why did the industrial revolution start in britain essay

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

Industrial Revolution

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 27, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The Industrial Revolution was a period of scientific and technological development in the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies—especially in Europe and North America—into industrialized, urban ones. Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be produced in mass quantities by machines in factories, thanks to the introduction of new machines and techniques in textiles, iron making and other industries.

When Was the Industrial Revolution?

Though a few innovations were developed as early as the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution began in earnest by the 1830s and 1840s in Britain, and soon spread to the rest of the world, including the United States.

Modern historians often refer to this period as the First Industrial Revolution, to set it apart from a second period of industrialization that took place from the late 19th to early 20th centuries and saw rapid advances in the steel, electric and automobile industries. 

Spinning Jenny

Thanks in part to its damp climate, ideal for raising sheep, Britain had a long history of producing textiles like wool, linen and cotton. But prior to the Industrial Revolution, the British textile business was a true “cottage industry,” with the work performed in small workshops or even homes by individual spinners, weavers and dyers.

Starting in the mid-18th century, innovations like the spinning jenny (a wooden frame with multiple spindles), the flying shuttle, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster and required less time and far less human labor.

More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and abroad, where the British Empire’s many overseas colonies provided a captive market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also adopted new innovations.

Chief among the new techniques was the smelting of iron ore with coke (a material made by heating coal) instead of the traditional charcoal. This method was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material, enabling Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in response to demand created by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the later growth of the railroad industry. 

Impact of Steam Power 

An icon of the Industrial Revolution broke onto the scene in the early 1700s, when Thomas Newcomen designed the prototype for the first modern steam engine . Called the “atmospheric steam engine,” Newcomen’s invention was originally applied to power the machines used to pump water out of mine shafts.

In the 1760s, Scottish engineer James Watt began tinkering with one of Newcomen’s models, adding a separate water condenser that made it far more efficient. Watt later collaborated with Matthew Boulton to invent a steam engine with a rotary motion, a key innovation that would allow steam power to spread across British industries, including flour, paper, and cotton mills, iron works, distilleries, waterworks and canals.

Just as steam engines needed coal, steam power allowed miners to go deeper and extract more of this relatively cheap energy source. The demand for coal skyrocketed throughout the Industrial Revolution and beyond, as it would be needed to run not only the factories used to produce manufactured goods, but also the railroads and steamships used for transporting them.

When a Horse Raced Against a Locomotive During the Industrial Revolution

An 1830 battle between steam and horse power marked the moment when the Industrial Revolution changed transportation forever.

The Original Luddites Raged Against the Machine of the Industrial Revolution

Uprisings against a new economic structure imposed by the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the insult "luddite."

The Spies Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution

From water‑powered textile mills, to mechanical looms, much of the machinery that powered America's early industrial success was "borrowed" from Europe.

Transportation During the Industrial Revolution

Britain’s road network, which had been relatively primitive prior to industrialization, soon saw substantial improvements, and more than 2,000 miles of canals were in use across Britain by 1815.

In the early 1800s, Richard Trevithick debuted a steam-powered locomotive, and in 1830 similar locomotives started transporting freight (and passengers) between the industrial hubs of Manchester and Liverpool. By that time, steam-powered boats and ships were already in wide use, carrying goods along Britain’s rivers and canals as well as across the Atlantic.

Banking and Communication in the Industrial Revolution

In 1776, Scottish social philosopher Adam Smith , who is regarded as the founder of modern economics, published The Wealth of Nations . In it, Smith promoted an economic system based on free enterprise, the private ownership of means of production, and lack of government interference.

Banks and industrial financiers soon rose to new prominence during this period, as well as a factory system dependent on owners and managers. A stock exchange was established in London in the 1770s; the New York Stock Exchange was founded in the early 1790s.

The latter part of the Industrial Revolution also saw key advances in communication methods, as people increasingly saw the need to communicate efficiently over long distances. In 1837, British inventors William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the first commercial telegraphy system, even as Samuel Morse and other inventors worked on their own versions in the United States.

Cooke and Wheatstone’s system would be used for railroad signaling, as the speed of the new steam-powered trains created a need for more sophisticated means of communication.

Labor Movement 

Though many people in Britain had begun moving to the cities from rural areas before the Industrial Revolution, this process accelerated dramatically with industrialization, as the rise of large factories turned smaller towns into major cities over the span of decades. This rapid urbanization brought significant challenges, as overcrowded cities suffered from pollution, inadequate sanitation, miserable housing conditions and a lack of safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, even as industrialization increased economic output overall and improved the standard of living for the middle and upper classes, poor and working class people continued to struggle. The mechanization of labor created by technological innovation had made working in factories increasingly tedious (and sometimes dangerous), and many workers—including children—were forced to work long hours for pitifully low wages.

Such dramatic changes and abuses fueled opposition to industrialization worldwide, including the “ Luddites ,” known for their violent resistance to changes in Britain’s textile industry.

Did you know? The word "luddite" refers to a person who is opposed to technological change. The term is derived from a group of early 19th century English workers who attacked factories and destroyed machinery as a means of protest. They were supposedly led by a man named Ned Ludd, though he may have been an apocryphal figure.

In the decades to come, outrage over substandard working and living conditions would fuel the formation of labor unions , as well as the passage of new child labor laws and public health regulations in both Britain and the United States, all aimed at improving life for working class and poor citizens who had been negatively impacted by industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution in the United States

The beginning of industrialization in the United States is usually pegged to the opening of a textile mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793 by the recent English immigrant Samuel Slater. Slater had worked at one of the mills opened by Richard Arkwright (inventor of the water frame) mills, and despite laws prohibiting the emigration of textile workers, he brought Arkwright’s designs across the Atlantic. He later built several other cotton mills in New England, and became known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

The United States followed its own path to industrialization, spurred by innovations “borrowed” from Britain as well as by homegrown inventors like Eli Whitney . Whitney’s 1793 invention of the cotton gin (short for “engine”) revolutionized the nation’s cotton industry (and strengthened the hold of slavery over the cotton-producing South).

By the end of the 19th century, with the so-called Second Industrial Revolution underway, the United States would also transition from a largely agrarian society to an increasingly urbanized one, with all the attendant problems.

By the mid-19th century, industrialization was well-established throughout the western part of Europe and America’s northeastern region. By the early 20th century, the U.S. had become the world’s leading industrial nation.

How the Industrial Revolution Fueled the Growth of Cities

The rise of mills and factories drew an influx of people to cities—and placed new demand on urban infrastructures.

7 Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution

While the Industrial Revolution generated new opportunities and economic growth, it also introduced pollution and acute hardships for workers.

8 Groundbreaking Inventions from the Second Industrial Revolution

The period between the late 1800s and the early 1900s saw a boom in innovations that would take the world by storm.

