One of the most significant personality changes that has occurred in the world
took place during the 1700’s to the early 1800’s; the Industrial Revolution.
It is described as a time of drastic change from hand made items to machine made
goods. This meant basically that people had to learn how to manufacture goods in
enormous factories instead of cultivating them from the land. The Industrial
Revolution began in England because of their large demand for coal and iron. And
since they had a large supply of this, England soon began to have to produce
vast amounts across all of Europe. In the 1700’s, England was one of the
world’s leading producers of iron and coal and was considered as having the
most colonial power. This is all due to their newly acquired colonies. The
colonies currently known as the United States of America. The colonies provided
a market for manufactured products. The markets helped stimulate the textile and
iron industries in England. The colonies also gave England all of the resources
that were desperately needed due to produce all of the goods that were necessary
In most industries, before the Industrial Revolution, labor was done by hand.
This was called the cottage industry. In the early 1700’s, there was great
demand for cotton cloth. In order to meet this demand people needed something to
increase their output. So the spinning jenny and the water frame were invented.
These two inventions cut time and expenses in half due to the lesser amount of
labor that was needed. These inventions also left a lot of people that were used
to working the land baffled. People were presented with a whole new scenario in
life which changed their outlooks on the way that they should go about living
their lives. Kind of like how the older generations of today are being perplexed
by the hindrances of trying to figure out all this new computer technology.
Another great invention in the seventeenth century is the steam engine. The
steam engine is something that I think of as one of the greatest inventions of
this time era. The steam engine allowed people to travel to remote destinations
much quicker than ever before due to the steam power of a train or ferry. Cities
were able to expand in size because people could go farther in less time. It
even allowed some of the hardest task known to man to be done in a much more
time saving and least dangerous fashion. Without this great invention none of
the manufactured items that were being produced to support most everybody in the
world would have ever been able to have been distributed. Several systems of
making goods had grown up by the time of the Industrial revolution. In county
districts families produced most of the supplies that they used, while in the
cities merchandise was made in shops, and manufacturing was strictly regulated
by the guilds and by the government. The goods made in these shops were limited
and costly. The merchants needed cheaper items, as well as larger quantities,
for their growing trade. They had to establish another system of producing
goods. The cottage or domestic industry filled in the gap for sometime, because
it gave the merchants a large supply of manufactured articles at a low price. It
provided employment for every member of a craft worker’s family and gave jobs
to skilled workers who had no capital to start business for themselves. A few
merchants who had enough capital had gone a step further. They brought workers
together under one roof and supplied machines. These establishments were
factories. The men who controlled these enterprises formed a powerful new class
in England called industrial capitalist. due to the laissez-faire, factory
owners could arrange working conditions in whatever way they pleased. This
caused many problems for workers. they had problems with working hours, wages,
unemployment, accidents, employment of women and children, and housing
conditions. The Industrial Revolution was great in many ways. It produced
material much more quickly than before and made it possible for the common man,
not just the wealthy, to afford materials like cotton. Besides all these
inventions that people were making that tripled productivity, there were many
problems caused by the Industrial Revolution. People living in bacteria
infested, crowded, and unhealthy homes. Kids and women worked under harsh
conditions. The working conditions were extremely unsafe and unfair to the
children. They were underfed and overworked. The children, however, were not the
only ones that endured the hardships of that time. The women also were treated
very badly. Bigger women also did some pretty heavy work for in this time
period. The most important changes that the Industrial Revolution brought were;
The invention of machines to do the work of hand tools. The use of steam, and
later of other kinds of power, in place of muscles. the adoption of the factory
system. The Industrial Revolution came gradually. When compared against
centuries of working with your hands the Industrial Revolution came in a very
short span of time. In my opinion the 19th century should be considered a
Revolution for the technological advances we have had.