Industrial Revolution : Definition, History and Dates

Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution was the mega acceleration in the economy of Great Britain. Starting from the 17th century and continuing to the 19th century, British industries hustled hard to raise the nation to the top hierarchy. However, was the industrial revolution indeed the best for all lives? Let's find out. 

The term 'Industrial Revolution' was first introduced by the French writers who wrote about the Great Britain rising era. Britain was the growing ground more mass production of goods and weapons back in the 18th century. Thousands of workers starting from the age of eight were expected to work in factories for more than10 hours a day. Some people also call this era the dark smoke of Britain as the towns were filled with waste material from the factories while the skies would always be dull and dark from the smoke from the factory chimneys. Historians claim that Industrial Revolution was not the only evolvement that Britain went through but rather a chain of revolutions that evolved the face of Great Britain. 

The first manufacturing business was called the Cottage Revolution. It was mainly the manufacture of clothes and domestic materials that were done at homes or cottages using simple machinery. Millions of slaves from Africa and the American colonies were trafficked to Britain to work at textile manufacturing companies. The wealth earned by the English people through destroying and exploiting millions of Black African lives continued until 1834, when slavery was abolished in the American colonies by the British. 

Next came the technology revolution, when the machinery used at the factories was upgraded to mass production within a shorter time length, closely followed by the energy revolution. The energy revolution primarily used coals and other flammable materials to get the engines up. These engines were used in factories to run heavy machines, boats, and other transportation. 

By this time, Great Britain was flourishing with an overwhelming economy. Wealthy British were getting even richer while the poorer bunch of the population weren't getting their deserved pay. The centuries between the late 18th to early 19th were considered both lively, and 'dark age' of Britain as the country was rising. The population, on the other hand, was declining. The horrible smoke from factories and the harmful elements released in the air made the towns almost inhabitable. The population in the Towns decreased to 33% to the lowest scale as civilians were moving to county sides or urban areas to escape the factories' deadly diseases. In many cases, poverty through unemployment was also spreading amongst laborers as the advanced machinery implicated at the factories took away their jobs. On top of that, excessive workload and food shortage were causing the average height of British men to plummet while life expectancy threatened to be put at risk.

Nevertheless, The Great British fought against all odds and changed the country's political, economical, and topographic state by the 20th century. Demographic Revolution followed after Britain's massive success in export business with Europe and America. The pitiless smokes were bridled down with better quality engines, and more people were moving back to the towns while new money people built more refined houses. Protests were held to nullify former strict rules of long hours for industrial workers and the ripe age of 8 to work in factories. Work times were shortened to fewer hours, the legal age for employment went up to 10 years old, and the factories were made presentable to maintain hygienic sanitization.