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Historians continue to debate many aspects of industrialization, including its exact timeline, why it began in Britain as opposed to other parts of the world and the idea that it was actually more of a gradual evolution than a revolution. The positives and negatives of the Industrial Revolution are complex.

On one hand, unsafe working conditions were rife and environmental pollution from coal and gas are legacies we still struggle with today. On the other, the move to cities and ingenious inventions that made clothing, communication and transportation more affordable and accessible to the masses changed the course of world history.

Regardless of these questions, the Industrial Revolution had a transformative economic, social and cultural impact, and played an integral role in laying the foundations for modern society. 

Photo Galleries

Robert C. Allen, The Industrial Revolution: A Very Short Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007  Claire Hopley, “A History of the British Cotton Industry.” British Heritage Travel , July 29, 2006 William Rosen, The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention . New York: Random House, 2010 Gavin Weightman, The Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World, 1776-1914 . New York: Grove Press, 2007 Matthew White, “Georgian Britain: The Industrial Revolution.” British Library , October 14, 2009 

HISTORY Vault: 101 Inventions That Changed the World

Take a closer look at the inventions that have transformed our lives far beyond our homes (the steam engine), our planet (the telescope) and our wildest dreams (the internet).

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Subscription Offers

Give a Gift

The Industrial Revolution: Why Britain Got There First

The search for an explanation for why Britain was the first nation to industrialise.

Underpinning my analysis is the recent work of Professor Nicholas Crafts, Professor of Economics and Economic History at the University of Warwick. In November the Legatum Institute welcomed Professor Crafts to explore the question: ‘why Britain got there first?’

What do we understand by ‘Britain was first to industrialise’? Professor Crafts is one of the leading scholars unpacking the Industrial Revolution and his work reveals a number of salient points. First, there was no great ‘take-off’ in industrialisation or productivity: in Britain industrial employment increased by just 12% between 1759 and 1851, similarly total factor productivity increased by just 0.4% a year until the 1830s. By 20th century standards such growth was underwhelming.

Second, the ‘great divergence’ had already occurred by the time Britain was industrialising. Real GDP per person was far higher in Britain, the Netherlands and Italy than in China by 1600: the West was far ahead of the rest by the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Third, Crafts shows that industrialisation was concentrated in a limited number of sectors, such as textiles, and largely bypassed the service industries.

Despite these reservations, something remarkable did occur. By the middle of the 19th century Britain accounted for 23% of global industrial production, British workers were the richest in Europe, and comparatively few of them worked on the land. What is clear is that this unique position was not the result of a century of rapid change; Britain’s was a slower, more incremental revolution than previously thought.

How to explain this revolution? Three different historians offer an economic, a social and a genetic explanation, yet, to differing degrees, all three are found wanting.

Most successful is Robert Allen who puts forth a compelling argument in The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective . Britain’s success was the result of relative prices and market potential. Allen argues that in Britain wages were high, while capital and energy were cheap. Britain also provided a large market for manufactured products. The result was that it made sense to invest in the spinning jenny in England, while it did not in France.

However, this picture is too simplistic. While British workers were paid more than their French counterparts, even at lower French wages, adopting the jenny would still have been profitable (albeit less so). Similarly, American workers were paid more than their British counterparts, but industrialisation did not take off there.

Joel Mokyr in The Enlightened Economy: an Economic History of Britain 1700-1850 posits that the Enlightenment meant that Britain was best positioned to take advantage of the ideas and equipment of the age. While many European states benefited from the Enlightenment, Britain was alone in possessing an adequate supply of skilled craftsmen who were afforded the freedom to be entrepreneurial. Mokyr’s theory incorporates many of the elements that economists have identified as important for economic growth such as human and physical capital, research and development and effective institutions.

Nevertheless his work is somewhat light on evidence. For every piece of effective government legislation of the period, such as the repealing of the Corn Laws, there is a counterpoint of deleterious action, such as the failure to effectively regulate the railways. Similarly, for every Baconian experimenter such as Josiah Wedgwood who would have encountered Enlightenment ideas, there many, such as Richard Arkwright, who were less likely to have been raised on Enlightenment teaching.

Least successful is Gregory Clark who moves further from the realm of inductive reasoning than Mokyr. Clark in A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World argues that Britain’s Industrial Revolution was a rapid transformation bought about by demographic and genetic changes. The salient point in Clark’s account is that the higher birth rates of the upper classes meant that their offspring formed an increasingly large part of the British population. As they did so they spread their genes and work ethic through a larger swathe of the populace, powering the Industrial Revolution.

Clark’s claim is controversial but thankfully statistics can be used to evaluate it. Clark is correct that some of the upper classes had higher birth rates than other segments of the population; however, this was also the case in many other European countries and in China. So why was Britain’s experience unique? Unfortunately Clark fails to give an answer to this question and his overall thesis, that Britain experienced particularly rapid change around 1800, fails to account for the data assembled by Crafts and outlined above. In this case statistics are clearly the antidote to an unsubstantiated theory.

In all disciplines there is a struggle between facts and theories. For years this was the state of affairs in economics, as mathematical models replaced engagement with facts and data. Historians would be wise to not to repeat this mistake. Crafts and others like him are doing the discipline a great service by providing the evidence with which to examine competing claims. Doing so may result in the dismissal of more theories than in their generation but as Thomas Edison said:

Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don't.

Stephen Clarke is a Research Analyst at the Legatum Institute, London.

The Legatum Institute is currently running the History of Capitalism Programme , a series of lectures which explores the origins and development of a movement of thought and endeavour which has transformed the human condition.

Related Articles

Sex and the Industrial Revolution

Popular articles

‘Hitler’s People’ by Richard Evans review

The Assassination of Robert Kennedy

Industrial Revolution and Technology

Whether it was mechanical inventions or new ways of doing old things, innovations powered the Industrial Revolution.

Social Studies, World History

Steam Engine Queens Mill

The use of steam-powered machines in cotton production pushed Britain’s economic development from 1750 to 1850. Built more than 100 years ago, this steam engine still powers the Queens Mill textile factory in Burnley, England, United Kingdom.

