Effects of Industrialization in 1700 - 1850

Effects of Industrialization in 1700 - 1850

Industrialization occurred in many countries, each taking a different approach

to the implementation of new machinery and technology. The most notable for

leading the way in industrialization is Britain. Industrialization not only made

dramatic changes in the economic structure of countries but also in the social and

political areas of countries.

Industrialization led to much upheaval, especially socially since the whole way

of life was changing. The emergence of the working class and the growing divide

between classes also meant that a new political and economic structure was

developed: capitalism.

Industrialization began in Britain since there was a large supply of coal and

steel and it was seen as one of the greatest colonial powers, thus allowing it to gain

the capital and market needed to industrialize. Since Britain led the way for

industrialization, it could be seen to epitomise the effects that it had on countries.

One of the social effects that industrialization had was that the ‘rhythm of life

changed’ . Pre-industrialization, people were based mainly in rural areas. However,

when the enclosure of land became popular in the 1760’s, farmers who were tenants

began to be pushed of the land. This along with the establishment of new urban towns

and cities meant that people started to move away resulting in ‘English peasant

villages being destroyed’ .

Land enclosure was only one reason why people moved to the new urban

areas. The other was the fact that new machinery was making families handicrafts of

little commercial value, meaning that they were not able to survive on the money they

made. This meant that the promise of a rise in wages appealed to a great many people

in the rural areas, resulting in yet more change for the population

With industrialization came a new family structure, the nuclear family. This

was in complete contrast to the previous way people interacted with each other, but

fitted perfectly into the nameless society, which had developed. The pre-industrial

villages were very close knit since most of the textile and agricultural industry

revolved around the home, with everyone participating in some way to the production

of consumer goods. The nuclear family was very unlike this...

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...freedom from agriculture, meaning that more people could

undertake ‘professional’ jobs such as doctors and lawyers. This was unlike that of the

time pre-industrial, because then the basis of society was the worker and owner, now

society had the employer, the employee, and the professional.

Industrialization also changed the world economic system because places like

China and India who, previous to industrialization, had been one of the main

manufactures for the world were now being left behind since they could not produce

goods as cheaply as industrialized countries.

Bibliography

J.M. Roberts, The Pelican History Of The World, Pelican, 1986

T.S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830, Oxford University Press, 1970

P. Gregg, A Social and Economic History of Britain, Harrap, 1971

G. Rude, Revolutionary Europe 1783-1815, Fontana/Collins, 1980

P. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation, Methuen&Co Ltd, 1972

M.J. Daunton, Progress and Poverty, Oxford University Press, 1995

P. Lane, Documents on British Economic and Social History 1750-1870, 1972

G. Warner, Marten and Muir, The New Groundwork of British History, Balckie&son, 1968