The Basics
The Industrial Revolution started in England around 1700 onwards, it is all about how our technology was gradually getting more advanced. The main changes in the Industrial Revolution occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure of England.
The Agrarian Revolution – The first step towards Industrial Revolution
The new changers to the agricultural revolution made a big difference to how the farms were managed.
Changers include:
Ø How the food was grown
Ø Where and how the crops were planted
Ø Farms started to become more business like in their management
Ø Enclosure of the open fields
Ø More single farms
Ø Working for other people on their land
Ø Less productive land was wasted
Ø Animals were kept separate from their neighbor’s animals.
Changers include:
Ø How the food was grown
Ø Where and how the crops were planted
Ø Farms started to become more business like in their management
Ø Enclosure of the open fields
Ø More single farms
Ø Working for other people on their land
Ø Less productive land was wasted
Ø Animals were kept separate from their neighbor’s animals.
Building the British Empire – ‘Workshop of the world’
By 1850 Britain was the most dominant industrial power in the world. Britain became the ‘workshop of the world’ because it was easy access for ships to come to ports. Also Britain’s wealth and its wealth from colonial trade and ships to import raw materials and export manufactured goods was a major reason why Britain was the ‘workshop of the world’. By 1800 Britain had the beginnings of a worldwide empire, which provided valuable sources of raw materials to feel industrial growth, by 1914 Canada, India, New Zealand, Australia and some of South Africa were all under the British Empire.
Population and work
During the agricultural and industrial revolutions there was an unmistakable rise in the population in England and Wales in 1850, it grew form 16 million people to 35 million. When the population grew, so did the factory production. Because there were so many people the small cities and towns grew enormously and were not that small and more. This provided a large work force for the new factories and mines. The working conditions were very poor; workers suffered long hard hours, with no safety fences around dangerous machines workers were always at risk of injury.