Photograph by Ashley Cooper

It has been said that the Industrial Revolution was the most profound revolution in human history, because of its sweeping impact on people’s daily lives. The term “industrial revolution” is a succinct catchphrase to describe a historical period, starting in 18th-century Great Britain, where the pace of change appeared to speed up. This acceleration in the processes of technical innovation brought about an array of new tools and machines. It also involved more subtle practical improvements in various fields affecting labor, production, and resource use. The word “technology” (which derives from the Greek word techne , meaning art or craft) encompasses both of these dimensions of innovation. The technological revolution, and that sense of ever-quickening change, began much earlier than the 18th century and has continued all the way to the present day. Perhaps what was most unique about the Industrial Revolution was its merger of technology with industry. Key inventions and innovations served to shape virtually every existing sector of human activity along industrial lines, while also creating many new industries. The following are some key examples of the forces driving change. Agriculture Western European farming methods had been improving gradually over the centuries. Several factors came together in 18th-century Britain to bring about a substantial increase in agricultural productivity. These included new types of equipment, such as the seed drill developed by Jethro Tull around 1701. Progress was also made in crop rotation and land use, soil health, development of new crop varieties, and animal husbandry . The result was a sustained increase in yields, capable of feeding a rapidly growing population with improved nutrition. The combination of factors also brought about a shift toward large-scale commercial farming, a trend that continued into the 19th century and later. Poorer peasants had a harder time making ends meet through traditional subsistence farming. The enclosure movement, which converted common-use pasture land into private property, contributed to this trend toward market-oriented agriculture. A great many rural workers and families were forced by circumstance to migrate to the cities to become industrial laborers. Energy Deforestation in England had led to a shortage of wood for lumber and fuel starting in the 16th century. The country’s transition to coal as a principal energy source was more or less complete by the end of the 17th century. The mining and distribution of coal set in motion some of the dynamics that led to Britain’s industrialization. The coal-fired steam engine was in many respects the decisive technology of the Industrial Revolution. Steam power was first applied to pump water out of coal mines. For centuries, windmills had been employed in the Netherlands for the roughly similar operation of draining low-lying flood plains. Wind was, and is, a readily available and renewable energy source, but its irregularity was considered a drawback. Water power was a more popular energy source for grinding grain and other types of mill work in most of preindustrial Europe. By the last quarter of the 18th century, however, thanks to the work of the Scottish engineer James Watt and his business partner Matthew Boulton, steam engines achieved a high level of efficiency and versatility in their design. They swiftly became the standard power supply for British, and, later, European industry. The steam engine turned the wheels of mechanized factory production. Its emergence freed manufacturers from the need to locate their factories on or near sources of water power. Large enterprises began to concentrate in rapidly growing industrial cities. Metallurgy In this time-honored craft, Britain’s wood shortage necessitated a switch from wood charcoal to coke, a coal product, in the smelting process. The substitute fuel eventually proved highly beneficial for iron production. Experimentation led to some other advances in metallurgical methods during the 18th century. For example, a certain type of furnace that separated the coal and kept it from contaminating the metal, and a process of “puddling” or stirring the molten iron, both made it possible to produce larger amounts of wrought iron. Wrought iron is more malleable than cast iron and therefore more suitable for fabricating machinery and other heavy industrial applications. Textiles The production of fabrics, especially cotton, was fundamental to Britain’s economic development between 1750 and 1850. Those are the years historians commonly use to bracket the Industrial Revolution. In this period, the organization of cotton production shifted from a small-scale cottage industry, in which rural families performed spinning and weaving tasks in their homes, to a large, mechanized, factory-based industry. The boom in productivity began with a few technical devices, including the spinning jenny, spinning mule, and power loom. First human, then water, and finally steam power were applied to operate power looms, carding machines, and other specialized equipment. Another well-known innovation was the cotton gin, invented in the United States in 1793. This device spurred an increase in cotton cultivation and export from U.S. slave states, a key British supplier. Chemicals This industry arose partly in response to the demand for improved bleaching solutions for cotton and other manufactured textiles. Other chemical research was motivated by the quest for artificial dyes, explosives, solvents , fertilizers, and medicines, including pharmaceuticals. In the second half of the 19th century, Germany became the world’s leader in industrial chemistry. Transportation Concurrent with the increased output of agricultural produce and manufactured goods arose the need for more efficient means of delivering these products to market. The first efforts toward this end in Europe involved constructing improved overland roads. Canals were dug in both Europe and North America to create maritime corridors between existing waterways. Steam engines were recognized as useful in locomotion, resulting in the emergence of the steamboat in the early 19th century. High-pressure steam engines also powered railroad locomotives, which operated in Britain after 1825. Railways spread rapidly across Europe and North America, extending to Asia in the latter half of the 19th century. Railroads became one of the world’s leading industries as they expanded the frontiers of industrial society.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Production Managers

Program specialists, last updated.

October 19, 2023

User Permissions

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service .

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources

Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Britain?

Do you know why the industrial revolution began in britain it turned out that the nation was very fertile ground for it..

Christopher McFadden

National Library of Wales/Wikimedia Commons

• The Industrial Revolution , which began in Britain in the late 18th century, marked a significant turning point in human history.
• It transformed the goods produced, leading to widespread social and economic changes.
• But why did the Industrial Revolution start in Britain and not elsewhere?

Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain? Was it because they were particularly ingenious and industrial people or just luck of history? Various theories have been proposed, but which, if any, hit the nail on the head? Let’s take a look at one particularly interesting one. 

What was the Industrial Revolution?

The Industrial Revolution is widely accepted to have occurred between the 1760s and the First World War. This period was marked by massive worldwide technological, socioeconomic, and geopolitical changes.

Throughout this period, society transitioned from a larger agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine-based fabrication. Technological innovation throughout the period changed many aspects of life and how we work beyond all recognition. 

Petar Milošević/Wikimedia

The term “ Industrial Revolution ” was first coined by early French writers but would become popularized by the English economic historian Arnold Toynbee in the 19th Century. 

While Toynbee’s definition covered the period between 1760 and 1840, it is more widely applied to the process of economic transformation from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy rather than a rigidly defined period. 

This is why some countries today are sometimes described as undergoing their own “ industrial revolutions .” 

Why did Great Britain start the Industrial Revolution?

Historians have postulated various reasons why the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. But perhaps one of the most convincing is the argument put forward by Turkish-American economist Daron Acemoğlu and British political scientist James A. Robinson in their fascinating book “Why Nations Fail” . 

Tama66/Pixabay

By their estimation , it is no accident that the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. However, the very fact Britain had reached a point where it was fertile ground for the Revolution is part chance and part cultural development. In short, they argue that meaningful  changes in history , like the Fall of Rome, the Black Plague , the signing of the Magna Carta , the break with Rome that occurred during  the Reformation , and the Glorious Revolution , had initially small but cumulatively profound effects over time. In a sense, it can be likened to Chaos Theory , where small changes in initial conditions can result in a very different result when all else is equal.

Of course, the path of history is not always linear, if ever. There had been various regressive events in British history before the Industrial Revolution. The English Civil War and the following Puritanical tyrannical rule of Oliver Cromwell  are notable examples. However, some have argued that this eventually led to a cementing of Protestant ethics in British culture and a transfer of power from the monarch to the British Government in its aftermath.

According to Acemoğlu and Robinson, once the path had been set for a more significant rule of law, development of inclusive institutions in society, greater property rights, and an openness to creative destruction in social and economic institutions, the Industrial Revolution was all but guaranteed in the United Kingdom. In case you are not aware, creative destruction is the economic term that describes how capitalism leads to a constantly changing economic structure, including the dismantling of long-standing practices to make way for new production methods. 

