What Was The Industrial Revolution All About - 2281 Words

The Industrial Revolution 1. What was the industrial revolution all about? The Industrial Revolution initially began in Britain and spread throughout Europe, North America and the rest of the world. It was a period of great change brought on by advancements in technologies and increases in trade, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and population growth. These advancements changed the structure of society at that time and changed the economy, which had been based on the land and manual labour, to an economy based on manufacturing by machines. Before the revolution, people had mainly made a living from working on the land and so they lived in rural areas. New technologies, inventions, methods, ideas and materials meant that things could†¦show more content†¦It started around the period of 1760 to 1850 in Britain. The reason that the revolution started in Britain in the 18th century is that Britain had large deposits of coal and could power the steam engines that were used to operate the machinery. Another reason is that technological improvemen ts in the textile industry improved the process of making clothes. Prior to these changes, clothing had been handmade and was labour intensive, however mass production of cotton garments were made using machines which provided England with the opportunity to mass produce items to supply the demands of the growing population and export to other countries. The revolution continued into the first half of the 19th century and spread around the world. Mass Production 3. What is Mass Production? Mass production is a process in which large quantities of standard products are produced on production lines. It can also be called flow production, series production or serial production and uses conveyor belts to move ready made parts to workers to finish off the product. This type of machinery provided a very high rate of production but also reduced the amount of workers required to do the work. This resulted in a rapid loss of jobs being available in the workforce and workers finding it difficult to provide for