Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

» The process of change that transformed Britain first and then other countries from agricultural to industrial economics.
» The Industrial Revolution began about 1750 when the agricultural revolution was well under way. Inventions were made in the textile industry by such men as fames Hargreaves (Spinning Jenny, 1764), Richard Arkwright (Water Frame 1769), Samuel Crompton (Mule, 1779), and Enutiund Cartwright (Power Loom! 1785)! which made the production of cloth much faster and the yam produced of better quality.
» These new machines required factories to house them, at first near rivers for ' water power and then, when the steam engine was invented (by James Watt in 1769), near coalfields.

» England an agricultural country was now turned into a manufacturing country. The production increased manifold. Things were available at cheaper rates. Improved methods of communication followed.
» The economic progress and industrialization of England influenced the social and cultural life of the people. It had far-reaching affects on the political history of England.
» By 1850 the Industrial Revolution had penetrated into Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and USA. By 1900 it had extended to Sweden, Italy, Russia, Japan & Argentina. Presently it is penetrating into China, India and Africa.