- Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and
cultural conditions in Britain. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. A process that continues asindustrialisation . The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human society; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way. In the later part of the 1700s there occurred a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual-labour-based economy towardsmachine -based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of thetextile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction ofcanal s, improved roads and railways. The introduction of steam power (fuelled primarily by coal) and powered machinery (mainly intextile manufacturing ) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity. [Business and Economics. "Leading Issues in Economic Development", Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-511589-9 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0195115899&id=CX9kBaVx4JkC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&sig=V0eO27c7koD8rrIV2EKv6-guB5s Read it] ] The development of all-metalmachine tool s in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughoutWestern Europe andNorth America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world. The impact of this change on society was enormous. [Russell Brown, Lester. "Eco-Economy", James & James / Earthscan. ISBN 1-85383-904-3 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN1853839043&id=5aCyfUsHM6kC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&sig=1dsUat9P_-9dWWVRMpPt1udT8DQ Read it] ]The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the eighteenth century, merged into the
Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-poweredship s, railways, and later in the nineteenth century with theinternal combustion engine and electrical power generation.The period of time covered by the Industrial Revolution varies with different historians.
Eric Hobsbawm held that it 'broke out' in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s, [Eric Hobsbawm, "The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848", Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd. ISBN 0-349-10484-0] whileT. S. Ashton held that it occurred roughly between 1760 and 1830. [Joseph E Inikori. "Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England", Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-01079-9 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0521010799&id=y7rhKYWhCyIC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&sig=zOPr9UkQv258KyhCkuFM0abERnI Read it] ] Some twentieth century historians such asJohn Clapham andNicholas Crafts have argued that the process of economic and social change took place gradually and the term "revolution " is not a true description of what took place. This is still a subject of debate amongst historians. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0117(199202)2%3A45%3A1%3C24%3ARTIR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 Rehabilitating the Industrial Revolution] Maxine Berg, Pat Hudson, Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Feb., 1992), pp. 24-50 doi:10.2307/2598327] [ [http://www.julielorenzen.net/berg.html Rehabilitating the Industrial Revolution] by Julie Lorenzen, Central Michigan University. Accessed November 2006]GDP per capita was broadly stable before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the modern capitalist economy. [); and by Lindsay Publications, Inc., Bradley, IL, USA (ISBN 978-0-917914-73-7). Also [http://books.google.com/books?id=X-EJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR5&lpg=PR5&dq=wickham+roe+1916&source=web&ots=kLw74jcaEj&sig=lGr6LvJeCKcceLTKOJsYAUx_ajY available online] via Google Book Search.
* Vaclav Smil; "Energy in World History." Westview Press, 1994 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=94468450 online edition]
* Szostak; Rick. "The Role of Transportation in the Industrial Revolution: A Comparison of England and France" McGill-Queens University Press, 1991 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101607770 online edition]External links
*dmoz|Society/History/By_Time_Period/Eighteenth_Century/Industrial_Revolution/
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook14.html Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution]
* [http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/270 "The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/enlightenment/features_enlightenment_industry.shtml BBC History Home Page: Industrial Revolution]
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/ National Museum of Science and Industry website: machines and personalities]
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/IndustrialRevolutionandtheStandardofLiving.html "Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living"] by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.
* [http://www.galbithink.org/fw.htm Factory Workers in the Industrial Revolution]
* [http://www.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/home.stm Revolutionary Players website]
* [http://www.industrial-revolution.info/ First and second industrial revolution]
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