industrial revolution
The European scene at the beginning of the eighteenth century is much different than it is today. Densely populated cities in countries such as England and France were merely farm towns two hundred years ago. What caused what used to be cultivated open fields to turn into populous towns? These question can all be answered and explained by the Industrial Revolution. The word 'revolution' implies a suddenness of change that is not, in fact, characteristic of economic processes. But the phrase "Industrial Revolution" has long been used by historians and has become embedded in common speech (Ashton 2). A revolution implied by historians is just a change of the old way, not necessarily a fast change, or a violent overthrow. England's Industrial Revolution does not have set dates. It is said that England's Industrial Revolution began around 1780 with Britain's prosperous colonies and expanding Atlantic economy. Some critics claim that there wasn't an industrial revolution, and some challenge the naming of the period. In Phyllis Deane's book, The First Industrial Revolution, she outlines three main points in which an economy which experienced an industrial revolution differs from its pre-industrialized counterpart. This es
Britain's colonial empire allowed the country to make a revolution toward mass production and quantities. Britain controlled much of the sugar islands of the West Indies. Britain also drove the French from the fur-bearing area of America and strengthened her hold on the Newfoundland fishing banks. England thus was in a position to experience the most effective reactions from colonial trade and supplies, and presently certain industries found themselves unable to meet the demands for goods made upon them unless fundamental changes in organization and technique were made (Dietz 24). Rates of growth are the final signs that a country underwent an industrial revolution. Population, national output and incomes per head were all growing faster than they had done in the pre-industrial era and they were growing continuously. For industrial production the peak rate of growth was reached in the 1920's and the 1830's. For exports the peak rate came in the period 1846-1856, when the volume of British domestic exports more than doubled in less than a decade (Deane 270). Deane explains that there are three main factors on which the rate of growth of an economy depends: the rate of growth of the labor force, the rate of capital accumulation and rate of technological change. The British economy seems to have developed relatively slowly by comparison with the later countries to industrialize (Deane 272). It is generally agreed, then, that Britain had been through an industrial revolution by the middle of the nineteenth century, though the revolution had by no means worked itself out. This essay listed three points that show that Britain's industry had differed 150 years prior to its pre-industrial counterpart. The three parts are industrial and social structure, productivity and an increase in the standards of living associated with higher productivity, and in its rates of economic growth. The British government, along with the banks, helped the revolution take place. This essay also looked at the importance of inventions and innovations that allowed and propelled Britain's industrial revolution. Without the invention of the steam engine, or the increase production allowed by the spinning wheel, the Industrial Revolution could not have taken place. Building on technical breakthroughs, power-driven equipment, and large-scale enterprise, the Industrial Revolution in England greatly increased output in certain radically altered industries, stimulated the large handicraft and commercial sectors, and speeded up overall economic growth (McKay 749). Concurrently with the railroad construction a net
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Approximate Word count = 1765
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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