Old industries and firms, which are no longer profitable, close down, enabling the resources (capital and labor) to move into more productive processes and areas. The so-called disruptive technologies like railroads, the internet, etc., are prime examples of creative destruction. 

Aloahwild/Wikimedia Commons

As the authors put it, “inclusive economic institutions… are those that allow and encourage participation by the great mass of people in economic activities that make the best use of their talents and skills.” But this had been bought and paid for in much blood and political struggle beforehand — like many monumental historical events. 

Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Great Britain in the 1750s?

While developing inclusive institutions was vitally important in allowing the Industrial Revolution to happen, they were not the whole story. Inclusive institutions “bestow equal rights and entitlements and enable equal opportunities, voice, and access to resources and services. They are typically based on principles of universality, non-discrimination, or targeted action.”

Other factors played their part too. The seeds were sown, quite literally, thanks to the English  agricultural revolution , which included a move to high-yield crops, crop rotation, the clearing of woodland, and other new methods in agriculture, which enabled the production of food surplus and excess population growth.

Population growth led to an excess of labor, which was attracted to larger population centers in search of work and fortune. As a result of earlier changes, banks had become more inclusive institutions in that they lent money to those other than the aristocracy. They could provide capital to merchants and entrepreneurs to build new technologies and companies that they might previously have been able to afford to do.

myshkovsky/iStock

Importantly, the rule of law and greater property rights, stemming partly from a power transfer away from the monarch and toward the Parliament, also promoted investment and risk-taking. Large, capital-hungry structures like factories could now be built on credit. 

The granting of patents was also formalized around this time into a legally binding system. This further created confidence for investors and inventors to take a gamble.

Britain also had a wealth of coal , iron, and other resources in a relatively small area, which would help kick-start the Industrial Revolution . Its growing Colonial Empire also provided a ready-made (and captive) market for surplus goods, providing further impetus for entrepreneurs and new industrialists.

Initial developments occurred in the cotton industry with the development of the spinning jenny, flying shuttle, power loom, and the application of the steam engine to drive machinery, which sped up cloth production tremendously. Very soon, other industries would benefit from industrialization. 

Clem Rutter/Wikimedia Commons

The Industrial Revolution was one of human history’s most essential and transformational periods. For good or bad, the modern world would not exist without the events that laid the foundations for it and its aftermath. 

Perhaps, if Britain’s history had run more parallel with that of mainland Europe , where monarchies held more power for longer, it would have happened much later, begun in a different place, or even not occurred at all. But, of course, like any discussions on alternative histories, we will never know for sure. 

And that is your lot for today.

The Industrial Revolution in Britain was a complex phenomenon shaped by various factors, ranging from the availability of natural resources to the cultural and institutional landscape of the country. The interplay of these factors created a unique set of conditions that allowed for rapid technological and economic progress.

While the Industrial Revolution brought many benefits, such as increased productivity and living standards, it faced challenges and negative consequences. Understanding the lessons of the past can help us navigate the complex challenges facing our world today and build a better future for all.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

The blueprint daily.

Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.

By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Christopher McFadden Christopher graduated from Cardiff University in 2004 with a Masters Degree in Geology. Since then, he has worked exclusively within the Built Environment, Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Consultancy industries. He is a qualified and accredited Energy Consultant, Green Deal Assessor and Practitioner member of IEMA. Chris’s main interests range from Science and Engineering, Military and Ancient History to Politics and Philosophy.

POPULAR ARTICLES

Shimano patents wireless, electric cycling shoes that adjust automatically , watch: disney’s 2-step technique transforms raw data into robot dance moves, tiny might: nanoparticles with huge surface area created to capture carbon, astron’s hydrogen engine achieves record 60% efficiency with 0 emissions, related articles.

127 missiles, 109 drones: Russia bombs Ukraine in one of the biggest attacks on energy

UN deploys unique 3D printer to build homes from dirt, waste in Columbia

Buildings to homes: Microsoft grabs 100% of Singapore’s largest solar project

Tiny 8mm mind-reading chip turns thoughts into text with 91% accuracy

Why Did the Industrial Revolution Start in Britain?

94 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2015 Last revised: 7 Dec 2015

Leif van Neuss

University of Liège - HEC Management School

Date Written: December 7, 2015

The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrated overview of the literature devoted to identifying the causes of the British industrial revolution. Why did the industrial revolution, a fascinating and multifaceted event which brought about modern economic growth, occur in eighteenth-century Britain? This question has animated a lot of discussions among scholars and is still nowadays heatedly debated in the literature. This debate is reflected in the large spectrum of theories which aim at explaining the true origins of the British industrialization. The paper first sheds light on a rising debate concerning the evolution of British incomes per capita before the British industrial revolution and the “Great Divergence”. The paper then investigates the proposed causes of the British industrialization, aggregating them into seven broad categories, i.e. (1) geography and natural resources, (2) demography, (3) agricultural progress, (4) urbanization and consumer revolution, (5) trade and empire, (6) institutional and political factors, (7) science, technology, and human capital.

Keywords: economic history, industrial revolution

JEL Classification: N, O10, O30

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Leif Van Neuss (Contact Author)

University of liège - hec management school ( email ).

Boulevard du Rectorat 7 (B31) LIEGE, Liege 4000 Belgium

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics, related ejournals, macroeconomics: prices, business fluctuations, & cycles ejournal.

Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic

Economic History eJournal

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in England and what factors led to the “Great Divergence?

In a little over a century from around 1750 to 1850 Britain went from being a largely pastoral, farming population to a country of industrialized cities and factories. This tremendous transition, usually referred to as the Industrial Revolution, marked a big turning point in history as it was the first time a country was able to escape from the Malthusian constraints and experience large continuous economic growth and massively increase productivity. However, while there is great consensus for when the Industrial Revolution took place and that it first occurred in Britain, there is heavy debate over its origins and why Britain was first. Although, this essay will acknowledge the wide and complex variety of possible explanations, it will focus on institutions as they have played a crucial role as a foundation for the Industrial Revolution to take place in Britain. The British institutions were important in creating a more egalitarian society, supporting economic growth and encouraging technological innovation and the industrialization that eventually occurred around the world significantly explains the great inequality among nations today. This essay will refer to institutions as sets of informal and formal rules and organizations that impact the distribution of power, and by aggregations of ethics, morals, procedures and guidelines stabilize interaction (Hall, 1986, North, 1990; Peters & Pierre, 1998; Wiens, 2012). Firstly, this essay will argue that British institutions played an extensive part in decreasing the powers of the executives as education increased and a growing middle class emerged which resulted in a relatively freer and more equal society than elsewhere in the world. Secondly, institutions were imperative for Britain’s economic growth and for the maintenance of comparatively high wages at the time. Thirdly, high wages, as well as institutions such as the patent system, guilds and commons motivated industries and individuals to innovate. Lastly, the great inequality among nations in the world today can be highly explained by the onset of industrialization around the world. COURSE: 1003GIR Globalization the Asia-Pacific & Australia. 10.09.12

Related Papers

Maija Šenfelde , Alise Vitola

We survey significant literature on the role of institutions in industrial revolution. Literature shows that institutions played an important role in facilitating technological progress and thus overcoming Malthusian stagnation. The interaction of economic power, economic and political institutions created the circumstances in which industrial revolution could happen. The decrease in transaction costs led to an expansion of markets. It provided further incentives to improve institutions, as well as to increase the exchange of knowledge and innovation, thus leading to the modern economic regime.

