Towards The Modern World: The Industrial Revolution

Early interpretation of the industrial revolution was the process of innovation and invention. With the origin of the steam engine and other industrial inventions the world was able to revolutionize into an urban society. Growth in general during the industrial revolution was booming; economy, population on large scales, invention, family life, factorial responsibilities, labor unions and social change. The economy itself was changing the world rapidly. With economy, the industrial revolution moves into more detail with families receiving a large wage and less domestic responsibilities. The economy affected the change from rural to urban societies, expanding the development of cities and industrial societies. With these cities booming, larger and larger qualities of people would move closer to their industrial jobs causing the population to rise. Demographic and social change and the dynamics of the population has increased incredibly since the 1800s and continued to increase ever since. Mass production was on the rise; the human race was growing, inventing and making it possible to reform the world. The industrial revolution made a phenomenal impact on society, one of the largest in history. It was a start to the world of invention. If it wasn’t for the industrial revolution, society as we know it would never have increased so rapidly. Was the Industrial Revolution the relevant cause of overall invention with a political, social and economic effect on the modern world? The Industrial Revolution altered the lives of European citizens economically, socially and politically as it created more jobs through the expansion of factories, steam power and familial sphere.

Along with the extensive changes, there was a vast amount of causes that helped the Industrial Revolution push to its exponential high. Along with the increase of the economy, the cotton textile industry flourished as well. It was one of the reasons for the boom and very useful for trade. The cottage industry helped to prepare the country for the Industrial Revolution by boosting the English economy through the increase of trade that occurred as the country became well-known overseas for its high-quality and low-cost exports” (Gernhard). Certain things were necessary for the support of the Revolution, such as the new banking system, stable environments, investment and capitalism. With the expansion of the banking system, people could now save most of their money with low interest rates. With money well saved, people could afford more in general. “Expansion had led to new “private banking,” a new money economy… Modern credit facilities also appeared, such as the state bank… This created economic stimulus which in turn gave the people more money to spend” (Commercial Revolution). This created a stable environment where a steady economic system was established. A large amount of capital investment, people had the money now to invest in certain luxuries, which helped spread the word for innovation. “From the New World had come gold and silver, which in less than a century more than doubled European prices and stimulated economic activity, which in turn gave the wealthy more money to spend on new ideas” (Commercial Revolution). Everyone had the prophecy in all of them to earn as much income as possible. More money meant more to spend on them. Capitalism helped push the idea of desire to fulfill this prophecy and gain money. This caused the economy to essential increase because of the amount of money being earned. “The ‘invisible hand,’ was another important new economic system and gave the people a desire to further the industrialization and gain money. The competition created a boom in economic expansion” (Commercial Revolution). Financial change and the variety of investment caused a huge change in society which arguably expanded the possibility of a modern economy.

The Industrial Revolution was an extraordinary effect on the world and created a space for a rich expansion of a new origin of invention. One of the most influential inventions during the Industrial Revolution was the invention of steam. Steam powered boats, engines and trains allowed the increase in communication, transportation and power. “The steam engine to create a steam powered train, which would eventually allow increased communication and trade between places before deemed too far” (Gernhard). Steam power was a revolutionary technique used for mass production and power. Steam was an efficient and economic to generate. It was also easy to control, because of the relationship between pressure and temperature. Not only did the Industrial Revolution affect the factorial system, but it also influenced the agricultural system. Farms also expanded and fit into the Industrial world. “The spread-out, shared farms, common under the “open-field system” of cultivation, turned into more compact, but larger, farms” (Gernhard). Technology was one of the greatest tools of the Industrial Revolution. If it wasn’t for such innovative technologies, the world wouldn’t have flourished into a phenomenal technological advancement. With the advancement in technologies and with the help of steam power, the world was able to move into a new advancement on transportation. Steam power and coal were important aspects for transportation. With transportation, there was an increase in trade. Trading helped Europe, as well as the world increase production and boom the economy. The Industrial Revolution, on a large scale, developed the world as a technological advancement and further pushed the process of production massively.

The world was shaped into an economic mold that the industrial society helped hold together and shape. Both economy and industry are at their highest if they are together. If the economy is booming, the industry is doing well, if the economy declines, industry will follow. With the increase of technological changes, economic life was at its highest and the world was growing in the process of power. This helped transform industry to change the world. “When the overall economy was healthy, the industrial economy did well… Supply was increased by technical innovation, by adding workers, and by creating new was to organize production…State of power rose at the expense of competing powers within society especially the cities and the aristocrats” (Gutmann, 6-7). With the economy on the rise, prices were declining. What was available was much cheaper but still contained vibrant value. Taking a closer look at the clothing industry, by the eighteenth century, clothing was becoming cheap as well. “This sequence of inventions and applications was closely bound up with the availability of cheap fuel, yet another element of the early modern economy that came to full development during the industrial revolution… By the early eighteenth century, a fundamental step had already been taken: clothing manufacturers increasingly devoted their attention to lightweight, cheap, easily-colored fabrics” (Dewald, 2004). The booming economy was a process of power; it increased the technological and industrial development.

