A New Age is Looming Over the Horizon

The Industrial Revolution was a new chapter in human history, and with the introduction of mechanized looms, that new age was right within the grasp of the new pioneers who discovered it.  This colossal era as well as its debt to looms for making it possible, led to the title "A New Age is Looming Over the Horizon."  We sincerely hope that visitors to our exhibit will leave with knowledge of how the many machines of the Industrial Revolution worked, as well as what it was like to go from small farm communities to large cities filled with factories as far as the eye could see.  If visitors can indeed learn all this, they will see exactly why the Industrial Revolution was the greatest age for both the workers, and the looms at which they worked.


The need for cotton in the world caused a large influx of slaves to the American South.  This increase in demand required more workers, and what workers work for less than slaves?  The slaves worked throughout the revolution until their emancipation in 1864.

The demand for materials and raw resources in the factories as well as the increase in demand for foreign goods led to increased and optimized transportation methods.  Railroads were used for faster land travel, and steamships were invented to carry goods across the oceans.

Child labor during the industrial revolution reached a peak due to the need for cost effective workers, and the poor families that needed money had no choice but to send their children to the mills.  The United States was less oppressive than Britain, which required up to 18 hours of work per day.  The factory act put an end to unfair child labor laws.

The pollution from the factories was so great that it was enough to make the entire Thames smell fetid as well as turn the color a deep, murky brown.  The once quiet streets were filled with large factories billowing smoke into the air, and the sky was forever poisoned by the toxic fumes that the industrial powerhouses leaked out.