What Happened During The Industrial Revolution

As Stephen Gardiner once said, "The Industrial Revolution was another one of these extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilizations." In other words, the lives of many people changed from day time consuming work to fast paced machine made products. It first began in England during the 1700s and caused an increase in population. The reasons behind why the Industrial Revolution began was because of all the excess in iron, coal and cloth. Due to the coal, the steam-engine was invented to transport more goods across England faster than ever before. Also, because England’s agricultural economy was growing, the demand for faster and more efficient agricultural techniques caused the invention of the advanced machines such as the seed drill, …show more content…
Although there were many advancements during the Industrial Revolution, there were also a few negative consequences. To begin, child labor was popular in the factories. Children worked long hours with little breaks. For instance, as William Cooper stated, his usual hours “began at five in the morning and stopped at nine in the night” (Cooper) with only a break which was “one period of forty minutes in the sixteen hours. That was at noon” (Cooper). Although the children worked long hours, it was their decision to work so they could help their family out and make money. To add, the children worked in harsh, and sometimes deadly, conditions. There was next to no …show more content…
Not only did it help grow England’s economy financially, but it also increased the productivity of goods and the speed of transportation. In particular, children were able to make money to help support their family while having fun working. As Andrew Ure said after he travelled around industrialized England, he “never saw a single instance of corporal chastisement inflicted on a child”(Ure) in all the factories that he visited. Also, the children “seemed to be always cheerful and alert, taking pleasure in the light play of their muscle…” To sum up, most children were very involved in their work and had fun with it. This contradicts Saddler’s biased opinion since he only looks for kids that had a negative opinion towards the factories. To add onto the glory of the Industrial Revolution, everyday life was changed tremendously from clothing to transportation. For instance, goods are cheaper and better all around, the steam engine was created, and household utensils were an abundance. The Working Man’s Companion, a book published in 1831, stated that “houses are better built… clothes are cheaper… an infinite number of domestic utensils… and not only travel at less expense, but travel tens times quicker than two hundred years ago.” This would allow the people to use more of their money on making their lives more comfortable for living and by allowing