Dolven - Industrial Revolution Historical Analysis

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Picture a day where the sun penetrates the atmosphere with a relentless heat, the kind of heat that will cook an egg on your driveway. Now picture this uncomfortably warm circumstance without a fan and a cold water by your side. Welcome to the world before the industrial revolution. While today we live on the effects of industrial revolution, we should come to understand how in the time of its occurrence it accommodated a series of problems, progressions and most deceivingly, promises.

Leading the charge upon the dawn of this revolution was the small island with a big name, Great Britain. Actually this "dawn" or prelude to the industrial revolution is known as the second agricultural revolution. To kick it off, there was a man by the name of Jethro Tull who invented the seed drill in 1701, allowing the planting of crops to occur exponentially faster than ever before. This was followed shortly after by the enclosure movement which sectioned off the many farms of England, allowing for another leap in efficiency introduced by Charles Townshend (in 1730) as the 4 crop rotation method. This efficiency did not arrive without a price however and with new technology, many farmers were no longer needed to work and even lost their land. The subsequent population boom and abundance of food as a result of second agricultural revolution caused crowding, yet still held an unspoken promise to let no man go hungry.

There is a certain vapor that is considered the icon of the industrial revolution, as it billowed out the tops of locomotives. Steam power, while seen commonly on trains, was also the power behind many industrial factories. Before mainstream steam engines, a factory was quite possible (as shown by Richard Arkwright's f...

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...y, advanced factory technology promised worldwide industrialization, and rapid transportation promised a global conversation of ideas. There are even more promises attached with these ideas, some of which are still relevant to this day, and others that have been left broken. As the civilization around us progresses, we can look at our accomplishments and setbacks with interest, but it is the promise that keeps us looking forward to the next great thing. The industrial revolution as a whole, in broad terms, progressed global economics, reduced quality of working conditions, and promised greatness through capitalism.

Works Cited

http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/jtull.html http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventors/a/Stephenson.htm http://www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive/george-stephenson/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/watt_james.shtml

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