Industrial Revolution
Revolutions are turning points in History. This is because revolutions involve a drastic change in the system and when revolutions happen, there are many positive and negative impacts. This will be easier to understand if I use an example, the industrial revolution, to show you.
The Industrial Revolution began in the middle 1700’s in Britain and involves a drastic change in the system. We can tell this because there was a shift from an agrarian, handicraft and labour-intensive economy to an economy dominated by machine manufacture, specialization of tasks or division of labour, factories and cities, and a worldwide market for goods, services, and a capital.
Before the industrial revolution, England's economy was based on its cottage industry. Workers would buy raw materials from merchants, take it back to their cottages, produce the goods at their home. This industry was efficient but the workers, productivity was low, making costs higher. The longer it took one person to manufacture a product, the higher the price. Subsequently, goods were high in price and exclusive only to the wealthy people.
Also, before the industrial revolution, a large number of the population worked in farms. They grew a number of crops mostly for themselves to eat with only a small portion to sell to the market. This continued until the enclosure movement forced many small farmers off their land. Many lost their jobs and were forced to move to the city to find employment opportunities there instead.
In the year was 1733, the demand for cotton cloth was high, but production was low. This crisis had to be solved or England's economy would be hindered. The answer came from a British weaver, John Kay, who invented and fashioned the flying shuttle, which cut weaving time in half. John Kay was a pioneer and his invention paved the way for numerous inventors. By the 1750's, the industrial Revolution had begun. At first, inventions were strictly limited to cotton weaving.
The Industrial Revolution began in the middle 1700’s in Britain and involves a drastic change in the system. We can tell this because there was a shift from an agrarian, handicraft and labour-intensive economy to an economy dominated by machine manufacture, specialization of tasks or division of labour, factories and cities, and a worldwide market for goods, services, and a capital.
Before the industrial revolution, England's economy was based on its cottage industry. Workers would buy raw materials from merchants, take it back to their cottages, produce the goods at their home. This industry was efficient but the workers, productivity was low, making costs higher. The longer it took one person to manufacture a product, the higher the price. Subsequently, goods were high in price and exclusive only to the wealthy people.
Also, before the industrial revolution, a large number of the population worked in farms. They grew a number of crops mostly for themselves to eat with only a small portion to sell to the market. This continued until the enclosure movement forced many small farmers off their land. Many lost their jobs and were forced to move to the city to find employment opportunities there instead.
In the year was 1733, the demand for cotton cloth was high, but production was low. This crisis had to be solved or England's economy would be hindered. The answer came from a British weaver, John Kay, who invented and fashioned the flying shuttle, which cut weaving time in half. John Kay was a pioneer and his invention paved the way for numerous inventors. By the 1750's, the industrial Revolution had begun. At first, inventions were strictly limited to cotton weaving.