What is Industrial Revolution? The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions. The Industrial revolution took place in Britain, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history in almost every aspect of human life. Industrialization marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved systems of transportation, communication and banking. While industrialization brought about an increased volume and variety of manufactured goods and an improved standard of living for some, it also resulted in often grim employment and living conditions for the poor and working classes. Industrial revolution can also be described in the words of Nobel Prize winning Robert E. Lucas, Jr. as he states, "For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth. ... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior has happened before." Why did Industrial Revolution start? Before Industrial revolution manufacturing took place was in homes or rural areas and it was done by hand. Some products made in the home (including clothing, furniture, tools, cloth, hardware, jewelry, leather, silverware, and weapons) were even exchanged for food. But, people lived in fear that the crops they grew might fail, as many of them already suffered from malnutrition. In addition, diseases and other epidemics were unfortunately common. Hence machines were introduced to enhance the effective production. Industrial revolution specifically emerged from Britian because it had natural resources
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What is Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major
changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology had a profound
effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions.
The Industrial revolution took place in Britain, then subsequently spreading throughout
Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The Industrial Revolution marks a
major turning point in human history in almost every aspect of human life.
Industrialization marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and
mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam
engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved
systems of transportation, communication and banking. While industrialization brought
about an increased volume and variety of manufactured goods and an improved standard
of living for some, it also resulted in often grim employment and living conditions for the
poor and working classes.
Industrial revolution can also be described in the words of Nobel Prize winning Robert E.
Lucas, Jr. as he states,
"For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of
ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth. ... Nothing
remotely like this economic behavior has happened before."
Why did Industrial Revolution start?
Before Industrial revolution manufacturing took place was in homes or rural areas and it
was done by hand. Some products made in the home (including clothing, furniture, tools,
cloth, hardware, jewelry, leather, silverware, and weapons) were even exchanged for
food. But, people lived in fear that the crops they grew might fail, as many of them already
suffered from malnutrition. In addition, diseases and other epidemics were unfortunately
common. Hence machines were introduced to enhance the effective production.
Industrial revolution specifically emerged from Britian because it had natural resources
like coal, iron ore and developed farmlands. It also had a stable population growth due to
the boosting agricultural system.
Causes of Industrial revolution.
Collectively there were many major factors that contributed to Industrial revolution. The
urge to increase the quality of human like, to make technological advancement led to the
causes of the Industrial revolution. But there are three most important causes of Industrial
revolution were,
• Dependency on technology :- 'Technology' in this context means scientific way of
thinking. Scientific revolution promoted of scientific thinking. This trend started with the
Renaissance and increased with the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. Hence with
the increased emphasis on scientific ideology, the concept of Industrial revolution took
birth.
• Impact of education:- Before Industrial revolution a little attention was paid
towards raising the levels of education. But with period of Renaissance bought about a
revolution and led more individuals to be educated. This educated class was the base to
form up the Industrial revolution and bring about an impact in the society and
manufacturing new interventions.
• Protestant Reformation:- The Catholic/Protestant debate existed. A reformation
named as the ‘Protestant Reformation’ was formed. The reform was against the interest
of Protestents because it weakened or prohibitions on lending money, for example, and
helped to develop capitalism. Some also argue that it led to the Protestant work ethic
which helped to drive the Industrial revolution.
New invention of Industrial revolution.
1 The industrial revolution marked the intervention of many new gadgets and gizmos that
boosted all the sectors of manufacturing. The main impact of these interventions was
seen in the steam, agricultural, textile, transport, medicine and mining sector. Intellectual
personalities of the Industrial revolution led to the invention of such machinary that
Steam power was fuelled by coal, utilisation of water wheels and powered machinery
underpinned the increases in production capacity. Development of all-metal machine
tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of production
machines for manufacturing in other industries. Effects spread throughout Western
Europe and North America during the 19th century, affecting most of the world, a process
that continues as industrialization. The impact of this change on society was enormous.
Some example of such intervention were:-
I - James Watt Steam Engine -
Ideas, capital, and attitudes were all primed
for the Industrial Revolution. All that was needed was the right technology. Factory owners needed a way to efficiently and
cheaply produce the energy needed to power industry. James Watt had the
answer. His introduced the first steam engine that paved for Industrial Revolution to flourish.
Steam engines had been previously invented, as early as the opening of the 18th century. However, these engines
required lots of fuel in order to operate. This made using the steam engine very expensive. A more cost-effective engine was required to make its use widespread.
