Positive Aspects Compared to the Negative Aspects of the Industrial Revolution

From around 1750 to 1900 Britain went through major changes or transformation in industry, agriculture and transportation that affected everybody’s lives. For some it generally improved their lives, however not all were so lucky. The industrial revolution brought with it many changes good for some and bad for others.

Strong economy led to a stabilized banking system that lent money to people to make inventions and machines, and also encouraged business people to invest in new machines. In a document titled Modern Inventions , the author described the success of the machines and inventions as he said that “great advancements in medicine and technology accompanied the industrial revolution in England”(Doc I). As the creation of new inventions and machines skyrocketed, conventions in England contributed to the future around the world. Goods would eventually became advanced enough to not only provide goods for the people in Great Britain, but moreover contribute in developments of technologies across the world. Not only women and old women had to go through the hard labor during the industrial revolution. Children were also put into labor with poor working hours and conditions, and many of them did not get proper education. A document on the subject of child labor proclaimed that “children had weaker bodies and were more likely to get sick from the dusty air or become deformed from accidents with machines”(Doc

This led to many new things being developed during this time period which led England to transition a lot easier. “The stream of scientific thought was one of the main tributaries of the industrial revolution...discoveries in different fields of activity were linked together (Document 5).” This explains how inventors being able to think of new ways to do things led to the start of the industrial revolution. In addition, this then led to even more discoveries that were linked together. While people began to discover new ways to produce products, they needed more people to work for

Throughout the Industrial Revolution, everyday lives have improved. More specifically, the classes in Britain of the late nineteenth century. For the average person, the standards of living increased outrageously. Moreover, real wages for British workers doubled within 1850 to 1906. However, greater wages did not eliminate the faults in society. For instance, the wages did not make the rich and poor equivalent. Standards of living such as housing, employment, and fellowship were three improvements for the middle and working class in Britain of the late nineteenth century.

In the 1700s, improvements in agricultural practices and a boom in the population allowed Great Britain to industrialize. As people were able to buy food at lower prices with less labor, there was in increase of people who contributed to the surplus of labor in growing factories. Great Britain had investments in industrial machines and factories, as well as an efficient central bank and credit facilities that allowed an environment in which people were in favor for innovative ideas. The nation had an abundant amount of mineral sources that were needed in the manufacturing process, which also led to the country having excellent exports and a ready outlet for the shipment of goods. As time went on, the Second Industrial Revolution came to be.

While some might debate that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of child labor, it was essentially a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were new laws to improve working conditions, production increased, and merchandise became cheaper. There were numerous negatives that the Industrial Revolution brought with it; nonetheless the positives out-weigh it in today’s society. Because of the child labor during the Industrial Revolution today’s society currently has laws to improve the working conditions of every employee. Children are no longer able to be employed into a business or factory, nevertheless when they were able to be employed the production of merchandise increased causing them to become cheaper. These remain just minor parts of the Industrial Revolution. The reasons that the Industrial Revolution was a positive thing was that it had laws that improved working conditions, production had increased, and merchandise became cheaper.

Factories caused new modern building, industrial production, and modern inventions. Living condition in the 1800’s were way different they today and not in a good way. The revolution helped the architecture field. As more and more people were moving to the city to find work. More houses were being built and over time the houses improved tremendously. Production in factories helped england because they didn’t have to buy or trade as much. Because they had all of these new machines could produce new material that they needed. During this era was the first time that modern invention were introduced. Some invention that saved the public were,vaccinations, the first telephone, and the light bulb. All of these improved life in the

Technological advancements changed the way that food was produced, with steam and water powered equipment, farms were able to produce more food with less labor increasing the yield per harvest. The increase in supply meant more people were able to get the nutritious food that they needed to survive. Along with ample food, vaccinations, and new found love for tea, “an efficient and convenient water-purification technology that dramatically reduced the prevalence of waterborne diseases,” the mortality rate dramatically decreases. “From 1750 to 1850, despite extensive emigration to America, the British population grew from roughly six million to twenty million” supplying the large, low-cost labor force that Britain needed for its Industrial Revolution.

