Iron in the Industrial Revolution

Iron in the Industrial Revolution Iron was one of the most basic requirements of the rapidly industrializing British economy, and the country certainly had plenty of raw materials. However, in 1700, the iron industry was not efficient and most iron was imported into Britain. By 1800, after technical developments, the iron industry was a net exporter. Iron in the 18th Century The pre-revolution iron industry was based on small, localized production facilities sited near essential ingredients such as water, limestone, and charcoal. This produced multiple small monopolies on production and a set of small iron producing areas like South Wales. While Britain had good iron ore reserves, the iron produced was of low quality with plenty of impurities, limiting its use. There was plenty of demand but not much was produced as wrought iron, which had many of the impurities hammered out, took a long time to make, and was available in cheaper imports from Scandinavia. Thus, there was a bottleneck for industrialists to solve. At this stage, all the techniques of iron smelting were old and traditional and the key method was the blast furnace, used from 1500 onward. This was relatively quick  but produced brittle iron. Did the Iron Industry Fail Britain? There is a traditional view that the iron industry failed to satisfy the British market from 1700 to 1750, which instead had to rely on imports and couldn’t advance. This was because iron simply couldn’t meet demand and over half of the iron used came from Sweden. While the British industry was competitive in war, when the costs of imports rose, peace was problematic. The size of furnaces remained small in this era, limited output, and the technology was dependent upon the amount of timber in the area. As transport was poor, everything needed to be close together, further limiting production. Some small ironmasters tried to group together to get around this issue, with some success. In addition, British ore was plentiful but contained lots of sulfur and phosphorous, which made brittle iron. The technology to deal with this problem was lacking. The industry was also highly labor-intensive and, while the labor supply was good, this produced a very high cost. Consequently, British iron was used for cheap, poor quality items like nails. The Development of the Industry As the industrial revolution developed, so did the iron industry. A set of innovations, from different materials to new techniques, allowed iron production to expand greatly. In 1709, Darby became the first man to smelt iron with coke (which is made from heating coal). Although this was a key date, the impact was limited - as the iron was still brittle. Around 1750, a steam engine was first used to pump water back up to power a water wheel. This process only lasted a small time as the industry became better able to move around as coal took over. In 1767, Richard Reynolds helped costs fall and raw material travel farther by developing the first iron rails, although this was superseded by canals. In 1779, the first all-iron bridge was built, really demonstrating what could be done with enough iron, and stimulating interest in the material. The construction relied on carpentry techniques. Watt’s rotary action steam engine in 1781 helped increase the furnace size and was used for bellows, helping to boost production. Arguably, the key development came in 1783-4, when Henry Cort introduced the puddling and rolling techniques. These were ways of getting all the impurities out of iron  and allowing large-scale production, and a vast increase in it. The iron industry began to relocate to coal fields, which usually had iron ore nearby. Developments elsewhere also helped to boost iron by stimulating demand, such as the increase in steam engines (which needed iron), which in turn boosted iron innovations as one industry bred new ideas elsewhere. Another major development was the Napoleonic Wars, due to increased demand by the military for iron and the effects of Napoleon’s attempted blockade of British ports in the Continental System. From 1793 to 1815, British iron production quadrupled. Blast furnaces got bigger. In 1815, when peace broke out, the price of iron and demand fell, but by then Britain had become the largest European producer of iron. The New Iron Age 1825 has been called the start of the new Iron Age, as the iron industry experienced a massive stimulation from the heavy demand for railways, which needed iron rails, iron in the stock, bridges, tunnels and more. Meanwhile, civilian use increased, as everything which could be made of iron began to be in demand, even window frames. Britain became renowned for railway iron. After the initial high demand in Britain dropped, the country exported iron for railway construction abroad. The Iron Revolution in History British iron production in 1700 was 12,000 metric tons a year. This rose to over two million by 1850. Although Darby is sometimes cited as the major innovator, it was Cort’s new methods which had the major effect and his principles are still used today. The location of the industry experienced as big a change as that of production and technology, as businesses were able to move to coalfields. But the effects of innovation in other industries on iron (and in coal and steam) cannot be overstated, and neither can the effect of iron developments on them.

