WORD COUNT 558
Have you ever wondered how the Industrial Revolution came about? Do you think all the ideas and inventions were generated overnight? NO! This revolutionary era lasted from the 18th century to the 19th century and brought about impactful changes that have crafted the modern world today.
Have you ever wondered how the Industrial Revolution came about? Do you think all the ideas and inventions were generated overnight? NO! This revolutionary era lasted from the 18th century to the 19th century and brought about impactful changes that have crafted the modern world today.
DEFINE the Industrial Revolution
It refers to the significant change of an adrian, handicraft, labour-intensive society to a society dominated by machine manufacture,specialization of tasks or division of labour, factories and cities, and a worldwide market for goods, services and capital.
This picture illustrates woman working out of her homehttp://frogluv.blogspot.com/2010/05/topic-of-interest-4-life-before-after.html |
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Workers at factories with large machinery
http://ahsocials9industrialr.blogspot.com/
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WHERE AND HOW HAD THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION BEGUN?
1) It began in Britain in the middle 1700’s and it was due to the agricultural revolution and geographic advantages.
Agricultural revolution
- Improved farming methods
- Changed traditional farming approaches
Improved farming devices :
Reapers, & Harvesters |
Plow & Moldboard Sickles
http://inventors.about.com/od/indrevolution/a/AgriculturalRev.html
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Seed Drills
http://inventors.about.com/od/indrevolution/a/AgriculturalRev.html
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This had two effects.
a) better livestock and rising crop productions à more food à less starvations à improved nutrition
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b) enclosure movement forced small farmers off the land à lost fields their families had worked for centuries à some left great Britain and moved to British colonies in North America / crowded into British cities looking for jobsà became the labour force for the revolutionizing industrial sector
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Population growth
Population in Europe increased more rapidly than at any earlier time at a phenomenal rate, slow and healthy.
How it grew? Possibilities:
a) new farming methods à increased food supplies à improved health
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b) medical advances Edward Jenner’s discovery of smallpox vaccine, 1796)
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c) larger food supplies and better living conditions à people lived longer and married younger à producing babies fast à shortening time span between generations
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A picture of a family of many generations during the Industrial Revolution http://www.stableshistory.co.uk/bradford.htm |
2) Great Britain’s geographic advantages
Rich in all factors : good food supply, large work force, plenty of people with money to invest à large burst of inventiveness
6 Major inter-locking inventions transforming the TEXTILE INDUSTRIAL COMPLETELY
DID YOU OBSERVE HOW ONE INVENTION LED TO ANOTHER?
Then in the 1700's, the process of inventing never ended as people were coming up with new inventions to meet the demands needed from a previous invention. This way, as inventions went by, they grew to be more efficient and improvised.
the Spread beyond BRITAIN
Click my very own made video : the spread of the industry beyond Britain to watch a very important section of this website.
At first, the changes brought about by the
Industrial Revolution led to negative impacts, appearing to be of no benefit to
the country.
Living conditions in cities were unsanitary, cramped and impoverished
Many were interested to move to more industrialized towns and cities,
with hopes of living a more luxurious lifestyle, This in-turned contributed
to the growth in Industry. Although it was a good thing for Britain, it also
led to over-crowding of towns and cities. Population figures from Britain’s
main cities and towns increased at an alarming rate, causing houses to be
built small and cramped. The growing population also meant more waste, living
the cities and towns in a filthy state.
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Men, women and children workers were severely underpaid and
overworked, they also had to endure harsh punishments and unprotected work
around dangerous machinery. There was also Child Labour.
The children of the families who had moved to the cities and towns had
their work situation go from bad to worse. Before moving to cities and towns,
children worked at family farms for their family, but in the cities, they
were overworked and underpaid, and worked for the larger companies. Adult and
children workers were physically and verbally abused as punishments.
PS :
MODERN WORLD -> “ Child labor today is still apart of many economies.
59,600 of the workers in the U.S. are under 14 and many other countries have
huge child labor troubles. Child labor came from the Industrial Revolution
and is still around today. “
Taken
from : http://www.midthun.net/the.htm
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Food was expensive and unaffordable to poor factory workers only
rancid meals, fatty fried foods and stale bread were affordable then, which
contributed to the extreme malnutrition and sickness then.
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The tremendous use of coal in industrial production polluted the
atmosphere, as well as people’s lungs and worker’s conditions in the
coalmines were not much better than those in factories
With
steam as the main energy source, more factories were built and relied on steam as it was efficient and convenient. The steam however, came from
burning fuels, which released poisonous gas into the air and also polluted it
with thick, black smoke.
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However, the changes from the Industrial Revolution that brought about positive impacts that rivaled the damage of all negative effects. The long-term effect of the industrial revolution had its contributions.
Britain earned capital from trading
worldwide with major nations who largely dealt with the exchange of improvised
and newly invented industrial machinery → gradually became the most powerful manufacturing nation and strongest economically in all of
Europe
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Medical advances and
discoveries → better treatments and cures for diseases → promoted overall health of British society
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Scientific advancements of the
time included new metal-production techniques → aided a greater production of
more durable metals (stronger steel) → cheaper to produce → the improvement
of steel production →construction improvements → fewer
fire and other safety hazards.
