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Industrial Revolution

How Did The Industrial Revolution Start?

Before the 1800’s, most people were farmers and most goods were produced by hand. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, this situation gradually began to change. Machines replaced hand tools. New sources of power, such as steam replaced human and animal power. While most Americans continued to form for a living, the economy began a gradual shift toward manufacturing economy.

[pic]Watt steam engine
The steam engine propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world.

The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions in the 18th century that began in Britain and spread throughout the world. During that time, an economy based on manual labor was replaced by one dominated by the industry and manufactory of machinery. It began with the mechanizations of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The introduction of steam power (fuelled primarily by coal) and powered machinery (mainly in textile manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity. The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries.
1.Morse Code
2.Telegraph
3.Textile
4.Spinning jenny
5.Steampower

The Factory System

Industrialization brought about the widespread use of factories, around which towns and cities developed. Many of the factories of the industrial age remain intact today and can be visited to make your understanding clearer.
Factories developed simply because the new machinery that was developed in the Industrial Revolution was too large to fit into small buildings and was more efficiently used in a new type of building. Ideally the...