Industrial Revolution

The term Industrial Revolution describes the historical transformation of traditional into modern societies by industrialization of the economy. Its main social impact was that it changed an agrarian into an urban industrial society. The historical term Industrial Revolution can be applied to specific periods of the past, but the process known as industrialization is still going on, particularly in developing countries. The Industrial Revolution began in England in the middle of the 18th century. This was about the time the English throne passed from George II (1683-1760) to George III (1738-1820). It was in full swing at the time of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. Britain had certain natural advantages that help to explain why the Industrial Revolution began there. It was richly endowed with coal and iron ore, easily navigable waterways, and easily negotiated coasts. It was favorably placed at the crossroads of international trade, and internal trade was stimulated by the absence of domestic tariffs in what was, after the union of England and Scotland in 1707, the largest free-trade are in Europe. Also, political liberty was guaranteed. In short, 18th-century British society provided the framework within which could interact the effects of five fundamental sorts of change in agriculture, population, technology, commerce, and transportation. Industrialization usually goes hand in hand with agrarian reform if for no other reason than that an agrarian revolution allows a relatively small agrarian labor force to feed a larger manufacturing work force. In Britain the revolution in land use, even more than improved technology, dramatically increased agricultural production. The common pastures and fields were replaced by more compact and easily farmed private holdings. Farmers were thus motivated to experiment with new forms of husbandry-notably root crop rotation and convertibility between cultivated and pasture land- that increased productivity. The stimulus to these agrarian changes was the increased demand for good generated by demographic revolution- Britains population nearly doubled in the 18th century and doubled again by 1850. Population growth tends to retard economic development in a modern developing century, but Britain was a wealthy country with a standard of living well above subsistence; thus the population explosion from 1750 on enlarged the effective demand for consumption and had a beneficial effect on economic development. Because British entrepreneurs were unable to meet the increased demand for goods by traditional methods of production, the domestic handicraft system of manufacture gave way beginning in the late 18th century to factory-based mechanization. The cotton textile industry was the first to be fully mechanized. The crucial inventors were John Kays flying shuttle (invented in 1773 but not widely used until the 1760s), James Hargreavess spinning jenny (1765), Richard Arkwrights water frame (1769), Samuel Cartwrights machine loom (1785). The first factories were driven by water, but James Watts improved Newcomen STEAM ENGINE (1769) made steam-driven machine and modern factories possible from the 1780s. This use of stem power led, in turn, to increased demand for coal and iron. Each development spawned new technological breakthroughs, as, for example, Sir Henry Bessemers process for making steel (1856). Other industries such as chemicals and mining are also developed rapidly.

British industrialization was financed almost wholly by domestic capital. The accumulation of capital from land and overseas trade was a long-term process in which the propensity to save was crucial; thus the emergence of banking and insurance services oiled the wheels of a market economy. For the market to respond to demand, an adequate transport system was essential, and in the 18 th century British roads were improved for the first time since the Romans had withdrawn. Even more important, in the last quarter of the century a burst of CANAL building enabled raw materials to reach the factory quickly and cheaply and allowed finished goods to supply even larger market. From 1830 on, the development of steam-driven LOCOMOTIVES brought the advent of RAILROADS, extending the transportation network. The net effect of all these changes was a dramatic increase in production. This is why until well after 1850, Britain dominated the international economy. Britain itself, however, sowed the seeds of industrialization elsewhere by exporting knowledge, engineers, entrepreneurs, and, above all, capital.

Bibliography: Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Britannica The New Book of Knowledge