The Industrial revolution was a time of drastic change and transformation from hand tools, and

hand made items to machine manufactured and mass produced goods. This change generally

helped life, but also hindered it as well. Pollution, such as co2 levels in the atmosphere rose,

working conditions declined, and the number of women and children working increased. The

government, the arts, literature, music and architecture and man's way of looking at life all

changed during the period. Two revolutions took place, both resulting in productive but also dire

consequences.

Before the first industrial revolution, England's economy was based on its

cottage industry. Workers would buy raw materials from merchants, take it

back to their cottages, hence the name, and produce the goods at their home. It

was usually was owned and managed by one or more people, who were

generally close to the workers. There was a good worker/boss relationship,

which was demolished and destroyed by capitalism. This industry was efficient

but the workers, productivity was low, making costs higher. The longer it took

one person to manufacture a product, the higher the price. Subsequently, goods

were high in price and exclusive only to the wealthy people.

The year was 1733, the demand for cotton cloth was high, but production was low. This crisis

had to be solved or England's economy would be hindered. The answer came from a British

weaver, John Kay, who invented and fashioned the flying shuttle, which cut weaving time in half.

John Kay was a pioneer and his invention paved the way for numerous inventors. Although at

first, many workers didn't accept machines, in fact, many inventions were destroyed, but what

was inevitable, couldn't be stopped. The machines had made their way to England, and nothing

could stop them.

By the 1750's, the industrial Revolution had

begun. At first, inventions were strictly limited

to cotton weaving. Inventions such as the

spinning jenny and the water-powered frame,

both of which provided spinning yarn faster,

the spinning mule, the power loom and the

cotton gin, all helped the manufacture of

cotton goods by speeding up the process.

Mass production had begun, along with

capitalism. Capitalist, people who have their

own materials, money and space, bought

many machines and stored them in a factory, where hired people worked the whole day

manufacturing goods. The factory system had replaced the cottage industry. Mass production

made usually expensive items, such as shoes, less expensive and easily affordable by lower class

and less wealthy people. The quality of life had improved. In the 1800's, inventions weren't just

limited to the cotton industry. Steam engines were invented, providing a faster mode of

transportation, instead of the use of horses and carriages. With steam engines, cities were able to

move farther away from rivers and sources of water, to start cities.

The second Industrial revolution proved more drastic, not only in inventions, but in social and

government policies and reforms. Art and culture flourished and was transformed into many

different and unique styles. The first industrial revolution had forever changed England, and later

the world. England was now ready for another change, as life with machinery had already been

assimilated into society.

The second industrial revolution utilized the power of electricity to help them develop their

technology and help social and home life. Michael Faraday, a British scientist, demonstrated how

an electric current could be made. This concept and principle is still in use today. Electricity

improved life by supplying people with light, and electricity to power machines. Communications

improved as a result of electricity. The telephone and telegraph were the first communicational

devices that were for public use. With the development of technology, radio waves were

discovered. Now messages could be sent over long distances in virtually no time.

Advances in Science were also made. The discovery of radioactivity by Marie Curie helped

discover radioactivity as power source, but also led to the discovery of the nuclear bomb. During

the 1800's over 70,000 chemical compounds were broken down. Some of these were Portland

cement, vulcanized rubber, synthetic dyes, and petroleum products. Petroleum

begun to be widely used as an alternate energy source. Gasoline was also needed

for transportation also changed from steam engines to the internal combustion

engine. The internal combustion engine made transportation faster and less public.

A person could own a car instead of using public transportation. During this time, a

new technology was born in the field of transportation. Orville and Wilbur Wright

successfully completed the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk. The air plane industry

was born.

Medicine before the 1750's and in the 1750's wasn't well developed. Once infection set in,

nothing was possible to save the patient. Various diseases couldn't be stopped or controlled

because of limited technology. In the 1850's however, vaccinations were discovered and

administered. X rays were also discovered and provided doctors with a faster way of diagnosing

medical problems. Louis Pasteur discovered and fabricated a way to eliminate all germs in milk.

Called pasteurization, this technique is now widely used on all milk. The technique involves

heating the milk to slow the fermentation process.

Darwin was a naturalist who devised the theory of evolution. It stated that all animals and plants

evolution from a lower species. He also developed the concept of Social Darwinism that the

strongest survive. Many people contested his ideas and argued against them.

Life was drastically changed during the industrial revolution. People were living in

germ infested, crowded and very unhealthful conditions, much like their place of work.

Children and women labored in harsh conditions, working long hours with little pay.

The British Parliament stepped in and limited and controlled child labor. This sparked

a rebellion. People, especially wealthy capitalists, wanted the government to stay out of its issues,

called the laissez-faire system. Many people opposed the laissez-faire system, saying the

capitalists would gain too much power and people would be mistreated. The laissez-faire system

was disregarded after a few years.

Art changed with the different ideas of social Darwinism, the laissez-faire system and the

industrial revolution. Romanticism painted emotions that they had no control over, such as love,

religion, and beauty. It showed more of how people look at one moment in time. Realism tried to

capture what was really happening, all the sadness and tried to make people work to change

what was happening.

Socialists were reformers who wanted to construct a better life for all people. Among them,

Robert Owen, an owner of a textile mill, whose reforms reshaped the working class. He raised

pay, improved working conditions, and didn't allow children under 11 to work. Directly related

to Owens reforms, crime and disease rates dropped and life improved. Marx, also a socialist,

stated the class struggle, the conflict between the different classes of people, had an impact on

the changes that occur in history.

The Industrial revolution brought on more technology, wealth and power, but at what

consequence? The people were living in filth, working unthinkable hours and being paid very

little. The revolution shaped modern society to what it is today. As Rousseau said, "Civilization

spoils people," but did people spoil civilization by implementing machines to do our work?