Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution started off in Britain and happened between the mid 18^th and early 20^th century. This revolutionary step gave rise to technological advances, jobs, opportunities and changed the way people live.

During that time, Britain has been a stabilized country both politically and had enough raw materials to work with, such as coal and iron oar. Products were being made hand made by workers but as time passed, demand for production was rising with a fast pace.

There was an Englishman Thomas Newcomen who in the 1712, came up with a steam engine and around 60 years later, James Watt improved it and invented the steam engine which powers machinery and this led to industrialization where machines invaded production and this effected everyone including the agrarians who moved the urban areas in order to find a job and opt for a batter lifestyle. This immigration resulted in a huge crowd, everyone living closely packed and this led to deceases. Furthermore, the environment they were living in, was badly polluted due the emissions coming out of chimneys. Coal is still a major pollutant resource and at that time, it was being consumed without limits. Therefore, they had been living in a very unhealthy environment.

Pollution from industries

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The main industries which flourished most were the steel and the textile industry. With the invention of the spinning wheel it gave the ability to the worker to produce multiple spools of threads. Cotton was being imported from India but only at this time, they bought it as a raw material and mass produced it in Britain. Hence, women took the opportunity to work as well in this field. Products were becoming affordable and the middle class contributed economically. Youngsters were also taking part of this economic boom but this triggered them to issues which had to be discussed and solved. In fact, in the 1860’s they found that children under 15 years had been working under severe conditions with extremely low wages and for longs hours like working fourteen hours a day for the whole week to earn just two Dollars. Consequently, in the late 19^th century the government reformed some regulations and employees had to right to unite and complain where there were bad working conditions.

Textiles Industry 

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Steamships were invented and transportation paved the way to import and export goods in the Western Europe. Railways were also invented and by the time of 1830, Liverpool and Manchester had established a timetable for passengers to travel. Roads were also improving becoming smoother and hence useful. Other inventions happened such as the telegraph (sending and receiving messages with electro signals) and the camera in the early 19^th century.

Railways

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At that time, there was also a designer Owen Jones who wanted to move away from Gothic revival and in 1856 he published ‘The Grammar of Ornament’ which reflect his theories on flat patterning and ornament which is still felt in today’s designers.

Taking everything into account, the industrial revolution bombarded us with new inventions and technologies which brought many advantages and disadvantages. As discussed above, the cottages turned into urban areas, farmers turned into industrialists and labor turned to business and success. People today are more educated and aware of this revolution and progress is still happening in order to have a sustainable and healthier environment.

References:

Human Rights, 2015. The Industrial Revolution.  [ONLINE] Available at: <https://sites.google.com/a/online.sd71.bc.ca/human-rights-morgan-rachel-rylee/the-industrial-revolution.> [Accessed 10 January 2015].

                                                

HISTORY.com, 2015. Industrial Revolution - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution.> [Accessed 10 January 2015].

YouTube. 2015. Industrial Revolution. [ONLINE] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhF_zVrZ3RQ.> [Accessed 10 January 2015].

Amazon.com,  2015. The Grammar of Ornament. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.amazon.com/The-Grammar-Ornament-Owen-Jones/dp/1445566230.> [Accessed 10 January 2015].