From the mid 18th century onwards, the cotton industry grew rapidly, driven by developments in water and steam power and textile machinery. The Industry section of Spinning the Web is divided into four main themes:
In The Factory, there are materials on the development of the cotton factory, the power sources which drove the industry, the architecture and layout of mills.
In Machines & Processes, there is information on the technical processes and cotton manufacturing machinery.
Marketing contains information on advertising, patents and branding, cotton exchanges and other aspects of cotton trading. Cotton was an industry which relied on the importation of the raw material and exportation of cloth and finished goods.
In Trade Routes there are a number of items which illustrate the global nature of the cotton industry and its markets.
