The Market Revolution

The Industrial Revolution refers to the greatly increased output of machine-made goods that began in England in the middle 1700s. Before the Industrial Revolution, people made items by hand. Soon machines did the jobs that people didn’t want to do. This was a more efficient way of making goods. During the industrial revolution, Political, economical, and social forces led to a period of upheaval for the French during the eighteenth century.

In 1750 political liberalism, the enlightened age, Infrastructure, and the economic climate allowed Great Britain to seek new job opportunities and exploit new business ideas. In addition, literacy, public education and the middle class was rising immensely. Concepts like partnerships and selling shares were introduced during this time period. The process of the Industrial Revolution was rapid in Western Europe however, by the 1900 all of Europe was involved. Over all, the effects of the revolution changed the way materials are transported, how products are made, on a global basis.The Industrial Revolution was a critical turning point in European history because the changes made are integral in the modern age.

The Industrial Revolution was responsible for the many aspects changed in Britain throughout the late 18th and early 19th century. Industrial and agricultural production was increased due the progressions of technology. England was aided by the Revolution replacing hands on work with machine work, which consequently amplified its manufactured goods productivity. With this impact on the England, its society was altered economically, socially, and politically. For ages the British economy was ruled by agriculture.

The Industrial Revolution changed America’s exceedingly in more positive than negative ways. The American industrial revolution has its roots in the Industrial Revolution which began in England. The demand for cotton was huge during this time. Many new industries that helped America’s business were developed, but some treated their workers poorly. Also, many new forms of transportation and communication were developed and improved.

Inventions starting from the cotton gin by Eli Whitney to the Model T invented by Henry Ford, the American lives and economy changed drastically. Changing from the agrarian economy to the manufacturing and textile industries, it opened doors to most people to start a new job in a new economy. It would not have been possible to achieve the simplest tasks as we would have today if it was not for the Industrial Revolution. Thus, the Industrial Revolution was a remarkable phenomenon in America’s history.

However, during the Industrial Revolution, new resources such as coal and iron made it possible to change people’s lives and build several inventions and products such as railroad, steam engine (used for train and mining) and spinning jenny (cotton spinning) that boosted production in Europe between 18th to 19th centuries. Most historians assume that the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in England first? Great Britain was “a small and secure island nation with a robust empire and control over crucial lanes across the oceans” (Cole and Symes 619). England had an effective agriculture system which is a combination of new techniques and new crops.

The benefits of the Industrial Revolution advances from the introduction of machinery in the textile industry, the ownership of businesses and the economic shift of urbanizing towns. The textile industry was the first to benefit from the advances in machinery. Among the enthusiast for the factory system were the Cloth Merchants of Leeds. The town of Leeds was the center of wool manufacturing during the late 1700s. In their 1791 response letter to the workers of Leeds, the merchants do acknowledge that machines reduce labor, but would increase the wages of the workers.

From many different viewpoints, the American Industrial Revolution was an important part of our nation’s history. There are many positives aspects of our nation’s history which changed our country into what it is today. The Industrial Revolution was able to change America from a hand-made era into a new modern technological era. The ideas of changing from an agricultural to a manufacturing workplace came from other countries that had already gone through this change. This giant step forward in our nation’s history changed the nature of society by making it easier and more efficient to mass produce goods, making the products more accessible and more affordable to the people.

However, this spread quickly throughout the world, introducing the modernisation of agriculture, revolution in power and manufacturing of textile. This revolution brought an enormous wave of success in both economic and technical advancement. The first revolution largely focused on the production of new textiles machinery, improved methods of coal production, iron manufacturing and agricultural techniques. However, by the second industrial revolution, a clustering of industrial inventions centering on steel, railroad and agricultural machinery, thus, a big boom on the industry and economy. (Heilbroner and Milberg 2009,54) The revolution of the 18th and 19th century saw an immense transformation in science, technology and our economy, hence, the transformation from a Neolithic economy to an industrial economy.

The previously miniscule GDP, the Gross Domestic Product (Webster, 1), began to shoot skyward with implementation of an array of new inventions, the use of steam power, and the cotton gin, which vastly increased the ability of farmers and manufacturers to feed and clothe a growing population. Many people are unaware that the Industrial Revolution came in two waves. People tend to focus on the Second Industrial Revolution, when electrical and steel inventions were king, but that wave of innovation was born from the First Industrial Revolution. The First Industrial Revolution brought the world major changes regarding the invention and mass-production of products including food, supplies, and luxuries. The GDP’s newfound growth was both a cause and effect of the Industrial Revolution.