Industrial Revolution Project

My group and I did not split up into groups in order to complete the analysis process. We instead worked as a team so that we could hear each individuals opinion on each source and put each thought and interpretation together in order to give each visitor of our exhibit the best possible experience and learn as much about our topic as they possibly can. We spent a fair amount of time on each source in order to get the most out of every single detail in each source. The analysis process is such an important part of curating because you must truly know everything and every detail of the source in order to teach the audience everything about that source and in order for them to get the most out of the exhibit. Our exhibits topic is cotton and slavery. The source named Colonialism, Slavery and the Industrial Revolution is the cover of a teaching kit and the illustration shows how slavery fed the industrial revolution. The source named British Cotton Trade About 1850 is a map of the world that shows British cotton trade around the year 1850. The source named Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-92) is a biography of Sir Richard Arkwright and a background on his invention, the water frame. The source named Boott Cotton Mill is an illustration of the Boott Cotton Mill which was a mass textile complex that was in business for around 100 years. The source named Slavery Graph (1770-1860) is a visual representation of slavery in the fifteen southern states from 1770 to 1860. The state with the most slaves had over 3,500,000 slaves. The source named Cotton Production in Lowell/ U.S. Slave Population is a table of data that shows the correlation of cotton production and U.S. slave population. We came up with the title of our exhibit after thinking and brainstorming for a good amount of time. We needed a title that captured the true meaning of the materials and products being made and the slavery during the industrial revolution. We thought of the title Products of a Dark Time because it showed the product aspect of the industrial revolution and the bad consequences that happened because of it. We hope that visitors will learn about slavery and the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution and not just the evolved production of goods part.

We had the chance to be the visitors at other groups exhibits and learn about their topics and sources. Group A's exhibit was all about the evolution of weaving and the spinning wheel. They did a really good job of having the title relay the topic of their exhibit to the audience. I learned from their exhibit that only women used the spinning wheel and that it originally started in houses and I learned how it evolved. Group B's exhibit was about the evolution of transportation. They did a really good job of having the title relay the topic of their exhibit to the audience. I learned that more and more land was being destroyed in order to make room for transportation and I learned the importance of the steam engine and I leaned that there were debates on whether or not to use trains because some people felt as though they were ruining the world. Group C's exhibit showed the negative effects of the industrial revolution both economically and environmentally. They did a really good job of having the title relay the topic of their exhibit to the audience. I learned that the industrial revolution increased the number of factories which caused air and water pollution which caused non sanitized, dirty living conditions and how the workers made less money and how daily life was more expensive. Group D's exhibit was about children working and working conditions. They did a really good job of having the title relay the topic of their exhibit to the audience. I learned that people needed money so badly that they sent their children to factories to work in order to make enough money to live and how they worked long hours and the working conditions were dangerous and how orphans were recruited for more dangerous jobs. Each groups exhibit did a great job at teaching the audience what their exhibits about without boring the audience of making it too long or in depth.