Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century and lasted until the 19th century. It started in the United States and England before spreading to Europe. The revolution marked the transition to powered machines, mass production, and factories. Before the revolution, which took place in the 1700s, manufacturing process was done in people’s houses using basic machines or hand tools. To add on, people resided in rural communities. Their daily activities revolved around farming. Life was difficult, incomes were meager, and disease and malnourishment were common.

The Industrial Revolution was facilitated by various factors. For one, the political stability in Britain was the key factor. Second, deposits of iron and core ores in Britain. Third, an increase in demand for British goods led to the search of cost effective techniques of production. This resulted in the rise of the factory system and mechanization (King and Timmins 34). Between 1840 and 1870 the first Industrial Revolution evolved into the second Industrial Revolution. Industrial Revolution enhanced every aspect of human life in some way. This paper will present advantages and disadvantages of the Industrial Revolution and finally show that arguments for disadvantages are more convincing and well justified.

The Industrial Revolution led to mechanization that eliminated the need for time-consuming manual labor. Before the Industrial Revolution, the English economy relied heavily on manual labor. At that time, there were a vast number of cottage industries. Textile production was done by hand. Wool and cotton were collected and spun by hand. This was a lengthy and costly process as one could only manage to produce one item at a time. Similarly, manual labor relied heavily on iron-making. The process involved the production of iron from iron ores while removing other metallic impurities. This process was done at very...