The Industrial Revolution as a Time of Great Progress

716 Words2 Pages

The Industrial Revolution as a Time of Great Progress

I believe that the Industrial Revolution affected everyone in

different ways. I think that the majority of the already richer people

did well out of the Industrial Revolution because they could afford to

build up businesses and continue to build on already existing ones.

They were made a lot more successful because of factories, transport

and the poor's life style.

The factories improved the businesses because they could make so much

more produce and therefore much more profit. However the factories put

the skilled workers out of their jobs as the big batches of produce

where in a much higher quantity and in much less time, therefore they

were cheaper which meant more people could buy them, and it was

fashionable to have the “in” pottery, for example, so everybody wanted

it and it advertised the factories produce. New machines were being

developed all the time, like the Spinning Jenny and the water frame

and were helping to boost companies demand for their products. Before

the 19th century, the main industry was farming and all the work was

done by hand in small industries. But after 1750 machinery was

increasing greatly and forced the poorer people to work in factories

or not at all, seeing as there was no longer many other jobs and they

weren’t paid much, or even just in tokens, which could only spent in

the owner’s workshop and were useless outside. Now the main industry

was cotton and all the work was done using machines in large

workshops.

The factories were making so much extra produce that they could no

longer transport it in the old horse and cart via roads. The r...

... middle of paper ...

...dren had to work but still

they had not enough money to get themselves out of the situation.

There were barely any laws preventing these conditions and people

caught illnesses and died without any investigation. One of the main

diseases was Cholera. It was spread in dirty drinking water, but at

the time they didn’t know that. The Government did actually attempt to

help, but they failed and pretty much gave up as it was costing them

too much money.

Ultimately I think the Industrial Revolution was a good thing for

Britain but not for the individuals in it. Britain would not have had

its Empire or be as powerful country as it was without it as we would

still be behind in the times, personally I think it was a good thing

overall but it could have been dealt with a bit better and made it

less hard on the poor people.

Open Document