The Spread of Industrial Capitalism: Europe, America, and Empire

Industrial capitalism consolidated private ownership of the means of production as the fundamental basis of the new economic system. A new industrial bourgeoisie emerged as the dominant social class, composed of factory owners, bankers, and enriched merchants; many pioneering industrialists, such as Arkwright or Wedgwood, came from modest social origins and rose through successful technical and commercial innovation. The banking system developed significantly to finance industrial investment, and joint-stock companies made it possible to pool capital from multiple investors to finance large-scale industrial projects, especially railways; the new industrial bourgeoisie progressively demanded greater political representation, and the British Reform Act of 1832 extended the franchise to sections of this new class, though it still excluded the working class.