One of the most significant personality changes that has occurred in the world tookplace during the 1700s to the early 1800s; the Industrial Revolution. It is described as atime of drastic change from hand made items to machine made goods. This meant basicallythat people had to learn how to manufacture goods in enormous factories instead ofThe Industrial Revolution began in England because of their large demand for coaland iron. And since they had a large supply of this, England soon began to have toproduce vast amounts across all of Europe.
In the 1700s, England was one of theworlds leading producers of iron and coal and was considered as having the most colonialpower. This is all due to their newly acquired colonies. The colonies currently known as the United States of America. The coloniesprovided a market for manufactured products. The markets helped stimulate the textileand iron industries in England. The colonies also gave England all of the resources thatwere desperately needed due to produce all of the goods that were necessaryIn most industries, before the Industrial Revolution, labor was done by hand.
Thiswas called the cottage industry. In the early 1700s, there was great demand for cottoncloth. In order to meet this demand people needed something to increase their output. So the spinning jenny and the water frame were invented.
These two inventions cut time andexpenses in half due to the lesser amount of labor that was needed. These inventions also left a lot of people that were used to working the landbaffled. People were presented with a whole new scenario in life which changed theiroutlooks on the way that they should go about living their lives. Kind of like how theolder generations of today are being perplexed by the hindrances of trying to figure out allAnother great invention in the seventeenth century is the steam engine. The steamengine is something that I think of as one of the greatest inventions of this time era. Thesteam engine allowed people to travel to remote destinations much quicker than everbefore due to the steam power of a train or ferry.
Cities were able to expand in sizebecause people could go farther in less time. It even allowed some of the hardest taskknown to man to be done in a much more time saving and least dangerous fashion. Without this great invention none of the manufactured items that were being produced tosupport most everybody in the world would have ever been able to have been distributed. Several systems of making goods had grown up by the time of the Industrialrevolution.
In county districts families produced most of the supplies that they used, whilein the cities merchandise was made in shops, and manufacturing was strictly regulated bythe guilds and by the government. The goods made in these shops were limited and costly. The merchants needed cheaper items, as well as larger quantities, for their growing trade. They had to establish another system of producing goods. The cottage or domesticindustry filled in the gap for sometime, because it gave the merchants a large supply ofmanufactured articles at a low price.
It provided employment for every member of a craftworkers family and gave jobs to skilled workers who had no capital to start business forA few merchants who had enough capital had gone a step further. They broughtworkers together under one roof and supplied machines. These establishments werefactories. The men who controlled these enterprises formed a powerful new class inEngland called industrial capitalist. due to the laissez-faire, factory owners could arrangeworking conditions in whatever way they pleased.
This caused many problems forworkers. they had problems with working hours, wages, unemployment, accidents,employment of women and children, and housing conditions. The Industrial Revolution was great in many ways. It produced material muchmore quickly than before and made it possible for the common man, not just the wealthy,to afford materials like cotton. Besides all these inventions that people were making thattripled productivity, there were many problems caused by the Industrial Revolution.
People living in bacteria infested, crowded, and unhealthy homes. Kids and womenworked under harsh conditions. The working conditions were extremely unsafe and unfairto the children. They were underfed and overworked. The children, however, were not theonly ones that endured the hardships of that time.
The women also were treated verybadly. Bigger women also did some pretty heavy work for in this time period. The most important changes that the Industrial Revolution brought were; Theinvention of machines to do the work of hand tools. The use of steam, and later of otherkinds of power, in place of muscles.
the adoption of the factory system. The IndustrialRevolution came gradually. When compared against centuries of working with your handsthe Industrial Revolution came in a very short span of time. In my opinion the 19th century should be considered a Revolution for thetechnological advances we have had.
The Industrial Revolution shaped the world today Bibliography:
