Industrial Revolution

18th Century
The Industrial Revolution is among one of the most world changing events in History. The Industrial Revolution greatly shook the world at the time with jobs hard to get and working conditions poor, but it also was the beginning of large and powerful machines, which made life today what it is. The Industrial Revolution truly began with the Invention of the ‘Rocket’ by Stephenson, a new type of steam engine; in 1829 the Revolution had actually started in the background of 1769 in England.

1760s England saw new technological developments greatly changing the nature of the Manufacturing Industry. James Watts’ steam engine built in 1769 made steam power an efficient source for looms and spinning machines. Watts’ invention combined with later technologies such as John Kay’s flying shuttle, James Hargreaves’s Jenny and Samuel Crompton’s mule, allowed cloth and textiles to be produced far quicker than previous techniques of production. The steam engines also had a great impact on transportation of goods by water canals and rail and soon to come, people.

In 1793 Industrialisation began in the United States with America’s first p ower textile mill using Richard Arkwright’s machinery although its main source of power was water not steam.

Industrialisation was now picking up momentum in England and the Untied States and there were many attempts to harness the invention of the steam engine to power locomotives on the railways. With this Englishmen George Stephenson and his son developed the first successful modern steam locomotive, The Rocket in 1829 and by 1830 America’s first railways were up and running.

The Industrial Revolution shook the world and saw owners of mines and factories become “incredibly wealthy”, Labourers (including child labourers) badly treated, working long hours on low wages and many strikes as jobs became scarce. The Industrial Revolution also gave rise to unions to provide labourers with “power and stability…fair treatment.” And although Industrial Revolution had a bad impact on labourers of the time, it created the start of the industry and the society and lives we live in now.