"The Industrial Revolution, also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was a period of global transition of human economy towards more efficient and stable manufacturing processes that succeeded the Agricultural Revolution, starting from Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840."
The impact of the Industrial Revolution on society and the economy, including the rise of capitalism, the creation of a working class, and changes to standards of living.
Industrial Revolution: A period of rapid industrialization that took place from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, during which time there was a massive shift from manual labor to machine-based manufacturing.
Social and Economic Impact: The impact of the Industrial Revolution on society and the economy, including changes in work conditions, urbanization, and social classes.
Factory System: The system of manufacturing that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, in which goods were produced in large factories using machines and a division of labor.
Capitalism: An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production, free markets, and the pursuit of profit.
Industrialization: The process of developing industries on a large scale, often involving the transformation of a society from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing-based economy.
Urbanization: The process by which people move from rural areas to cities, often driven by the growth of industrialization.
Labor Conditions: The working conditions experienced by factory workers during the Industrial Revolution, including long hours, low wages, and dangerous working environments.
Social Classes: The hierarchical structure of society that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, including the working class, middle class, and capitalist class.
Women and Children in the Workplace: The role of women and children in the factory system during the Industrial Revolution, including their working conditions and the impact on their families and social roles.
Imperialism: The expansion of a country's power through colonization and economic dominance, often related to the economic impacts of the Industrial Revolution.
Globalization: The process of increasing interconnectedness between people, businesses, and countries around the world, related to the economic and technological changes of the Industrial Revolution.
Environmental Impact: The impact of industrialization on the natural environment, including pollution, deforestation, and the depletion of natural resources.
Technological Innovation: The innovations that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, including steam power, textile machinery, and railway transportation.
Economic Growth and Development: The overall impact of the Industrial Revolution on economic growth and development, including its long-term impact on global commerce and economic systems.
Urbanization: The growth of industries in cities shifted people from rural areas to cities, resulting in the formation of urban communities and increasing population density.
Technological advancements: The industrial revolution led to significant inventions and improvements in technology, such as the steam engine and factory machinery, replacing manual labor with more efficient and cheaper methods.
Improved transportation: The rise of industrialization facilitated the development of transportation networks, including trains, ships, and automobiles, which allowed mass transportation of goods and people.
Creation of a labor market: With the development of the factory system, wage labor became increasingly common, and workers were paid for their hours worked rather than for the product of their labor.
Class division: The social and economic changes brought about by the industrial revolution led to the formation of new classes, dividing society into an elite upper class and working-class people.
Women's rights: Women entered the workforce for the first time during the industrial revolution, and the growing need for skilled workers led to new opportunities and greater recognition of their rights.
Pollution: The industrial revolution brought about unprecedented levels of pollution, as factories and industrial processes produced waste that had significant environmental impacts.
New forms of communication: The development of new technologies such as telegraph and telephone allowed for faster, more efficient communication that had a significant impact on trade, commerce, and social interactions.
Globalization: The impact of industrialization was global, leading to the expansion of international trade, communication, and cultural exchange.
"This transition included going from hand production methods to machines; new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes; the increasing use of water power and steam power; the development of machine tools; and the rise of the mechanized factory system."
"The textile industry was the first to use modern production methods and textiles became the dominant industry in terms of employment, value of output, and capital invested."
"On a structural level, the Industrial Revolution asked society the so-called social question, demanding new ideas for managing large groups of individuals."
"Visible poverty on one hand and growing population and materialistic wealth on the other caused tensions between the very rich and the poorest people within society."
"These tensions were sometimes violently released and led to philosophical ideas such as socialism, communism, and anarchism."
"The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and many of the technological and architectural innovations were of British origin."
"The development of trade and the rise of business were among the major causes of the Industrial Revolution."
"The Industrial Revolution influenced in some way almost every aspect of daily life."
"Some economists have said the most important effect of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population in the Western world began to increase consistently for the first time in history."
"GDP per capita was broadly stable before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the modern capitalist economy, while the Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic growth in capitalist economies."
"Economic historians agree that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in human history since the domestication of animals and plants."
"Eric Hobsbawm held that the Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s."
"Rapid industrialization first began in Britain, starting with mechanized textiles spinning in the 1780s, with high rates of growth in steam power and iron production occurring after 1800."
"An economic recession occurred from the late 1830s to the early 1840s when the adoption of the Industrial Revolution's early innovations, such as mechanized spinning and weaving, slowed as their markets matured."
"New technologies such as the electrical telegraph, widely introduced in the 1840s and 1850s, were not powerful enough to drive high rates of growth."
"Rapid economic growth began to occur after 1870, springing from a new group of innovations in what has been called the Second Industrial Revolution."
"These innovations included new steel-making processes, mass production, assembly lines, electrical grid systems, the large-scale manufacture of machine tools, and the use of increasingly advanced machinery in steam-powered factories."
"The development of trade and the rise of business were among the major causes of the Industrial Revolution."
"The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, with mechanized textile production spreading to Belgium, the United States, and later textiles in France."