Industrial Revolution: Beginnings, Innovations, and Impact

What is the Industrial Revolution?

The Industrial Revolution (c. 1760 – 1840) was a transitional period in Europe and America that focused on change in manufacturing processes, from the development of products by hand to the use of machinery and automation.

This period is characterized by the rapid development in manufacturing and various industries due to innovation in machinery, use of steam engines, and new methods of making chemicals and steel extraction processes.

Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain?

The first industrial revolution began in Britain due to numerous factors. The first reason was that the start of the agricultural revolution paved the way for early industrialization in Britain. There was a surplus in the supply of food and people did not have to spend much time keeping their families full. Having a greater supply of food means that a family can save extra money to buy products they want from the city. This has caused a large demand for manufactured goods in the cities which means a higher demand for labor.

Second, the migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of additional income has resulted in an increase in labor force for new industries.

Third, many British businessmen were willing to take the risk on building factories and investing in manufacturing.

Fourth, there are large coal mines within Great Britain. Due to Britain also being a small country, it made it easier to deliver raw materials to various parts of the country using railroads and other modes of transportation.

Finally, during this period Britain was a large empire and had colonies in various parts of the world. They had colonies that could be exploited to be a source for additional raw materials and these colonies were often also consumers of goods and commodities made in Great Britain.

Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Agriculture

Europe had a large population outside the cities because agriculture was the main source of income for the people. After several innovations and inventions that helped speed up the process of planting of grains, this caused the exponential growth of the surplus in agriculture and lessened the dependence on large numbers of farm workers for planting and harvesting.

This led to a decrease in farm workers and people began to look elsewhere for work. They began to view the city as a place where they could get additional income, if not permanent employment. The migration of people from rural communities to urban cities has started.

Impact of the Industrial Revolution on the Textile Industry

The textile and yarn industry were affected by the industrial revolution. Textile making was mainly a manual task that required a long time to complete just only one step of the process (e.g., removing the seed from the cotton, weaving it into a yarn fiber, weaving the note etc.). The tools of the workers back then were simple machines just to facilitate the manual work of the workers.

With the advent of the industrial revolution, came various machinery that gave way to the acceleration of the manufacture of yarns, fabrics, and garments. Some of these machines are:

Cotton gin or the “cotton engine” – created by Ely Whitney, it facilitates the process of separating cotton fibers from its seeds. It was based on a machine used in India, but it was further enhanced by Whitney by placing small hooks to grab the cotton and screen wires to prevent clogging of the cotton and make it easier to separate its seeds.

The Spinning Jenny – this is a machine created by James Hargreaves. These speeds up the making of the yarn and rolling it into a cylinder. The spinning jenny only needed one person to operate it thus making spinning yarn more labor and cost efficient. It only takes one person to make eight empty yarns. 

But yarns made by the spinning jenny were often of low quality and rough compared to handmade but because it was cheaper and more economical to the factory owners, twenty thousand machines were simultaneously used at that time.

Flying Shuttle – this invention accelerated the weaving of yarns into fabric. With the help of John Kay ’s invention, only one person is needed to operate a weaver. Aside from speeding up the weaving process, it also reduced the required labor force of business owners.

The textile industry, which was formerly a cottage industry, has transitioned to the factory system due to the development of cotton and fabric processing tools. This has caused unemployment and long working hours within the workshops. The owners of textile factories became richer due to the reduction of staff and the widespread use of more efficient textile machines. They also benefited from the rapidly increasing demand for clothing which was also a direct effect of the sudden growth of population within urban areas.

Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Transportation

The success of the industrial revolution depended on the ability of merchants and producers to deliver the raw materials and the finished products to their destinations. The industrial revolution might not have taken place if the primary ways of transportation on land and on water had remained primitive.

During these times, the cheapest way to deliver the raw materials was by navigating the rivers. The canals through which the ships passed were further widened and deepened to facilitate its voyage. At this time people preferred to travel by river rather than rail, all that changed when James Watt invented in 1769 one of the first effective models of the “steam engine”.

The steam engine on trains made travel via rails faster. In the mid -1800’s steam power was long used in ships but when the steam engine was first used in locomotives it brought about a major change in the transportation of people.

In 1928, John Stephenson created the first working steam engine locomotive which they called the “Rocket”. This led to the rise of railway use in Europe and America.

Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Society

The industrial revolution brought about a great change in the lives of the people. Most of these changes are still felt by people in modern times. One of the reasons for this is that people focus on the importance of industrialization in the development of countries.

The population began moving in from rural provinces to urban cities. This has caused many complications in the lifestyle of people living in urban areas. Many social issues began to be seen in the changing way of life of people who moved.

One of its effects has been the rapid population growth in urban areas. The size of the cities and the infrastructures of ancient cities in Europe were not suitable for the sudden influx of migrants from rural areas.

Rapid population growth has resulted in a shortage of jobs within the city. It did not help that factory owners began to lay off workers because it was cheaper to replace people with modern machines that could work longer, faster and more effectively.

During this time, child labor in factories became widespread. Many factories also provided inhumane working conditions. Working hours are long (work takes 10 to 12 hours), yet these jobs are often risky. Owners does give proper wages to their staff and workers. This has resulted in a widening gap between the poor and the rich.

The condition of the environment is also not good within the cities. The smoke from the factories was thick and often mixed with rain, dew, and snow. The rivers became dumps of chemicals and factory residues. Respiratory illnesses were a common thing during the industrial revolution.

In Conclusion

The industrial revolution pushed the people on the path of industrialization. If it were not for this revolution, we would not be able to experience the comforts of modern times.

But we still need to look at the negative aspects that started during this period. Most of the issues facing people today started here and it is getting worse nowadays, such as unequal distribution of wealth and rapid destruction of nature.