Judit Kapas

Elisa Durán Rubí

Lucy Vincent

During the Industrial Revolution, Britain experienced significant technological change in a shift towards modern economic growth. The institutional environment created by the Enlightenment is often seen as a source of this change with reduced rent-seeking, shifting scientific attitudes and legislative changes. This essay analyses the necessary conditions for technological change, the areas where it was focused and considers international comparisons to illustrate that Britain's unique factor prices were instead the dominant determinant of the technological change, which was complemented by its institutions. Britain's unique combination of factor prices created strong economic incentives to drive technological growth. Britain had significantly high silver wages relative to other

Journal of Institutional Economics

Was technological progress during and after the Industrial Revolution top-down or bottom-up? The technology that created the great inventions was driven by a combination of pathbreaking ideas and the dexterity and skills of trained artisans. While those forms of human capital were quite different, they both came out of small elites of intellectuals and craftsmen, what are rapidly becoming known as “upper-tail human capital.” I analyze the institutions that drove the incentives for both, and show that they came together to produce the Great Enrichment. These incentives were both material and social: between 1500 and 1700, the search for financial security and reputation cooperated in producing a unique institutional environment in which the elites in Western Europe produced the three legged-stool of European modernity: the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. Once these three movements had succeeded, the foundation for modern economic growth had been laid.

orngu Victor Gbashinbo

The industrial revolution, which started in Britain before sweeping through Europe and the USA, is traditionally viewed as the deepest mutation ever known to have affected men since Neolithic times. As Cipolla (1975:7) contended: “Between 1780 and 1850, in less than three generations, a far-reaching revolution, without precedent in the history of Mankind, changed the face of England. From then on, the world was no longer the same. Historians have often used and abused the word revolution to mean a radical change, but no revolution has been as dramatically revolutionary as the Industrial Revolution, except perhaps the Neolithic Revolution” . The industrial revolution shaped the face of new industrial and economically successful societies by modifying their social and economic structures and destabilizing all established hierarchies. It eventually influenced every aspect of people’s daily life. Thanks to the introduction of new high-impact inventions into the world of production, which emerged in a changing intellectual environment, the human power of production was released in a spectacular way. The industrial revolution indeed witnessed an explosion of the production of various manufactured goods such as textile items and metal products. Equipped with new technologies, the industrializing economies were henceforth able to produce an increasingly larger quantity of products to answer the basic needs of a growing population characterized by new consumption habits and aspirations. The industrial growth was accompanied by the large-scale development of the transport infrastructure (roads, canals and railroads) that contributed to expanding the markets and speeding up the commercial flows. The factory system, a new form of labor organization, developed progressively and started to regulate people’s life as never before. Combined with the modernization of agriculture, the industrial revolution moreover accelerated the urbanization process in the industrializing countries. It also witnessed the emergence of a new social structure characterized by the consecration of a more-and-more powerful and influential bourgeoisie, animated by a rising capitalist spirit, and the birth of a new working class sometimes called “the proletariat”. All these changes helped to transform the societies which successfully undertook an industrial revolution and move their economy on a new growth trajectory. The industrial revolution is to some extent the birth certificate of the modern world.

Asmat ullah

Leonard Dudley

What does it take for a society to be able to innovate? According to recent historical studies by Mokyr (2009), Allen (2009) and Acemoglu & Robinson (2012), the society’s institutions must be able to meet its needs, as expressed by factor prices. However, this approach fails to explain why between 1700 and 1850, the well-organized markets of the commercially-oriented Netherlands failed to generate innovation while the lesscompetitive markets of absolutist France yielded numerous key technologies. This paper presents a complementary approach that emphasizes social networks, distinguishing between cooperative and non-cooperative innovations. The empirical results, based on data covering 117 important innovations and 201 regions in ten countries, suggest that ideology and factor prices played a role for the simpler non-cooperative subset. However, for the more complex cooperative innovations, the keys were literacy, language standardization and the openness of the social structure.

Cliff Bekar , R. Lipsey

Isaias Rivera

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Christopher Wright

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics

Cormac O Grada

Essays in Economic & Business History, 41: 1-30

Stefano Agnoletto

Charles Bamforth

Brian A'Hearn

Britain and the World

Ralph Austen

Macroeconomic Dynamics

Samuel Pessoa

Emma Griffin

Industrial Policy and Development

Björn Johnson

Asia Pacific Journal of Management

David Ahlstrom

Serge Svizzero

CEPAL Review

José Antonio Alonso

Branko Milanovic

Baher Hussein

in S. Ogilvie and M. Cerman (ed.), European Proto-Industrialization. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 23-37.

Sheilagh Ogilvie

Heba Salama

Journal of Management History

Benson Honig

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Home — Essay Samples — History — British Industrial Revolution — The Industrial Revolution in Britain: An Epoch of Innovation and Change

The Industrial Revolution in Britain: an Epoch of Innovation and Change

• Categories: British Industrial Revolution Great Britain

About this sample

Words: 1061 |

Published: Dec 12, 2018

Words: 1061 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

The catalysts of change, technological advancements and innovations, social transformations and challenges, hook examples for industrial revolution essay.

• A Time Machine: Imagine stepping into a time machine and journeying back to the heart of the 18th century. Join me as we explore the revolutionary transformation that swept through Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
• An Intriguing Quote: Charles Dickens once wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” These words encapsulate the paradox of the Industrial Revolution. Let’s delve into the profound changes and challenges it brought to British society.
• A Tale of Innovation: From steam engines to cotton mills, the Industrial Revolution was a hotbed of innovation. Explore with me how these technological advancements reshaped the British landscape and economy.
• A Social Revolution: Beyond machinery, the Industrial Revolution unleashed a social upheaval. Join me in unraveling the impact on workers, families, and the dynamics of class during this transformative period.
• A Global Perspective: The Industrial Revolution not only altered Britain but also had ripple effects around the world. Discover how this pivotal moment in history shaped global trade, imperialism, and the course of human progress.

