Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution is the name historians have

given to the period in history when there was a large
and rapid change in the way things were made, built.
This meant that instead of things being hand made in
small workshops, they were made more cheaply in
large quantities by machines in factories. Products
being made in large quantity now meant that they
were sold for less.

Beginnings
The Industrial Revolution began in Great
Britain in the middle of the 18th century.
In particular, the County of Shropshire
was important, for it had both minerals
and transport on the River Severn.

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
machine from memory and built a factory of his own.

Inventions

Canals were built to allow heavy goods to be moved easily

where they were needed.
Cheap iron and steel became 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.
Seed drills and other agricultural machinery brought a
British agricultural revolution.
Railways were built all around England and then the world.
Steamships 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 massproduce clothes and fabrics.

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.

Causes
flying shuttle
TECHNOLOGY
Britain already had technology from the Agricultural Revolution, which made
the process of new inventions possible. Examples of inventions are
steamboat, seed drill, rail roads, water wheel, and flying shuttle.
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
Technology reduced the number of farmers needed on the farms and sense
they weren't needed they moved to the cities to find different work. The
only work they could get was in factories.

rail roads
seed drill

water wheel

FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
Britain had land, labor, and capital, which made them have the ability
to start a revolution. Britain also had natural resources, such as coal,
rivers, iron ore, wood, and harbors to help the production of goods.
BANKS
Banks lend people money to invest in new ideas, and motivated people
to make machines to get investments. Also with the machines, their
were more jobs available. Banks also lend money to landowners to buy
more land, which created the system of landowners buying farm land
and farmers moving to the city for work.
CAPITALISM
Try to make profit from investment. Then could create new inventions.

Effects
INCREASED POPULATION
Rich land owners bought farmland causing all small farmers to move
to the cities, because they're was no where else to go, and worked in
factories. This made production quicker and better.
LESS FARMERS
All the farmers moved to the cities, due to rich landowners buying
their land.
HARD WORKING CONDITIONS
The government wanted to increase production, so to do that, they
needed people to work long hours and to save money they didn't
worry about low wages and the place and equipment they worked
with. For example, crowded, long hours, child labor, low wages,
dangerous working conditions and places an equipment they worked
with.
RAILROADS
Increased trade and made travel more efficiently to more places.

REFORMS
Had to make changes to the city to accommodate everyone and fit
everyone in the city.
URBANIZATION
Cities grew due to the amount of people who were bought out of their
land, and with new ways of transportation they could travel to different
cities.
COMMUNISM
Karl Marx noticed what happened and wanted to make changes to the
lives of the poor to make them equal with the rich.
QUICKER PROCESSES
New machines created new methods to make the process of making
products faster.
INCREASED TRADE
Improved transportation allowed people to travel to different cities and
trade more.

TheIndustrialRevolution was a
positivechange for theworld. The
Industrial Revolution had a few
negativeimpacts on the world however,
these impacts were short term and minor.
It had a positive impact on the world. The
Industrial Revolution sparked creativity
that led to many new inventions, thus
helping the world develop.