The
Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes that
occurred in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840,
according to various historians. This transition included going from hand
production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production
processes, improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam
power and development of machine tools. The transition also included the change
from wood and other bio-fuels to coal. Some of these innovations were
mechanical while others were based on applications of science and
experimentation. The Industrial revolution began in Britain and within a few
decades spread to Western Europe and the United States.
In
the years before the beginning of the 18th century most of the goods
were produced with the help of manual labour. In the beginning of the 18th
century inventions revolutionised the manufacturing processes and gave the
factory owners the capability to produce large quantities of goods in lesser
time. Some of the inventions which made this possible included the discovery of
coke for smelting iron, the steam hammer for hammering iron. Discovery of the
‘flying shuttle’ and the ‘Spinning Jenny’ mechanised the textile industry.
Alongwith these developments came the building of locomotives, establishing of
railways, building of bridges, etc. refinement and further development on these
inventionscontinues till today. As these machines became popular, rich
industrialist set up large factories to produce finished goods at a large
scale. Since many people were required to run these machines, Jobs were in
abundance. People from the countryside found employment in these factories and
moved to the cities thus giving rise to industrial towns. In those days the
textile factories employed mostly women and children because they could be paid
less.
Compared
to te villages the workers earned more money in the cities, but their standard
of living was very poor. They lived in small towns which were cheaply built and
lacked most of the basic amenities. Large families often lived in small houses
which did not have a clean water supply and disease and death was a common
thing among the young.in 1833 the British Government banned child labour but
failed to regulate the hours of work because most of the industrialist were
paying less but demanding long working hours. This led to the formation of
workers ‘Unions which fought for workers’ rights.
The
Industrial Revolution brought severe consequences to society. Factory owners,
needing cheap, unskilled labor, profited greatly by using children and women to
run the machines. By the age of 6, many children were already working 14 hours
a day in factories. These kids had no free time to do anything else and earned
low wages. Some got sick and died because of the toxic fumes, while others were
severely injured and sometimes killed working at the dangerous machines in
factories. Obviously, the Industrial Revolution had both good and bad sides.
Sources:
“Industrial Revolution” the
material from Prof. Dr. Bustami Subhan, M.S (lecturer’s
hand-out)
http://library.thinkquest.org/4132/info.htm
accessed in December 29th, 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
accessed in December 29th, 2012
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