Works Cited

• Investopedia. (2021). American Dream.
• Locke, J. (1690). Two Treatises of Government.
• Rousseau, J. J. (1762). The Social Contract.
• The Constitution of the United States. (n.d.).
• The Declaration of Independence. (1776).
• Pew Research Center. (2021). Global views on morality. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/06/24/global-views-on-morality/
• Smith, B. (2003). The First Amendment Center.
• Tocqueville, A. D. (1835). Democracy in America. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm
• United Nations. (n.d.). Human Rights.
• United States Census Bureau. (2021). Educational Attainment in the United States: 2020. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/education-2021.html

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: History Geography & Travel

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1449 words

3 pages / 1335 words

5 pages / 2258 words

3 pages / 1521 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on British Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution, a transformative period in human history, marked the shift from agrarian and handcraft-based economies to industrial and mechanized ones. It brought about unprecedented technological advancements, [...]

In an era marked by the rapid proliferation of technological innovations and a surging population, the advent of the Industrial Revolution not only represents a period of unparalleled expansion and progress but also signifies [...]

The world of Shakespeare has many beloved heros and loathed villains, but never so beloved a villain as Sir John Falstaff. Through his comic appearance and endless witticisms, this incorrigible rouge has won the affection of [...]

In Henry IV, Shakespeare presents a troubled England with a king whose grip on the throne is tenuous at best. Those who had supported his rise to the throne when he overthrew Richard II are now turning against him. The king even [...]

In his histories from Richard II through Henry V to Richard III, Shakespeare depicts the English monarchy as a game between family and friends of vying for a gold ring -- the crown. Shakespeare gives his reader a central [...]

Though Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part One is ostensibly about the titular character and his son, the future King Henry V, both Henry's are constantly upstaged by Sir John Falstaff. Falstaff is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved and [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Social Change in the British Industrial Revolution

Server costs fundraiser 2024.

The British Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) witnessed a great number of technical innovations, such as steam-powered machines, which resulted in new working practices, which in turn brought many social changes. More women and children worked than ever before, for the first time more people lived in towns and cities than in the countryside, people married younger and had more children, and people's diet improved. The workforce become much less skilled than previously, and many workplaces became unhealthy and dangerous. Cities suffered from pollution, poor sanitation, and crime. The urban middle class expanded, but there was still a wide and unbridgeable gap between the poor, the majority of whom were now unskilled labourers, and the rich, who were no longer measured by the land they owned but by their capital and possessions.

Urbanisation

The population of Britain rose dramatically in the 18th century, so much so that a nationwide census was conducted for the first time in 1801. The census was repeated every decade thereafter and showed interesting results. Between 1750 and 1851, Britain's population rose from 6 million to 21 million. London's population grew from 959,000 in 1801 to 3,254,000 in 1871. The population of Manchester in 1801 was 75,000 but 351,000 in 1871. Other cities witnessed similar growth. The 1851 census revealed that, for the first time, more people were living in towns and cities than in the countryside.

More young people meeting each other in a more confined urban setting meant marriages happened earlier, and the birth rate went up compared to societies in rural areas (which did rise, too, but to a lesser degree). For example, "In urban Lancashire in 1800, 40 per cent of 17-30-year-olds were married, compared to 19 per cent in rural Lancashire. In rural Britain, the average age of marriage was 27, in most industrial areas 24, and in mining areas about 20" (Shelley, 98).

Urbanisation did not mean there was no community spirit in towns and cities. Very often people living in the same street pulled together in a time of crisis. Communities around mines and textile mills were particularly close-knit with everyone being involved in the same profession and with a community spirit and pride fostered by such activities as a colliery or mill band. Workers also got together to form clubs to save up for an annual outing, usually to the seaside.

Life became cramped in the cities that had grown up around factories and coalfields. Many families were obliged to share the same cheaply-built home. "In Liverpool in the 1840s, 40,000 people were living in cellars, with an average of six people per cellar" (Armstrong, 188). Pollution became a serious problem in many places. Poor sanitation – few streets had running water or drains, and non-flushing toilets were often shared between households – led to the spread of diseases. In 1837, 1839, and 1847, there were typhus epidemics. In 1831 and 1849, there were cholera epidemics. Life expectancy rose because of better diet and new vaccinations, but infant mortality could be high in some periods, sometimes over 50% for the under-fives. Not until the 1848 Public Health Act did governments even begin to assume responsibility for improving sanitation, and even then local health boards were slow to form in reality. Another effect of urbanisation was the rise in petty crime. Criminals were now more confident of escaping detection in the ever-increasing anonymity of life in the cities.

Working Life

Male workers had opportunities as never before during the Industrial Revolution with the boom in mining, mechanised factories, shipbuilding, and the railways with their train stations and construction projects. Many of these jobs were unskilled, though, and those men who had skills like carpentry, textile weaving, and horse handling were, in many cases, replaced by machines. Men also faced much more competition from women, who were significantly cheaper in terms of wages. Those men who did find work secured a more stable wage than previously, but mechanised workplaces could be dangerous, and the work was often dull and repetitive. The factory system, where workers concentrated only on a specific part of the production process, meant that workers had little sense of achievement in the finished article as they might have done in the old domestic system where a worker produced a finished article.

Trade unions were established to protect workers' rights, but these were banned by law between 1799 and 1824. Even in the 1830s, many employers insisted that new hires sign a statement promising they were not and would not become members of a trade union. The more successful unions were those representing more skilled workers like engineers who could afford to contribute collectively so that their union had full-time workers to further the interests of its members. In this period, trade unions did not represent women or children.

A Gallery of 30 Industrial Revolution Inventions

Very often, women performed the same tasks as men in the workplace, since they were cheaper and few machines needed great physical strength to operate. Most women in factories were under 30 years of age, and the majority of these were teenagers. "A British survey undertaken in 1818 found that women comprised a little over half of the workers in cotton textiles" (Horn, 57). In Scottish factories, the figure was even higher. Further, in Manchester, for example, "the highest paid female factory worker made a quarter of what the highest paid male laborer earned" (Horn, 59).

In the mines, women were employed to carry heavy baskets of coal from the face to carts for transportation, which usually involved walking through water all day. Only the arrival of the 1842 Mines Act brought the prohibition of the employment of women, girls, and boys under 10 years of age from working underground. In the short term, many women lost their jobs, and families with only daughters suffered severe financial hardship as a result of these reforms.

More positively, during the Industrial Revolution, the increased ability of women to find employment meant that they had more independence than had been the case in more traditional rural communities. Young women could be financially independent of their parents earlier and, given the increased social contact, be more selective in their choice of husband (as could men, of course). In addition, by the 1850s, "married women were also slightly more likely to have children and to minimize the spacing between births" (Horn, 5).

