The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a time of exploration, for better or for worse. Although many great things were discovered during the Industrial Revolution, it was the beginning of the formation of a class system, which put many people in an unfair, hard-working place where they would have to work from a very young age. It was also a time of social benefits, like Work Unions and widespread education, and social deficits, like widespread disease and poverty. Its great inventions changed the way people lived, and still affect us to this day.

Although the Industrial Revolution was an important time in history, it was merely another time of exploration in the history of man. However, it was a period of rapid discovery and invention, and the start of an exponential growth in population. Rich manufacturers began exploring how to up production, and began creating machines like the spinning frame and sewing machines. This grew to the creation of factories, the need for more power (therefore the need for more coal) and the need for more people. From there the population grew, towns grew bigger andd people began exploring new things, like the concepts of unions and widespread education.

The Industrial Revolution was mainly a time of industrial exploration, but it ended up affecting things like social welfare. There were many good things, like the revamp of the education system, the starting of the Salvation Army and the creation of work unions, but there were many bad things, like child labour, widespread poverty, unfair wages (near the beginning of the IR) and widespread disease.

Beside all the great industrial inventions used in manufacturing and the like, the steam engine was the most amazing invention that directly affected a lot of people's lives. The steam engine was first designed by Thomas Savery in 1698 as a way of pumping up water out of a well at a high rate, and remodeled to drain coal mines by Thomas Newcomen in 1711. In 1763, a Scottish instrument maker named James Watt was given the task of repairing a Newcomen engine, and noted how inefficient it was, causing him to go on and up its coal efficiency by 75%. He teamed up with Matthew Boulton, and soon his steam engine was being used all around Europe. The steam engine was such a life-changing thing because it simplified so many tasks and took away so many man hours. It was also, obviously, later used as a mode of transport. But it also upped the need for coal, which forced coal mines to do things such as hire children at tiny wages. Even though it was a very good thing, it could also make a child miss out on half of their childhood.

The main impact that the Industrial Revolution made on everyday life was the pure simplification and acceleration of almost everything. Work could be done faster, places could be covered faster and life became a lot simpler for some. However, it did create a working class, which meant a lot of people had to work more, whilst others got off with not much. It also caused the population to grow, the growth of towns and in the end the creation of the modern city. It created all of the good things and all of the bad things present in our modern-day city life.