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electricity replaced gas power → increased efficiency of
streetlight in Britain / lessened the fire hazard gas lamps had proposed /better
lit cities meant decrease in urban crime rate→ new use of electric engines in cars → improved rate of transportation in cities/ decreased the pollution level heightened by older engines
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advancement of
industry →city
populations grew→ new water system (a sewer) provided for running water in homes →improved city’s sanitary conditions.
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expansion of public services(fire department and police force) →increased level of safety
in
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Increased production of machinery which further
forwarded industrial advances in technology, the products of city factories
became cheaper and more available
http://www.mapsites.net/gotham/webpages/isaacs/Econasp.htm
Massive usage of machinery |
Industrial businesses received more
income from consumers’ purchases.
Theory of capitalism developed, in which
British factory owners, entrepreneurs, and other businessmen worked to increase
Britain’s production of goods, promoting more international commerce for
Britain and supporting an increase in profits on Britain’s industrial goods.
Factory owners were able to provide
their workers with higher wages and better working conditions. Development in new machinery at factories increased safety of working there and
decreased the need for so many workers to labor for strenuous hours.
New labor code was made, a worker’s
hour requirement was shorten from the usual 12 to 16 hours to just 8 hours.
Comparison of modern world and the 18th century :
Comparing how people lived in the 18th century to modern world, the technical progress( in the transportation aspect) stuns me from horse-drawn carriages to F1cars in two centuries! Again, linking back to the fact that inventions and ideas were not generated overnight, the entire Industrial Revolution centered on interlocking sets of inventions and ideas.
For example : The invention of iron replacing wooden railroad tracks in the United States. In the long-term, we have definitely benefitted from this efficient form of transportation.
Comparison of modern world and the 18th century :
Comparing how people lived in the 18th century to modern world, the technical progress( in the transportation aspect) stuns me from horse-drawn carriages to F1cars in two centuries! Again, linking back to the fact that inventions and ideas were not generated overnight, the entire Industrial Revolution centered on interlocking sets of inventions and ideas.
For example : The invention of iron replacing wooden railroad tracks in the United States. In the long-term, we have definitely benefitted from this efficient form of transportation.
So......
What is a revolution?
" A revolution is a period of time where there is significant change in social, political, economic and ideological aspects of a society . effects of revolution had a significant impact on the lives of people involved"
Why is the Industrial Revolution a good example to demonstrate the concept of revolution?
Because during this era, there had been significant changes in many aspects of the society thorough countless inventions (e.g. economical : the 6 Major inventions transforming the textile industry completely , social : traditional methods of agricultural farming replaced by new machines, etc ) caused a massive transformation in that area. The effects of the Industrial revolution left negative impacts on a short-term basis, but positive impacts rose on the long-term basis. This is a significant impact on the lives of people who have witnessed the immense change and thus turned away the past to constantly improvise their way of life(inventions after inventions constantly overcoming the weaknesses from previous invention) , lasting through years to come.
MY CONCLUSION :
Because of Britain’s national economic, political, and social state, the country was ready to surmount on its shoulders the immense change of the Industrial Revolution. new inventions and innovations during the industrial revolution brought out a more modern outlook on life, self-improvement in the workplace, and proved the benefits on a long-term basis. The Industrial Revolution caused the people of Britain to turn away from the past and to constantly improvise their way of life which would last through upcoming years. In this respect, the Industrial Revolution was, indeed, revolutionary.
" A revolution is a period of time where there is significant change in social, political, economic and ideological aspects of a society . effects of revolution had a significant impact on the lives of people involved"
Why is the Industrial Revolution a good example to demonstrate the concept of revolution?
Because during this era, there had been significant changes in many aspects of the society thorough countless inventions (e.g. economical : the 6 Major inventions transforming the textile industry completely , social : traditional methods of agricultural farming replaced by new machines, etc ) caused a massive transformation in that area. The effects of the Industrial revolution left negative impacts on a short-term basis, but positive impacts rose on the long-term basis. This is a significant impact on the lives of people who have witnessed the immense change and thus turned away the past to constantly improvise their way of life(inventions after inventions constantly overcoming the weaknesses from previous invention) , lasting through years to come.
MY CONCLUSION :
Because of Britain’s national economic, political, and social state, the country was ready to surmount on its shoulders the immense change of the Industrial Revolution. new inventions and innovations during the industrial revolution brought out a more modern outlook on life, self-improvement in the workplace, and proved the benefits on a long-term basis. The Industrial Revolution caused the people of Britain to turn away from the past and to constantly improvise their way of life which would last through upcoming years. In this respect, the Industrial Revolution was, indeed, revolutionary.
Bibliography :
website
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- Women and Children during the Industrial Revolution. (n.d.).Schoolshistory.org.uk - online lessons - GCSE study aids - Teachers resources. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/womenandchildren.htm
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- death, t. t., 20, m. t., & use., 0. s. (n.d.). James Hargreaves.Grimshaw Origins & History. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from http://www.grimshaworigin.org/WebPages/HargGrim.htm
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