Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution (Extra Credit)

The era known as the Industrial Revolution was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile, metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. This period is appropriately labeled “revolution,” for it thoroughly changed the old manner of doing things and bringing up new techniques. Constantly improving the ways in which things were made, which had effects of cutting costs and improving quality and efficiency was revolutionary about the era. The changes that occurred during this period occurred gradually. Industrial Revolution did not happen suddenly; it happened spread out the centuries. It wasn’t only inventions but mostly improvement and new techniques to present inventions. Advances in agricultural techniques and practices resulted in an increased supply of food and raw materials, changes in industrial organization and new technology resulted in increased production, efficiency and profits, and the increase in commerce, foreign and domestic, were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The improved yield of the agricultural sector can be attributed to the enclosure movement and to improved techniques and practices developed during this period. A common practice in early agriculture was to allow the land to lie fallow after it had been exhausted through cultivation. Later it was discovered that the cultivation of clover and other legumes would help to restore the fertility of the soil. Prior to 1760 the manufacture of textiles occurred in the homes, by people who gave part of their time to it. It was a tedious process from raw material to finished product. Many of the stages of production were performed by women and children. The supply of raw material for the woolen industry was obtained domestically. In the cases of silk and cotton, the raw materials were obtained from foreign sources, such as, China, the West Indies, North American and Africa. John Kay’s flying-shuttle, which enabled one weaver to do the work of two, and Richard Arkwright’s roller spinner, which was to make spinning more efficient and James Hargreaves’ jenny, a device which enabled the operator to simultaneously spin dozens of threads, was readily adopted. Arkwright and others developed the water frame. Coal was the one of the most important material during Industrial Revolution. It was the black gold of the eighteenth century. Underground mining was extremely dangerous and risky. Improvements in coal mining came in the form of improved tunnel ventilation, improved underground and surface transportation, and the use of gunpowder to blast away at the coal seams, and improved tunnel illumination through the use of lamps. Improvements in the iron industry came in the early l8th century. Abraham Darby successfully produced pig iron smelted with coke. Finished products, raw materials, food and people needed a reliable, quicker and less costly system of transportation. Canals