Life During The Industrial Revolution

Before factories and big machines, manufacturing was known to be done in people’s homes using their own tools and techniques. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, farming was the way of life, but a great transition would quickly come into power. The Industrial Revolution improved the everyday life when unique machinery was introduced; an era of multiple economic upgrades. Towns were transformed into thriving cities, access to transportation and manufactured goods was simpler, the standard of living and conditions were improved, population increased, more jobs were available, and new technological innovations were made. The lives of many people were finally opened to better benefits.

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the mid

The Industrial Revolution dramatically changed every aspect of human life and lifestyles. It started in the mid 1700s in Great Britain when machinery began to replace manual labor. Fossil fuels replaced wind, water, and wood, that were used primarily for the manufacture of textiles and the development of iron making processes. “In the 1780s, American textile companies offered rewards to English mill workers to bring knowledge of textile mills to America. Samuel Slater happened to be one of these Englishmen. Since it was illegal to export textile technology from Britain, Slater memorized the construction plans of a textile factory. Slater built the machinery for a textile mill from memory. His factory produced cotton of great quality. In the 1790s, Slater and his partners opened many other textile mills. He is considered the founder of the American textile industry because his bringing of English technology to the United States began the Industrial Revolution.”(Podar) The textile industry was the first industry to be reformed. “Throughout, popular demand played a crucial role, and in mid-eighteenth-century Britain cotton producers could not keep up with the demand for their products. In response they introduced a series of technological innovations designed to speed up the manufacturing

Transportation was important because people were moving to live in the city. During this time period, moving heavy products such as coal and iron was cheaper through waterways. Due to this, canals were adjusted to be widened and deepened to allow more boats to pass. During that time period people would travel using animals or by foot, but there were many problems with the states of the roads. They were in bad conditions for being muddy, flooding easily, and filled with stones. This made travel by wagon very tough and risky. Around 1820, Scottish engineer, John McAdam developed a new process for road construction. His technique became known as macadam, crushed rocks in thin layers, which resulted in roads that were more even, less muddy, and indestructible with the addition of large flat stones. Robert Fulton made the first steam-powered engine to power a steamboat. His steamboat was capable to transport raw materials across the Atlantic Ocean by the mid 1800's. Soon after, roads across America were improved based on these techniques. the work of the railroad pioneers became the basis for the great mid-century surge of railroad building that would link the nation together as never before. Railroads eventually became the nation's number one transportation system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway system