24.244.23.23: brief rework layout per sources and corrected details

2026-05-09T02:26:26Z

brief rework layout per sources and corrected details

ImportMaster at 22:00, 22 April 2022

2022-04-22T22:00:37Z

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[[File:Powerloom weaving in 1835.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|A [[loom]] in a [[weaving]] shed in 1835.]]
[[File:Philipp Jakob Loutherbourg d. J. 002.jpg|thumb|right|[[Coalbrookdale]] is a town in England where new ideas for industry were tried. Here it is at night in 1801. The fires are from the large scale making of iron.]]

The '''Industrial Revolution''' is the name [[Historian|historians]] have given to the period in [[history]] when there was a large and fast change in the way things were made. This meant that instead of things being hand made in small workshops, they were made more cheaply in large quantities by [[machine]]s in [[factory|factories]]. Products being made in large quantity now meant that they were sold for less. It also led to rise in the rate of [[population growth]]. It is usually thought as starting in the [[1760s]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Industrial History of European Countries|url=https://www.erih.net/how-it-started/industrial-history-of-european-countries|url-status=live|access-date=|website=www.erih.net}}</ref>

Many people began to move from an [[agriculture|agricultural]] based life in the country to the towns where the factories offered more and better paid work. A [[Second Industrial Revolution]] began in the 1870s.
The industrial revolution is very good.

== Beginnings ==
The Industrial Revolution began in [[Great Britain]] in the 18th century. Many of the technological [[innovation]]s were of British origin.<ref>{{cite book|title= Reconceptualizing the Industrial Revolution |last1= Horn|first1=Jeff |last2= Rosenband|first2= Leonard|last3= Smith|first3= Merritt|year= 2010|publisher =MIT Press|location=Cambridge MA, USA, London |isbn= 978-0262515627}}</ref> In particular, the County of [[Shropshire]] was important, for it had both minerals (e.g. [[Iron#Iron_in_the_ground|iron ore]] and [[coal]]) and transport on the [[River Severn]].<ref>Szostak, Rick 1991. ''The role of transportation in the industrial revolution: a comparison of England and France. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.</ref><ref>Usher, Abbott Payson 1920. ''An introduction to the industrial history of England''. University of Michigan Press.</ref><ref>Uglow, Jenny 2002. ''The Lunar Men: the friends who made the future 1730–1810''. London: Faber and Faber.
</ref> This led to the group of industries near the [[Ironbridge Gorge]] and the town of [[Coalbrookdale]].

In the mid-18th century [[Britain]] was the world's leading trading nation.<ref>{{cite book|title= Capitalism: A complete understanding of the nature and value of human economic life|last=Reisman|first= George|year= 1998|isbn= 0-915463-73-3
|publisher =Jameson Books |page=127}}</ref> It controlled a global trading empire with colonies in North America and Africa, and with some political influence on the [[Indian subcontinent]], through the activities of the [[East India Company]].<ref name=David_Landes_1999>
{{cite book|title= The Wealth and Poverty of Nations|url= https://archive.org/details/wealthpovertyofn00land_0|last=Landes|first= David|year= 1999|publisher =W.W. Norton & Company|isbn= 978-0393318883}}</ref> The development of [[trade]] and the rise of business were major causes of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history. Almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Average income increased, and population grew rapidly. Some economists say that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that the [[standard of living]] for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history, but others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The revolution spread to [[Europe]] and the [[Americas]], especially the [[United States]], by the early 19th century. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and came to America. He reconstructed a [[spinning Jenny|spinning machine]] from memory and built a factory of his own.

New ideas and inventions were also taken up and used in [[mining]], the working of [[metal]]s, and in the [[transport]] of goods. Around the same time new ideas in farming were leaving some farm workers without jobs. They added to the move to the industrial towns where they sought out work in factories.

[[File:Grazebrook Beam Engine.jpg|thumb|right|Early steam engines like this one from 1817 were used in mines to pump out water and pump in air. This allowed deeper mining.]]
The most important new invention of the industrial revolution was the [[steam engine]]. The steam engine, improved by [[James Watt]] around 1776, was used to power the factories and pump out the deeper mines. It was also used in [[railway]] engines. The heat from burning [[coal]] became the main source of power.

== Problems==
Living standards rose and people generally became richer and healthier and had more children who survived to be adults instead of starving. The resulting [[population growth]] in [[England]] caused new problems. Where only a few people had been rich because they owned land, now more became very rich thanks to industry. More, however, were still poor and lived in poor conditions. Children and women had to work for a long time for little pay. Often several families crowded into very small apartments. Working at different times, family members would take turns sleeping when they were not working.<ref name=world>{{cite book | last = Koontz| first = Terri, Mark Sidwell, S.M.Bunker| title = World Studies| date = June 2005| publisher = Bob Jones University Press| location = Greenville, South Carolina 29614| isbn = 1-59166-431-4}}</ref> Families were usually unable to get together. 12, 14, or even 18-hour workdays were common.<ref name=world/> The Industrial Revolution brought problems of its own.

[[File:Edmund Cartwright.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Edmund Cartwright]], inventor of the power [[loom]]. This invention greatly sped the [[weaving]] process.]]

== Advancements ==
During the industrial revolution, new technology brought many changes. For example:

* [[Canal]]s were built to allow heavy goods to be moved easily where they were needed.
* The [[steam engine]] became the main source of power. It replaced horses and human labor.
* Cheap iron and steel became [[Mass production|mass-produced]]. Steel replaced wood as material for building many of the new things.
* Machine tools became commonplace. Things could now be mass-produced in factories instead of making them by hand.
* [[Jethro Tull (agriculturist)|Seed drills]] and other agricultural machinery brought a British [[agricultural revolution]]. Fewer people were needed to work in farming, so many moved to towns and found new jobs in the factories. Many of the new jobs could be harsh, and sometimes dangerous.
* [[Rail transport|Railways]] were built all around England and then the world. They carried [[freight]] and [[passenger]]s much more quickly and cheaply than before.
* [[Steamship]]s began to replace sailing ships. They could be larger and faster than sailing ships and did not depend on wind and weather.
* The [[spinning Jenny]] and power loom made it easy to mass-produce clothes and fabrics.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons}}
* [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution/Citable_Version Industrial Revolution] Citizendium

[[Category:Periods and ages in history]]
[[Category:Economic history]]

Industrial Revolution - Revision history

24.244.23.23: brief rework layout per sources and corrected details

ImportMaster at 22:00, 22 April 2022