Industrial Revolution
...s said to have begun in Britain. There were several people and inventions that played an important role in the initiation of the Industrial Revolution. For instance, after the Enclosure Movement, farmers lost land they once used and had to make do with smaller strips of land that they were left with. Viscount Charles Townshend proposed a new method of keeping the land fertile by rotating crops. Then, Jethro Tull developed a seed drill that allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths. James Hargeaves’s “spinning jenny” assisted in the textile industry by allowing a spinner to spin thread three times as fast as normal. Richard Arkwright’s water frame used water from a nearby stream to operate the spinning wheels. Then, James Watt invented a steam engine that was a vast improvement to engines invented by Thomas Savery and Thomas Newcomen. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin brought about a quicker way to pick and clean cotton. These few people along with several others helped start the Revolution with their great ideas and new way of doing things. The Industrial Revolution developed many new industries and refined several industries that had already existed. For example, the manufacturing of textile machines drew craftsmen from theses trades and is the origin of the modern engineering industry. Also, cottage industries, a system where British textile manufacturers was done by individual artisans doing the spinning and weaving on their own premises, was improved by Richard Arkwright’s cotton mill which brought production together in a factory with the use of power and made the cotton manufacture a mechanized industry. Coal mining was refined by the steam engine which drained mines of water quicker and increased the output of coal. Also, developments in transportation improved trade with the enhancement of highways and ships and the development of the locomotive. The Industrial Revolution made a transformation that society, back then, was not ready for. This economical change not only altered the way the world produced its goods but it also transformed society from a primarily agricultural society to one in which industry and manufacturing was in control. Although, advancements were being made, it caused an overall downfall in the socioeconomic and cultural situation among the people. With this new age, people began to ...