Children worked the same 12-hour shifts that adults did but received a much lower pay (80% less than a male and 50% less than a female worker). Children, often as young as 5 but on average from 8 years old, had to perform specific tasks that adults could not, like hauling coal through narrow mine shafts or climbing under machines in factories to collect cotton waste. From 1800 to 1850, children composed between 20-50% of the mining workforce. In factories, children made up around one-third of the British workforce.

Children were either sent directly by their parents or found work on their own. There was also a system similar to indenture where parents received money from their parish in return for apprenticing their children to a factory owner. The practice was common, and it was not until 1816 that a limit was put on how far away the children were required to work – 64 km (40 mi).

In agriculture , children worked as they always had done, tending livestock and doing any menial task they were physically capable of. A development was the use of children in agricultural gangs, sent by their parish to perform seasonal tasks like helping with the harvest.

The education of many children was replaced by a working day, a choice often made by parents to supplement a meagre family income. There were some rudimentary schools such as village affairs, local Sunday Schools, and (only from 1844) the Ragged Schools which focused on the three Rs: reading, writing , and arithmetic. Even the cheapest schools cost one penny a day, which was not an insignificant burden on a working family. The schoolteachers were of varying quality, too, and the classroom was usually overcrowded as the teacher's only income was the fee from parents and so they were tempted to enroll as many pupils as space allowed.

Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter!

Some employers did offer education to their child and adult workers to learn to read and write. Nevertheless, education certainly took a back seat to work: "at least half of nominally school-age children worked full-time during the industrial revolution" (Horn, 57). Compulsory education for 5-to-12-year-olds and the institutions necessary to provide it would not come along until the 1870s. Literacy rates did improve in the 19th century, a development helped by the availability of cheap books made possible by economies of scale from papermaking machines and printing presses. The ability to write allowed people to take advantage of the cheap penny post system from 1840. Reading was also encouraged by the availability of cheap daily newspapers in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Lower, Middle, & Upper Classes

For the rich and powerful, land ownership, just as it always had been, remained a defining characteristic of society's elite. By 1876, a staggering 95% of the population did not own any land so, if anything, this group of great landowners became more concentrated than ever. However, there was another defining characteristic of the elite that joined land during the Industrial Revolution: capital. The very wealthy remained wealthy by investing in businesses directly, funding start-ups and inventors with loans in return for a future share of any profits, and buying shares in canal, railway, and shipbuilding companies. Private banks were a feature of a new and more prominent financial sector that helped those with money earn more of it.

Below the landowners and wealthy capitalist investors, there were the business owners who were given great power by the government's distinct lack of intervention in their affairs. Even when laws were finally passed from the 1830s that limited business owners, the consequent restrictions on working hours and health and safety regulations were rarely enforced due to a chronic lack of inspectors. There was no minimum wage, salaries were not related to inflation, and employees faced the ever-present threat of instant dismissal. In short, owners became richer while workers worked harder than ever and yet became relatively poorer.

The gulf between those at the bottom and the top widened. Factory workers, for example, had few transferable skills, and so they were stuck at their level of work. In the past, a handweaver might have saved, perhaps over many years, to form their own business with their own employees, but that method of climbing the social ladder now became much more difficult to access. To compete with larger factories, a serious investment in machinery was required that was far beyond the capabilities of the working class. Small farmers were another group that diminished as land rents increased and mechanisation favoured economies of scale so that individual farms became larger and fewer.

There was the possibility of rising through access to education, but this required an investment that few had. Apprenticeships continued to be a way for children to gain better employment than that of their parents, but again, with a hefty fee required up front and several years of unpaid work and study after, not everyone could follow this route. Some, like the multiple mill owner Robert Owen (1771-1858), did rise from the position of a lowly apprentice to become a great industrialist, but these were the exceptions that proved the rule. It is also notable that the majority of the inventors during the Industrial Revolution had received a good education, more often than not up to university level.

One's profession and social status certainly had a direct relation to one's health during the Industrial Revolution. In 1842, a doctor in Leeds, Dr Holland, collated the life expectancy of different societal groups. He found that the average life expectancy of manufacturers and the upper classes was 44 compared to 27 for shopkeepers and just 19 for labourers – lower than it had ever been.

An urban middle class grew up – around 25% of the population by 1800 – but many moved out of the increasingly cramped and dirty inner cities to new properties in the suburbs, often with a garden. Such professionals as engineers, scientists, lawyers, and so on could afford to keep servants to look after their children, keep the home tidy, and cook meals. The middle classes bought goods from new and elegant shops like the showroom of Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) in London. From the 1810s, new street lighting using coal gas made the streets safer to frequent at night, and so restaurants, theatres, and other entertainment establishments flourished. The middle classes, and the more prosperous shopkeepers and artisans, could afford to send their children to school or employ a private tutor.

The dawn of the Victorian period, from 1837, witnessed a strong upper- and middle-class public support for 'improving' the poorer classes by having them work harder and live 'cleaner' lives. Indeed, this often condescending moralism had begun earlier with the start of the Sunday school movement in 1780 and the Sunday School Society in 1785. There was a close link between religion and philanthropy since the majority of social reformers were Nonconformist Christians. In 1811, the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor was formed. This society and other similar philanthropic organisations demonstrate that there was a reaction of some sort by the middle classes, intellectuals, and artists against the indiscriminate use of labour in this new industrialised world of factories and overcrowded cities.

The standard of living did rise for most people during the Industrial Revolution, on average by around 30%, but only from the 1830s was this the experience of the lower classes. The situation of the poorest was made visible to the rest of the population through the growing interest in newspapers, pamphlets, and literature . Art such as Joshua Reynolds' The Age of Innocence (1788) and Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist (1837) helped to foster a new belief that children should be protected and poor adults should be given opportunities to better themselves or at least the lives of their children. Unfortunately, the reforms, investments, and institutions necessary to achieve this betterment would not be in place and effective until after the Industrial Revolution had passed.

Subscribe to topic Bibliography Related Content Books Cite This Work License

Bibliography

• Allen, Robert C. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective . Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Armstrong, Benjamin. Britain 1783-1885. Hodder Education, 2020.
• Corey, Melinda & Ochoa, George. The Encyclopedia of the Victorian World. Henry Holt & Co, 1996.
• Hepplewhite, Peter. All About. Wayland, 2016.
• Horn, Jeff. The Industrial Revolution . Greenwood, 2007.
• Humphries, Jane. Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution . Cambridge University Press, 2011.
• Shelley et al. Industrialisation and Social Change in Britian. PEARSON SCHOOLS, 2016.
• Yorke, Stan. The Industrial Revolution Explained. Countryside Books, 2005.

About the Author

Translations

We want people all over the world to learn about history. Help us and translate this article into another language!

Questions & Answers

What changed in society during the industrial revolution, what were the social problems of the industrial revolution, related content.

