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1. While the French Revolution was opening a new political era, another revolution was transforming economic and social life. This was the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain around the mid eighteen hundreds and started to influence the rest of Europe and then the world. It was a rapid period that brought about radical changes. The Industrial Revolution is usually defined as the shift from agrarian revolution to one based on the products of machine manufacturing.
As a matter of fact, the revolution was much more involved rather than simply a shift to machine manufacture. It involved new and more efficient ways of organizing tasks, it led to increase in agricultural productivity, the harnessing of plentiful labor and the expanded role of financial institutions that began in the second half of the century that would transform society. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain for many reasons. The conditions in Britain happened to be perfect at that time.
England’s natural resources helped in many ways to boom the newly Industrial Revolution. For instance, England’s abundance of coal provided a good power source for energy; its abundance of iron would be needed for construction (Doc. 1, 4) and the damp climate was good for cotton growing. These new source of energies replaced wind and water to create “labor saving” machines that dramatically decrease the use of human and animal labors and at the same time increase the level of productivity. As a result England’s population grew rapidly providing a labor force for the industry.
Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. This revolution greatly increased the output of machine made goods. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain because of its many natural resources such as coal, iron, water, and lead. (DOC 1,4) Great Britain had natural harbors and rivers. Great Britain was an Island in Western Europe that was separated from Europe, which meant no wars. Also, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain because of the textile industry.
Britain had an abundance of cotton, used in the making of textiles. When the cottage industry and the manufacturing of clothing at home changed to the factory system, new machines were being created. Also, several key-inventors of these machines were from Great Britain and contributed to the factory system being established. (DOC5)Also, efficient transportation was already set up in Britain and it was further innovated with the demand between producers and suppliers. Great Britain also had a lot of natural resources such as coal and iron. he Industrial Revolution affected every part of life in Great Britainm but proved to be a mixed blessing. Eventually, indutrialization led to be a better quality of life for most people. But the change to machine production initially caused human suffering. Rapid industrialization brought plentiful jons, the ills of child labor. It also led to rising class tensions, especially between the working class and the middle class Another aspect of the English society that allowed the Industrial Revolution to start in England was the structural class system.
In England in the mid seventeen hundreds, there was no dominant and powerful feudal class that restricted and forced changes in society. Instead, there was an abundance of free workers(DOC2) who did not own land. This class structure together with the revolutionry movement made the concept of indurtrializing efficient and easy. Ultimately the main reason the Industrial Revolution began in England was because of its natural recources and form of efficient government.