"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."
A period of major economic and social change that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of the introduction of industrial processes. It led to the growth of factories, the development of new machines, and the rise of new industries.
Origins of the Industrial Revolution: The period of time leading up to the Industrial Revolution, including factors such as the growth of trade, population growth, and technological advancements that paved the way for the revolution.
Inventions and Innovations: The major inventions and innovations that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, such as the steam engine and the spinning jenny, that transformed the nature of work and production.
Economic Changes: The economic transformations that the Industrial Revolution wrought, including changes in production, transportation, and distribution of goods and services, as well as the rise of capitalism and its impact on society.
Social Changes: The social changes that the Industrial Revolution brought about, including the rise of urbanization, the transformation of labor, and the emergence of new classes of people such as the working class and the middle class.
Politics and Governance: The political and governance changes that the Industrial Revolution brought about, including new forms of government, the emergence of mass politics, and the rise of nationalism.
Globalization and Imperialism: The global reach of the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of global capitalism and imperialism, which had profound economic, social, and cultural consequences around the world.
Technology and Science: The scientific and technological advances that underpinned the Industrial Revolution, including the importance of scientific experimentation, the growth of the scientific community, and advances in areas such as chemistry and biology.
The Environment: The impact of industrialization on the natural environment, including the emergence of pollution and the destruction of natural habitats.
Art and Culture: The impact of the Industrial Revolution on art and culture, including the emergence of new forms of art and literature and the ways in which they reflected the social and economic changes of the period.
Religion: The role of religion in shaping the Industrial Revolution and the ways in which religious institutions adapted to the new social and economic realities of the period.
"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."