First, the expanding of agricultural production led to the rise of population. For instance, the Britain's population tripled during the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution increased the life expectancy among all classes. The textile factories helped people, including the poor ones, afford cloth at cheaper prices. (Merriman, 515) The geographic feature of Great Britain also shifted to the process of industrialization. Great Britain had many natural harbors and was rich in minerals. Thus, new transportation methods were developed and factories were built by the availability of source powers. (Merriman, 513-524) As more and more factories were built in the city, transportation was improved by the building of roads and canals, the inventions of steam locomotive and steam engines, as well as the grew of railroads. People from the rural areas started to migrate to the city seeking for jobs in the factories, hence, led to the increasing in urbanization. (Merriman,

One might say that the Industrial Revolution made the world a more productive place. The rate of production of goods increased dramatically owing to the efficiency of factories and there was an increase of job opportunities, leading to a more prosperous economy. The mass production by factories led to products being more widely available to the general public. While these things may be true, there were negatives of the Industrial Revolution that greatly outweighed the positives. Factory conditions were extremely dangerous, children were brought into the workforce and made to work long hours at jobs that were unsafe, workers were grossly underpaid, and living conditions for factory workers were extremely subpar. Was the higher consistency and production rate really worth the harm? The Industrial Revolution ruined the lives of working class people by turning everyday life from happy and enjoyable to a living hell due to the underpayment of workers, use of child labor, poor living conditions, and mass produced products.

During the late 1700’s and early 1800’s a major development in society took place known as the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution brought new modernization to the production of agricultures and textiles. The industrialization had an impact on Britain and its agriculture, settlement, employment and the social positions during the time. Before the industrial revolution manufacturing goods were made using either the basic hand-made tools or just simple machinery that had been developed during the time and was predominately done in the homes of citizens.

The Industrial Revolution in Britain in the late 1700s and early 1800s was one of the greatest contributions to improvement in the lives of people all around the world. It made the world an easier place to live in and helped to better living and working conditions. Many argue about what were the most important contributions to the success of the Industrial Revolution and most can easily be argued to show that they were very important, but Britain’s resources were crucial to the success of the revolution while its supply of labor and entrepreneurs were close secondary options of being one of the more important reasons for the revolution taking off.

With all these new ideas and inventions Britain quickly raised as the number one power country in the world. People were very interested in using more advanced technology to help their needs other than doing everything by hand. The start of this was due to the man Thomas Newcomen who was the first man to invent the steam engine in 1712 which was first used to collect water from the flooding mines, but eventually would be used in future automobiles, trains, steamboats, and factories. These upgrades wouldn't come until 1769 when James Watt would improve the steam engine and make it more efficient in use. Another big upgrade to production was the invention of the spinning Jenny was invented in 1764 which was used to spin more than one ball of thread or yarn to produce cloth faster and more efficiently. So many more ideas and inventions would be made during this period such as Eli Whitney who made the cotton gin to strip seeds from cotton faster, Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine in 1846 which meant cloths could now be made in factories, and so many more inventions would help this uprising in

The Industrial Revolution was a heavily influential period of time filled with amazing innovations and new ways of doing things. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, our entire way of living has been altered- and is still being altered to this day! However, all of these perks came with a major downfall for England when the IR started. Whether it was the cruel factory conditions, false sense of security in new technology, or the newfound social barriers, the Industrial Revolution was a curse for England at the time. In order for innovations to be made, there had to be people making them; producing them. That much was the job of the factory workers who withstanded much struggle.

There is no doubt that the Industrial Revolution plays a central role in the modern British history. The structure of British society has forever changed by the impact and consequences of Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution is often stated as the increase of the number of factories, the exercise of steam power in a wide range of area and the mass-production produced by new technology in the course of 1750 to 1850 (Lane, 1978: 72). Engles (1986: 37) argued that the Industrial Revolution’s mainly development were the invention of the steam engine and the cotton industry. As the improvement of technology, the steam engine could produce more power with less