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In mid to late 1700’s Britain, a series of events would occur that would change the course of mankind: the British Industrial Revolution. An industrial revolution is when the means of manufacturing are changed dramatically. Though the Industrial Revolution happened over the course of only a century, a relatively short period of time in the scale of history, it was the advancements that lead up to Industrial Revolution which made a dramatic shift in society possible. The first of these was an agricultural revolution. Methods of farming changed drastically, making farming more efficient. This produced a surplus of food, which in turn led to population growth. The enclosure system, which favored larger pastures to the smaller farms of the past, forced the majority of farmers to move to cities in order to find work, as their farms had been bought out to create large fields. This created dense populations in cities, as well as a heightened need for jobs. Dense cities with massive population growth facilitated the growth of factories, which was the central innovation of the Industrial Revolution. These factories would provide work for the masses, but at what cost? The Industrial Revolution was generally bad for society because it caused the vast majority of people, the working class, to suffer.

During the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the proletariat was subjected to harsh working conditions. The machines they worked with did not have safety mechanisms built in, so workplace injuries were common. Once workers were injured, they were laid off, and with mouths to feed their medical injuries were often not tended to and their physical condition would worsen further. Coal dust inhaled by mine workers would also cause many to develop l...

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... after the Industrial Revolution, but was it worth the suffering of millions? Child labor and poor work conditions still exist in many third world countries, and even in powerful countries such as China, whose economy prospers from the low costs of labor. In these manufacturing empires, the rich prosper; however, this good fortune is not passed down to those who suffer grueling work conditions in sweatshops. The cruelties that were suffered during the Industrial Revolution could have been avoided earlier with government intervention, but because of growing laissez-faire economics, people were wary of any government intervention, even when it came to protecting their fellow citizens. Even though the Industrial Revolution did have some long-term benefits, the process by which those benefits were arrived at was cruel, and in this case the ends do not justify the means.