11.1.8

Canals

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Canals

The Industrial Revolution also prompted the use of canals to transport goods around the country. This also provided many jobs.

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Canals

  • Canals were another key method of transport, that became much more widely used during the Industrial Revolution.
  • Floating barges on canals, and having horses pull those barges along the canals, allowed goods to be transported much more quickly than on land.
  • The horses walked alongside the canals on tow-paths.
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Canal network

  • Obviously, wherever there was a mine or factory, there were calls for a canal nearby, so that goods could be easily transported to and from the factory.
  • By the mid-nineteenth century, Britain had a huge network of canals running across the country, totalling about four thousand miles.
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  • The creation of thousands of miles of canals and railway track also created thousands of jobs.
  • Labourers were required to build Britain’s canals and railways, and these labourers became known as navvies (taken from the word ‘navigators’).
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Work done by navvies

  • A large proportion of these navvies were Irishmen, who had been driven from Ireland due to the potato famine (1845-1852) and found work in other parts of Britain.
  • The job was hard manual labour, but was well paid.
  • By the mid-1800s canals and railways were being built by 200,000 navvies across Britain.

Jump to other topics

1Empires East & West: 1000 AD

1.1The Rise & Fall of Ancient China’s Empire

1.2The Medieval Greatness of the Byzantine Empire

1.3The Golden Age of the Islamic Empire

1.4The Politics & Power of the Holy Roman Empire

1.5Medieval Religion

1.6The Influence of the Church in Medieval Times

1.7How Religion Tested the Power of Kings

1.8Dynastic Challenges to Medieval Monarchs

1.9Challenges to Medieval Monarchs

1.10Revolts, Rebellions & Rights

1.11Medieval England & Her Neighbours

1.12European Renaissance

1.13Norman Conquest & Control

1.14Historical Skills

2The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

2.1Anglo-Saxon England

2.2The Contest for the English Throne

2.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

2.4King John

2.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

2.6The Black Death

3Worldviews

4The Empire of Mali: 1076-1670 AD

5The Renaissance & Reformations: 1500-1598 AD

6The British Empire: 1583-1960 AD

7The Peasants' Revolt: 1381 AD

8Religion in the Middle Ages

9Slavery: 1619-1833 AD

10The English Civil War: 1642-1660 AD

11The Industrial Revolution: 1750-1840 AD

12US Independence: 1775-1783 AD

13The French Revolution: 1789-1815 AD

14The British Empire: 1857–1930 AD

15Suffrage: 1840-1928 AD

16World War 1: 1914-1918 AD

17The Inter-War Years: 1919-1939 AD

18World War 2: 1939-1945 AD

19The Cold War: 1947-1962 AD

20Civil Rights in the USA: 1954-1975 AD

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