Benefits and Problems Brought by The Industrial Revolution in England

942 Words2 Pages

Throughout the time period of the 1800s The Industrial Revolution was a time of immense transformation and radical change for Great Britain. The nation was literally the hub of the revolution, and was viewed upon as the nation that started it all. A lot of changes occurred during this time period. People stopped the usage of hand tools, and started using machinery to create various goods. The nation as a whole experienced many technological advances during this critical time. People found themselves relocating their families to larger urban areas in search of work in new industries. These positive changes improved life, but also negatively affected it as well. Pollution, such as carbon emission levels in the atmosphere, and sanitization in living quarters rose substantially. This caused a lot of problems for the general public, especially the workers who were working in the factories where the emissions were originating. As a result people encountered health problems that they had never experienced before. The pollution during the early industrialization period contributed to many cases of respiratory diseases among the people of the working class.
Before the Industrial Revolution, England's economy was based on the profits of the cottage industry. The cottage industry was the industry that allowed workers to buy raw materials from merchants, and then take these raw materials back to their cottages, and produce the goods within their own homes. They would use their own manual labour to create the goods on their own time. Then they would take it to the markets to sell to various buyers for a profit. Some positive attributes that can be said about the cottage industry was that it was a very efficient practice, and a much clean...

... middle of paper ...

...hole. The wealthy prospered, but at the expense of others (namely, the working classes). It was not uncommon for many factory owners to value profit more so than they did on their worker’s safety and health. “Under the reign of of just laws, personal liberty and property have been secure; mercantile enterprise has been allowed to reap its reward; capital has accumulated in safety; the workman has "gone forth to his work and to his labour until the evening;" and, thus protected and favoured, the manufacturing prosperity of the country has struck its roots deep, and spread forth its branches to the ends of the earth.” Britain was without a doubt the leader in the industrial revolution. They were a nation that greatly prospered during this time. But we should never forget that they prospered off of the working class’ poor working conditions, and bad living standards.

Open Document