Since the 1800s, population has exceeded extraordinary heights and has shown improvement through history. Industry was on the rise, and with the industry boom, the population followed. The increase in population not only increased innovation but it helped industrial growth as well. “Where the population and the growth of industry were most intimately linked, which itself reinforced growth…Industry could not grow without consumers, but it was not yet large enough to generate its own” (Gutmann, 115-125). If one looks at the population during the 1880s, and compare it to earlier in history, one would see a large growth since that time period. After the Industrial Revolution however, the population continued to grow because people were innovating from the inspiration of the Industrial Revolution itself. “The most prolific evidence of the Industrial Revolution’s impact on the modern world can be seen in the worldwide human population growth… In another 750 years, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1700s, the world’s human population grew about another 57% to 700 million and would see one billion in 1800” (“Ecology Global Network”). With new innovations brought by the Industrial Revolution population growth was possible. Modernization in medicine, healthcare, hygiene and produce, but with growth resulted in more demand. “The birth of the Industrial Revolution would alter medicine and living standards resulting in the population explosion that would… Naturally, the exponential population growth led to the exponential requirements for resources, energy, food, housing and land as well as the exponential increase in waste by-products” (“Ecology Global Network”). Population graphs and charts present evidence of growth in population because of the start of Industrial modernization in medicine and technology. “The Population of Europe in the 1800s reached an extraordinary one hundred and twenty three million” (Gutmann, 51). “World Population Growth will reach approximately 9.2 billion by 2012 which makes a large difference from 500CE” (“World Population Growth”).With the technological and medical advancements the Industrial Revolution made it possible for this growth to continue toward the modern world.

Family life had a huge effect on the Industrial Revolution, switching from domestic to working class. Families lived together, they ate together and now they worked together. A growing amount of families worked during the Industrial Revolution, bringing home their own wages and being able to afford more luxuries. “The household was not only the industrial center but also the social center, for its member’s derived social satisfaction from working together and from rustic amusements enjoyed at home or on the village green” (Smith, 1-4). Because of the Industrial Revolution, family life in general changed rapidly. Responsibilities and duties were given to each family member which was a dramatic change from the traditional male responsibilities. “This was a dramatic revolution for women and children during the Industrial Revolution in New England in America, not only in terms of how children were going to be raised, but on the American family in general” (Smith, 1-4). Education, as well as income of families increased, particularly in Britain “the workshop of the world.” With the standard of living, families were happier because of their wages and their cost of living being efficient. “Impossibility of measuring happiness forces them to equate the standard of living with monetary measures such as real wages or real income” (Nardinelli, 1). With the increase of families in the world, the population would follow causing a positive effect on the Industrial world and the Revolution. “The industrial revolution was strongly positive but was largely offset by the negative effects of rapid population growth” (Nardinelli, 2). Family life played a large role in the Industrialization of the world; socially it possibly changed the responsibilities and roles of men, women and children.

Labour Unions, although may be viewed as a negative, were the essential production of the Industrial Revolution. During the industrialization, the world was going through a switch from rural colonies to urban cities. With the Revolution in the hand of the bourgeoisie, the power was not shared equally. There were occasional strikes for the endless hunger for equality. “An effort to count the balance of power more evenly, the labor force began to form Labor Unions. The first of these were limited in being successful because of the imbalance of power” (Teasley, 1-2). Trade unions or unionization cannot be understood unless the one is familiar with what the Industrial Revolution has brought to this modern world. From what one has seen in the world today, the Industrial Revolution and unions have revolutionized. “No one can understand the true nature of trade unionism without understanding the industrial revolution and what it is accomplished. The labor organization as it exists today is the product of a long evolution…The constitution of the trade union, its by-laws, its customs and traditions” (Mitchell). Unions were a positive effect on the Industrial world because of the effect it had on the world today. Rights and benefits are now offered to anyone who is part of a union. Everything trends back to the Revolution. “For many purposes the international or national union is the most important unit of structure and government” (“Labour Unions”).The effects of unionization expanded the Revolutionary workforce and presented rights and equality to all. The Industrial Revolution altered the lives of European citizens economically, socially and politically as it created more jobs through the expansion of factories, steam power and familial sphere. The Industrial Revolution was a time that was open to new inventions and new possibilities. One of the most influential pieces of machinery was the steam engine which was the main source of power. The Revolution also influenced agriculture, and production. Farms also expanded and fit into the Industrial world. Both economy and industry are at their highest if they are together. If the economy is booming, the industry is doing well, if the economy declines, industry will follow. With the economy on the rise, prices were declining. What was available was much cheaper but still contained vibrant value. The booming economy was a process of power; it increased the technological and industrial development. Industry was on the rise, and with the industry boom, the population followed. The increase in population not only increased innovation but it helped industrial growth as well. If one looks at the population during the 1880s, and compare it to earlier in history, one would see a large growth since that time period. After the Industrial

Revolution however, the population continued to grow because people were innovating from the inspiration of the Industrial Revolution itself. Population graphs and charts present evidence of growth in population because of the start of Industrial modernization in medicine and technology. With the technological and medical advancements the Industrial Revolution made it possible for this growth to continue toward the modern world. Families lived together, they ate together and now they worked together. A growing amount of families worked during the Industrial Revolution, bringing home their own wages and being able to afford more luxuries. Education, as well as income of families increased, particularly in Britain “the workshop of the world.” Family life played a large role in the Industrialization of the world; socially it possibly changed the responsibilities and roles of men, women and children. During the industrialization, the world was going through a switch from rural colonies to urban cities. With the Revolution in the hand of the bourgeoisie, the power was not shared equally. There were occasional strikes for the endless hunger for equality. Labour Unions, although may be viewed as a negative, were the essential production of the Industrial Revolution. The effects of unionization expanded the Revolutionary workforce and presented rights and equality to all. The Industrial Revolution has made an outstanding impact on the world, its benefits and innovations made it possible to evolve.