CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Life of a u.s. Industrial Worker" by Bird Brain History
A learning module that begins with "The Life of a U.S. Industrial Worker" accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher...
OpenStax
Open Stax: On the Move: The Transportation Revolution
By reading this section of a chapter on "Industrial Transformation in the North", students will learn about the development of improved methods of nineteenth-century domestic transportation and identify the ways in which roads, canals,...
Other
Samuel Slater: Father of the American Industrial Revolution: Child Labor
Facts about the percentage of children in the mills and their pay. Discussion of why child labor was accepted. Links to other sites and to information on Samuel Slater.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: West River 1776 1896: Study of Early Industry
Presents detailed information on the development of industry in Westville, Connecticut 1776-1896. Discusses where and why development happened. Includes lesson plans, but slides referred to are not provided.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: The Agricultural Revolution
Teacher-contributed content on topics related to the agricultural revolution, such as four-field crop rotation, the seed drill, selective breeding of livestock, and the impact on the Industrial Revolution.
Tom Richey
Tom Richey: The Gilded Age (1877 1900)
As Reconstruction came to an end in the United States the country began to evolve into an industrial nation through the perseverance and ingenuity of masterminds like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Through a collection of...
Other
Big History Project: Chapter 5: The Modern Revolution and the Future
Big History Project, Chapter 5, picks up after the development of agriculture and the rise of cities and powerful civilizations and looks at industrialization, transportation and modern global interactions of today and asks, "what next?".
Curated OER
Women in World History: Lesson Industrial Revolution
This site provides lesson plans on working women during the Industrial Revolution in England in the 1840s. Includes information and testimonies of women textile workers, miners, and seamstresses.
History Teacher
Historyteacher.net: Early Industrialization & Economic Growth: Quiz (2)
Ten multiple choice question quiz is immediately scored and covers industrialization and economic growth in the early 19th century.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Manchester 1844
This site from the Modern History Sourcebook of Fordham University provides an exerpt from "The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844". Personal account of what life was like for textile mill workers in Manchester.
Victorian Web
Brown University: Victorian Web: Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th Century
The Victorian Web provides a report to British Parliament submitted in 1833 by a medical observer on how work in textile factories affected the physical health of the laborers. Also includes essays from a factory owner's point of view...
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: Urban Conditions
A section of a textbook on European history. It examines what it was like to live in urban settings during the Second Industrial Revolution.
Other
Red Mountain High School: The Growing u.s. In the Late 1800's/early 1900's [Pdf]
A PowerPoint presentation covering American history during the second Industrial Revolution. Learn the forces behind monopolies, the growth of cities, and the development of labor unions among other aspects of progression at this time in...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Inventions and Resource Development
Outline of the burgeoning inventions and discoveries that characterized a second industrial revolution in the U.S. during the later half of the 19th Century.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Lehigh Valley Tempo: Canal History
The Lehigh Valley became a major part of the Industrial Revolution after coal was discovered in the area. In this short video, learn about the canal system that was built as a way to transport the coal from the local mines to New York...
PBS
Who Made America?: Francis Cabot Lowell:consolidated Manufacturing
A brief biography of Francis Cabot Lowell which describes his role in the industrial revolution in the United States. Read about the factory system, the so-called Lowell girls, and mechanization of cloth manufacture.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Economic Expansion, Enlarged Markets
The United States was greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution taking place in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. New inventions and capital investment led to the creation of new industries and the spread of economic growth....
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Full Steam Ahead: The Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century
This primary source set uses illustrations, documents, and photographs to tell the story of how the steam engine transformed the railroad industry and played crucial roles in the Industrial Revolution and westward expansion.
Other
Lincoln Bicentennial Teacher Network: Northern Factory Workers [Pdf]
An information page on the rise of factory labor as the Industrial Revolution took hold in the North.
Tom Richey
Tom Richey: Agrarian Movements and Populism
While the explosion of industry had its positive marks on the economy, it also took its toll on some aspects of the nation. This slideshow will illustrate the problems and societal changes many farmers, immigrants, labor unions, and the...
US National Archives
Our Documents: Patent for Cotton Gin (1794)
Interactive image of Eli Whitney's plans for the cotton gin, accompanied by an explanation of the cotton gin's purpose and significance in relation to the Industrial Revolution.
Other
Understanding Race: The Famine and the Irish Race: 1840s 1890s
Article discusses how the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the potato famine in Ireland brought millions of people to the U.S. and highlights some of the impacts of immigration during this time.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Steam Condensing Engine 1769
Few inventions have affected human history as much as the steam engine. Without it, there would have been no locomotives, no steamers and no Industrial Revolution.
Other
Spartacus Educational: British History: Richard Arkwright
Often referred to as the "Father of the Industrial Revolution," this biography features Richard Arkwright, entrepreneur and business leader, of the late 1700's in Britain.