an area of history that is full of a tremendous amount of argument and debate. Historians disagree about the dating (when it actually began), the speed of change and the social consequences. Some historians talk about an Industrial Revolution of rapid change; others talk about evolution or slow, balanced changes. Each view has its merits. But if you view the process as regional rather than national, then it’s possible to talk of an Industrial Revolution.
In Scotland, the west experienced a rapid and decisive shift from
primary production
(raw materials and agriculture) to
secondary production
(manufacturing). There was also an irreversible shift in population away from the land to towns and industry. But what caused this shift? In a word: cotton.
The cotton industry grew rapidly – from one factory in 1778, situated in Penicuik, near Edinburgh, to 198 factories in 1838. By that time, the industry was employing 36,000 workers in spi
The rise of cotton was unexpected – in 18th-century Scotland, linen had been the main textile. But cotton showed itself more adaptable to steam power than linen was – linen’s fibres snapped rather than stretched when under pressure. Prior to the application of steam power, cotton mills were situated in the countryside near fast-flowing water. One consequence of using steam to power the spi
The rapid growth of the cotton industry also encouraged growth in other industries, so there was a knock-on effect:
Coal was needed to supply the hungry demands of the cotton factories, so coal production had to be increased (see Figure
13-1
).
The application of steam-powered machinery not only allowed for mine shafts to be sunk deeper, but also made it possible to drain water-filled coal seams.
Engineering experienced an expansion.
Machine tools, such as the lathe, were developed to make and maintain spi
Iron was another industry to undergo expansion as a result of the cotton industry’s spectacular growth.
The cotton mills were iron-framed, and the machinery was also made from iron. However, it wasn’t until 1828 that iron production grew in line with the rapid strides being made elsewhere. James Neilson’s hot blast furnace massively reduced the amount of fuel needed to smelt iron ore, and this caused production to grow enormously. It also led to a fall in the price of
pig iron
(basic material which is worked up into shapes or wrought iron in the forge), which encouraged greater use of iron (see Chapter 14).
© The Print Collector/Alamy
Figure 13-1:
Coal production increased during the Industrial Revolution.
Working conditions
The first factory workers weren’t men but women and children, and many of the latter were orphans. Men initially refused to enter factories because they were considered demeaning places to work, but as the machines got bigger and heavier, spi
What was it like to work in these industries during the first phase of industrialisation? The short answer is: hellish. Here’s an extract regarding the working conditions of women and children from a government report into the coal industry:
in the east of Scotland, where the side roads do not exceed from twenty-two to twenty-eight inches in height, the working places are sometimes 100 and 200 yards distant from the main road; so that females have to crawl backwards and forwards with their small carts in seams in many cases not exceeding twenty-two to twenty-eight inches in height. The whole of these places, it appears, are in a most deplorable state as to ventilation. The evidence of their sufferings, as given by the young people and the old colliers themselves, is absolutely hideous.
On the main roads of some pits, the coal was carried on the backs of girls and women; in one of the pits, a sub-commissioner found a girl, only 6 years old, carrying half-a-hundredweight of coal, and making 14 journeys a day, each journey being equal to ascending to the top of St Paul’s Cathedral. It was not until 1842 that these practices were outlawed.
Things were no better in the cotton industry, where long hours and low wages were the norm for women and children. Children were employed as piecers and mule scavengers, which involved crawling under machinery to pick up cotton or tying the broken threads. They worked some 14 hours a day, six days a week; on Sundays they were expected to turn up for religious instruction, so no rest, even for the i
Employers saw nothing wrong with these working conditions, and it took a number of government investigations before laws could be introduced to limit the hours of work of women and children in the 1830s and 1840s.
People tend to think of industrialisation as being a manly thing. They picture men shovelling coal, digging ditches and laying railway tracks, but in reality industrial Britain was built on the backs of women and children.
Was Scotland truly ‘industrial’?
There is no doubting the strong evidence of progress in industries linked to cotton, such as coal and iron. But overall, the phenomenon of industrialisation in Scotland was more narrowly based on textiles. Compared to England, the industrial development that took place north of the border was not as broad based, and it didn’t go as far or as fast. Here’s why:
As late as 1830, the majority of the Scottish population still worked in domestic service (mainly women) and agriculture. Agriculture was not just the largest employer of labour; the sector also took the biggest share of the gross national product.
Industry was less developed due to the abundance of cheap labour, which held back the application of machinery. Because of this, cotton weaving was not mechanised until the 1850s.
Scotland had to wait a bit longer than England before it could claim the status of an ‘industrial nation’. That had to wait until the development of the integrated heavy industrial structure of shipbuilding, engineering, and iron and steel, and that occurred after 1850.
So, rather than use the term the
Industrial Revolution
to mark the period 1780 to 1830 in Scotland, it would be better to use the word
industrialising.
This term recognises the profound changes Scotland experienced, without claiming that Scotland experienced full-scale industrialisation. The foundations of industrialisation were being laid. Industrial society was still a work in progress.
Urban growth and urban crisis
Historians disagree as to how many people living in a defined space constitute a
town
rather than a
village
– some say at least 1,000, some say 5,000 and some say 10,000. If we define a town as any place with 10,000 or more residents and measure urbanisation in those terms, Scotland ranked seventh out of 16 European countries in 1750, fourth in 1800 and second in 1850.
In 1750, fewer than one in ten Scots lived in towns of 10,000 or more residents; by 1850, more than one in three did. Most of this growth took place after 1780. For most of the 18th century, Scotland had lagged way behind other countries. However, when growth occurred in Scotland, it was more rapid than the growth experienced by any other European society. In the decade from 1791 to 1801, urban dwellers increased by 25 per cent over the previous decade; this figure increased by nearly 33 per cent in the decade from 1801 to 1811.
What caused this spectacular development?
Because of agricultural changes, such as the enclosure of land and labour-saving machinery, the need for labour decreased, and the landless labourers flooded into the towns.
Trade grew as a result of the union of 1707. The growth of ports resulted in increased demand for labour to work in services (as waiters, barbers, messengers, clerks and so on).
Most importantly, due to the application of steam power to machinery, industry moved from the countryside to the towns. By 1839, 98 cotton mills were situated in Glasgow.
There is little evidence that the expansion of towns did much to immediately impact urban death rates. Indeed, it took until the 1820s and 1830s before the horrors of unpla
The richer society became, the higher the death rate. Here’s why:
Low wages meant poorer diets and a greater susceptibility to disease.
Unemployment wasn’t recognised by the Poor Law, so there was no relief in hard times for the unemployed and their families.
People were coming to Scotland from the poorest parts of the UK, including Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Many of these people were already undernourished and highly vulnerable to diseases.
Housing was in short supply, which led to overcrowding. And overcrowding allowed for the easy transmission of disease from one person to another.