Industrial Revolution Essay Examples

Industrial Revolution, in modern history, is the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing.

Historians conventionally divide the Industrial Revolution into two approximately consecutive parts. What is called the first Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-18th century to about 1830 and was mostly confined to Britain. The second Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-19th century until the early 20th century and took place in Britain, continental Europe, North America, and Japan. Later in the 20th century, the second Industrial Revolution spread to other parts of the world.

Important inventions included the steam engine, used to power steam locomotives, steamboats, steamships, and machines in factories; electric generators and electric motors; the incandescent lamp (light bulb); the telegraph and telephone; and the internal-combustion engine and automobile, whose mass production was perfected by Henry Ford in the early 20th century.

Historians have identified several causes for the Industrial Revolution, including: the emergence of capitalism, European imperialism, efforts to mine coal, and the effects of the Agricultural Revolution. Capitalism was a central component necessary for the rise of industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient. New industries also arose, including, in the late 19th century, the automobile industry.

The Industrial Revolution increased the overall amount of wealth and distributed it more widely than had been the case in earlier centuries, helping to enlarge the middle class. However, the replacement of the domestic system of industrial production, in which independent craftspersons worked in or near their homes, with the factory system and mass production consigned large numbers of people, including women and children, to long hours of tedious and often dangerous work at subsistence wages.