Chapter I: The Development of a Cotton Manufacture 1-29

I.--The development of the English cotton industry
the classic example of the Industrial Revolution
movement; its importance as an indication of what
the transition from the domestic to the factory
system of organisation involved, 1-2; cotton and
cotton-cloth common articles of import before the
sixteenth century; “cottons” a prominent
Lancashire manufacture in the early sixteenth
century; unsuccessful attempts to regulate the manufacture,
2-6; necessity for caution in accepting the
view that cotton was not used in the manufacture
of Lancashire cloths in the sixteenth century, 7-8.

II.--Authentic evidence of a considerable manufacture
of cotton in Lancashire; petition of London
merchants (1621); testimony of Lewis Roberts
(1641); fustian manufacture probably introduced
in second half of the sixteenth century, 8-12;
extent of the manufacture indicated in petitions
from Lancashire (1654); possible effect of Thirty
Years’ War; Fuller’s account of Lancashire fustian
manufacture (1662); Bolton the staple place for
fustians in the seventeenth century, 13-16.

III.--Countries from which cotton-wool imported in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; cotton-yarn
and fine cotton-fabrics imported by East
India Company, 16; John Barkstead’s schemes
(1691) for manufacture of calicoes and muslins and
their failure, 16-19; opposition of silk and woollen
trades to import of dyed or printed calicoes; resulting
Act (1700) followed by import of plain calicoes
which were printed and dyed in England; Act
(1721) prohibits their wear or use; opposition to
Act from manufacturers of cotton in Dorset, 19-21;
increasing prominence of fustians rouses opposition;
petitions from Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire
result in “Manchester Act” (1736); use or
wear of printed goods made of linen-warp and
cotton-wool declared lawful; progress of cotton
manufacture, 1730-1764, 22-24.

IV.--Development of Manchester trade, 1650-1750;
distinction between smallware, check, and fustian
branches; fustian especially regarded as the cotton
manufacture; some goods made entirely of cotton
in first half of eighteenth century but majority
probably of mixed character; worsted and silk
utilised and linen largely manufactured, 25-29.