II - Stephenson's locomotive - In
1813, George Stephenson began the construction of his first locomotive. For the construction of the locomotive, every part
of the engine had to be made by hand, and hammered into shape just like a
horseshoe. The locomotive named “Bucher” that dragged 30 tons of materials on till four miles. This successful
presentation marked the first steam locomotive journey made on railroad that was
specifically created for train use. In 1829, George Stephenson also invented a multi-tubular boiler.
III - Robert Fulton's
‘Steamboat’ – Robert Fulton vital
work was the steamboats. Besides
that, Fulton made many important contributions to the development of
naval warfare, the submarine, the technology of mine warfare, the design and construction of the first
steam-powered warship, and to canal transportation which began with passenger service and later helped in the
development of canal-based transportation that could transport goods quickly and efficiently. Fulton’s steamboat was the first to become a practical, financial, and commercially successful steamboat. Fulton’s steamboat was names as ‘Clermont’.
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Agricultural Revolution began in the early 1700s with an Englishman. Advancement was
seen in farming which was absolutely vital in order for Europe to maintain and feed a
rapidly growing population. Crop yields per acre were increased by new knowledge about
what techniques would allow plants to grow and new agricultural techniques. Fertilizers,
minerals, and soil content were all factors that started to be taken into account. New tools,
and processes were developed to ensure that less people were needed to grow ever
increasing amounts of food. New plows, rakes, and other implements began to be used.
I - Jethro Tull - Jethro Tull invented a Seed Drill which could be pulled behind a
horse. It consisted of a wheeled vehicle containing a box filled with grain. There was a
wheel-driven ratchet that sprayed the
seed out evenly as the Seed Drill
was pulled across the field. A seed
drill sowed seeds that exactly
positions the seeds in the soil and
then covers them. It would sow
seeds in uniform rows repeatedly
instead of the wasteful method of
scattering seeds by hand. The result
was an increased rate of
germination, and a much-improved crop yield. Jethro Tull saw that the usual way of
sowing seed by scattering it across the ground was wasteful. Many seeds failed to take
root. He solved this problem with an invention called the seed drill in about 1701.
II - Lord Townshend - Townshend discovered-or merely popularized, there is
some debate-that if crops were grown in rotation, the land could be kept in production with
no loss of fertility. Example, to do this, the land was divided into four fields and in each
was grown in succession: wheat, clover, barley and turnips. The clover and turnips
renewed the soil when grown after wheat or barley. Townshend's method became known
as the Norfolk Crop Rotation system.
III - Robert Bakewell - Bakewell's great innovation included random breeding
called ‘in-an-in’, resulting in many different breeds with their own unique, but random,
characteristics. Bakewell separated males from females, allowing mating only
deliberately and specifically. Furthermore, by inbreeding his livestock he fixed and
exaggerated those traits he thought were desirable. Bakewell pioneered irrigation,
building canals and establishing experimental plots to test different manure methods.
TEXTILE SECTOR
The textile industry significantly grew during the Industrial Revolution. The demand for
cloth grew, so merchants had to compete with others for the supplies to make it. This
raised a problem for the consumer because the products were at a higher cost. The
solution was to use machinery, which was cheaper then products made by hand (which
took a long time to create), therefore allowing the cloth to be cheaper to the consumer. In
1813, Francis Cabot Lowell set up the first American textile factory.
I - Eli Whintey's Cotton gin -
Inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) patented
the cotton gin, a machine that
revolutionized the production of cotton by
greatly speeding up the process of
removing seeds from cotton fiber. Cotton
gin made cotton processing less
labor-intensive, it helped planters earn
greater profits, prompting them to grow larger crops, which in turn required more people. 2
II - The spinning Jenny - James Hargreave’s ‘Spinning Jenny’, revolutionized
the process of cotton spinning. The machine used eight spindles onto which the thread
was spun, so by turning a single wheel, the operator could now spin eight threads at once.
This increased to eighty with improvements in the technology.3
III - John Kay's 'Flying Shuttle' - John Kay in 1733, formed the ‘Flying
Shuttle’. It would weave up to a maximum of the width of a man's body, across his arms.
The machine worked in such a way because the shuttle had to pass backwards and
forwards, from hand to hand. John Kay's invention allowed the shuttle, containing the
thread, to be shot backwards and forwards across a much wider bed. The flying shuttle
also allowed the thread to be woven at a faster rate, thus enabling the process of weaving