Preindustrial Societies

During the early 18th century, most British families lived in rural areas, grew most of their food, and made most of their clothes. For centuries, wool and flax had been raised domestically, and people spun fabrics they needed.

However, one result of the commercial revolution and the establishment of maritime empires (see Topic 4.5) was that Indian cotton became available in Britain, and before long it was in high demand. Wool and flax could not be produced quickly enough or in a large enough quantity to compete with cotton imports. To compete with Indian cotton, investors in Britain began to build their nation’s own cotton cloth industry. Using imported raw cotton produced by slave labor in the Americas, the British developed the cottage industry system, also known as the putting-out system, in which merchants provided raw cotton to women who spun it into finished cloth in their own homes.

Home spinning was hard work and pay was low, but cottage industries gave women weavers some independence. While working in their own homes, they were also close to children. But cottage industry production was slow. Investors demanded faster production, spurring the development of technologies and machinery that turned out cloth in more efficient ways.