French Expressions Using Vouloir

French Expressions Using Vouloir The French verb vouloir literally means to want and is also used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to hold a grudge, only half want something, wish someone well, and more with this list of expressions with vouloir. Possible Meanings of Vouloir to wantto claim, assertto expectto need, require Vouloir has a different meaning in certain verb tenses and moods. Expressions with Vouloir vouloir manger/boireto want something to eat/drinkvouloir absolumentto be dead set on, determined tovouloir biento really want toVouloir, cest pouvoir (proverb)Where theres a will theres a wayvouloir de food/drinkto want somevouloir direto meanvouloir du bien quelquunto wish someone wellvouloir du mal quelquunto wish someone ill/harmvouloir faire quelque choseto want to do somethingvouloir que quelquun fasse quelque choseto want someone to do somethingvouloir que quelque chose se fasseto want something to be donevouloir quelque chose de quelquunto want something from someonevouloir sans vouloirto only half wanten vouloir (informal)to want/be raring to goen vouloir (informal)to be mad at (someone), be after (something)ne pas vouloir blesser quelquunto not mean to hurt someonene pas vouloir quon se croie obligà ©to not want someone to feel obligedne pas vouloir de quelquun/quelque choseto not want someone/somethingne plus vouloir de quelquun/quelque choseto no longer want someone /somethingsans le vouloirunintentionally, inadvertentlysans vouloir te/vous vexerno offensesen vouloir de infinitiveto be annoyed with oneself forÇa va comme tu veux? (informal)Is everything all right/OK?comme le veut la loiaccording to the law, as the law requirescomme le veut la traditionaccording to traditionComme tu veux / vous voulezAs you like/wish/please, Have it your way, Suit yourselfComment voulez-vous que je sache  ?How should I know?, How do you expect me to know?Comment veux-tu / voulez-vous que subjunctive  ?How do you expect (s.o. to do s.t.)?faire de quelquun ce quon veutto do what one likes with someone, to twist someone around his/her little fingerLe feu na pas voulu prendrethe fire wouldnt light ou catchle hasard voulut queas luck would have it... en veux-tu en voil (informal)tons of...Il y a des problà ¨mes en veux-tu en voil (informal)There are tons of problemsIls en voulaient sa vieThey wanted him deadJaurais voulu que vous voyiez sa tà ªte  !I wish you could have seen his face!Jaurais voulu ty voir  !Id like to see what youd have done!Je men voudrais  !Not on your life!Je ne ten veux pasIm not mad at you, No hard feelingsJe ne voudrais pas abuserI dont want to imposeJe veux  ! (familiar)You bet! Id love to!Je veux bienYes, pleaseJe veux bien le croire mais ...Id like to believe him but ...Je voudrais que vous voyiez sa tà ªte  !I wish you could see his face!Je voulais te/vous dire...I wanted, meant to tell you...Je voudrais bien voir à §a  !Id like to see that!Je voudrais ty voir  !Id like to see you try!Le malheur a voulu quil subjunctiveHe had the misfortune to...Moi je veux bien, mais...Fair enough, but ...Ne men veuillez pasDont hold it against meNe men veux pas (informal)Dont hold it against meQuand on veut, on peut (proverb)Where theres a will theres a wayQuest-ce que tu veux / vous voulez  ?What can you do?, What do you expect?Que veux-tu / voulez-vous  ?What can you do?, What do you expect?Que voulez-vous quon y fasse  ?What do you expect us/them to do about it?Quest-ce que tu veux que je te dise  ?What can I say? what do you want me to say?Que lui voulez-vous  ?What do you want with him?Quest-ce quil me veut, celui-l  ? (info rmal)What does he want from me? quil le veuille ou nonwhether he likes it or notsavoir ce quon veutto know what one wantsSi tu veuxIf you like/want, If you willSi tu voulais bien le faireIf youd be kind enough to do itSi vous le voulez bienIf you dont mindSi vous voulez bien me suivreThis way, pleaseTu las voulu  !You asked for it!Tu lauras voulu  !Itll be your own fault! Youll have brought it on yourself!Tu ne men veux pas  ?No hard feelings?Tu veux bien leur dire que...Would you please tell them that ...Lusage veut que...Custom requires that...Veuillez agrà ©er/croire... (business letter)Please accept...Veuillez croire toute ma sympathiePlease accept my deepest sympathyVeux-tu (bien) infinitive  !Will you (please) ...!Veux-tu que je te dise/raconte pourquoi...  ?Shall I tell you why ...?Voudriez-vous avoir lobligeance/lamabilità © de...Would you be so kind as to ...Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir  ?Do you want to sleep with me tonight?se vouloirto claim to be, to be supposed to beVouloir conj ugations