Industrial Revolution in England

In the mid- 1700’s England began to greatly increased output of machine-made goods was referred to the Industrial Revolution. The 5 major elements were natural resources, urbanization, social classes developed, new inventions & transportation, and working conditions. Improvements in inventions were the steam engine, macadam roads, canals, or human-made waterways.

During 1700 wealthy landowners began to buy land that village farmers worked, after they were bought they enclosed the land with fences and hedges. This benefited the landowners because it experimented more productive seeding, harvesting methods to boost crop yields, and forced small farmers to become tenant farmers to giving up farming and move to the cities. This was also known as enclosures. Another advantage was the crop rotation. For example, a livestock breeder Robert Bakewell allow his best sheep to breed, which other farmers followed his lead increasing food supplies and living condition which increase England population. Industrialization developed machine production of goods, required such resources. These natural resources consisted of water power and coal to fuel new machines, iron ore to construct machine, tools buildings, rivers for transportation, and harbor from which merchants ships set sail. Some inventions like the water frame, the spinning mule and the power loom were bulky and expensive machines so wealthy textile merchants set up machines in large buildings called factories.

Transportation was another way it benefited Britain. For example, the steam engine invented by Robert Fulton improved the creation of a network of canals, or human-made waterways, and by the mid-1800’s, 4,250 miles of inland channels slashed the cost of transporting both raw materials and finished goods. Before the 1800’s Europeans lived in rural area but then it shifted to the cities which was caused by the factory system where the manufacturing of