Vikings: Jewelry, Weapons & Social Change at The VIKINGR Exhibition

Climate Change & Disaster - Linking Antiquity and Present

British Industrial Revolution

Social Contract

Continuity and Change after the Fall of the Roman Empire

The Impact of the British Industrial Revolution

Free for the world, supported by you.

World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.

Recommended Books

Cite This Work

Cartwright, M. (2023, April 26). Social Change in the British Industrial Revolution . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2229/social-change-in-the-british-industrial-revolution/

Chicago Style

Cartwright, Mark. " Social Change in the British Industrial Revolution ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified April 26, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2229/social-change-in-the-british-industrial-revolution/.

Cartwright, Mark. " Social Change in the British Industrial Revolution ." World History Encyclopedia . World History Encyclopedia, 26 Apr 2023. Web. 26 Aug 2024.

License & Copyright

Submitted by Mark Cartwright , published on 26 April 2023. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike . This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution , the period in which agrarian and handicraft economies shifted rapidly to industrial and machine-manufacturing-dominated ones, began in the United Kingdom in the 18th century and later spread throughout many other parts of the world. This economic transformation changed not only how work was done and goods were produced, but it also altered how people related both to one another and to the planet at large. This wholesale change in societal organization continues today, and it has produced several effects that have rippled throughout Earth ’s political, ecological, and cultural spheres. The following list describes some of the great benefits as well as some of the significant shortcomings associated with the Industrial Revolution.

Pro: Goods Became More Affordable and More Accessible

Factories and the machines that they housed began to produce items faster and cheaper than could be made by hand. As the supply of various items rose, their cost to the consumer declined ( see supply and demand ). Shoes , clothing , household goods, tools , and other items that enhance people’s quality of life became more common and less expensive. Foreign markets also were created for these goods, and the balance of trade shifted in favor of the producer—which brought increased wealth to the companies that produced these goods and added tax revenue to government coffers. However, it also contributed to the wealth inequality between goods-producing and goods-consuming countries.

Pro: The Rapid Evolution of Labor-Saving Inventions

The rapid production of hand tools and other useful items led to the development of new types of tools and vehicles to carry goods and people from one place to another. The growth of road and rail transportation and the invention of the telegraph (and its associated infrastructure of telegraph—and later telephone and fiber optic —lines) meant that word of advances in manufacturing, agricultural harvesting, energy production, and medical techniques could be communicated between interested parties quickly. Labor-saving machines such as the spinning jenny (a multiple-spindle machine for spinning wool or cotton) and other inventions, especially those driven by electricity (such as home appliances and refrigeration) and fossil fuels (such as automobiles and other fuel-powered vehicles), are also well-known products of the Industrial Revolution.

Pro: The Rapid Evolution of Medicine

The Industrial Revolution was the engine behind various advances in medicine . Industrialization allowed medical instruments (such as scalpels, microscope lenses, test tubes, and other equipment) to be produced more quickly. Using machine manufacturing, refinements to these instruments could more efficiently roll out to the physicians that needed them. As communication between physicians in different areas improved, the details behind new cures and treatments for disease could be dispersed quickly, resulting in better care.

Pro: Enhanced Wealth and Quality of Life of the Average Person

Mass production lowered the costs of much-needed tools, clothes, and other household items for the common (that is, nonaristocratic) people, which allowed them to save money for other things and build personal wealth. In addition, as new manufacturing machines were invented and new factories were built, new employment opportunities arose. No longer was the average person so closely tied to land -related concerns (such as being dependent upon the wages farm labor could provide or the plant and animal products farms could produce). Industrialization reduced the emphasis on landownership as the chief source of personal wealth. The rising demand for manufactured goods meant that average people could make their fortunes in cities as factory employees and as employees of businesses that supported the factories, which paid better wages than farm-related positions. Generally speaking, people could save some portion of their wages, and many had the opportunity to invest in profitable businesses, thereby growing their family “nest eggs.” The subsequent growth of the middle class in the United Kingdom and other industrializing societies meant that it was making inroads into the pool of economic power held by the aristocracy . Their greater buying power and importance in society led to changes in laws that were updated to better handle the demands of an industrialized society.

Pro: The Rise of Specialist Professions

As industrialization progressed, more and more rural folk flocked to the cities in search of better pay in the factories. To increase the factories’ overall efficiency and to take advantage of new opportunities in the market, factory workers were trained to perform specialized tasks. Factory owners divided their workers into different groups, each group focusing on a specific task. Some groups secured and transported to the factories raw materials (namely iron , coal , and steel ) used in mass production of goods, while other groups operated different machines. Some groups of workers fixed machines when they broke down, while others were charged with making improvements to them and overall factory operation.

As the factories grew and workers became more specialized, additional teachers and trainers were needed to pass on specialized skills. In addition, the housing, transportation, and recreational needs of factory workers resulted in the rapid expansion of cities and towns. Governmental bureaucracies grew to support these, and new specialized departments were created to handle traffic, sanitation, taxation, and other services. Other businesses within the towns also became more specialized as more builders, physicians, lawyers, and other workers were added to handle the various needs of the new residents.

Con: Overcrowding of Cities and Industrial Towns

The promise of better wages attracted migrants to cities and industrial towns that were ill-prepared to handle them. Although initial housing shortages in many areas eventually gave way to construction booms and the development of modern buildings, cramped shantytowns made up of shacks and other forms of poor-quality housing appeared first. Local sewerage and sanitation systems were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of people, and drinking water was often contaminated. People living in such close proximity, fatigued by poor working conditions, and drinking unsafe water presented ideal conditions for outbreaks of typhus , cholera , smallpox , tuberculosis , and other infectious diseases. The need to treat these and other diseases in urban areas spurred medical advances and the development of modern building codes, health laws, and urban planning in many industrialized cities.

Con: Pollution and Other Environmental Ills

With relatively few exceptions, the world’s modern environmental problems began or were greatly exacerbated by the Industrial Revolution. To fuel the factories and to sustain the output of each and every type of manufactured good, natural resources (water, trees, soil, rocks and minerals, wild and domesticated animals, etc.) were transformed, which reduced the planet’s stock of valuable natural capital. The global challenges of widespread water and air pollution , reductions in biodiversity , destruction of wildlife habitat, and even global warming can be traced back to this moment in human history. The more countries industrialize in pursuit of their own wealth, the greater this ecological transformation becomes. For example, atmospheric carbon dioxide , a primary driver of global warming, existed in concentrations of 275 to 290 parts per million by volume (ppmv) before 1750 and increased to more than 400 ppmv by 2017. In addition, human beings use more than 40% of Earth’s land-based net primary production, a measure of the rate at which plants convert solar energy into food and growth. As the world’s human population continues to grow and more and more people strive for the material benefits promised by the Industrial Revolution, more and more of Earth’s resources are appropriated for human use, leaving a dwindling stock for the plants and animals upon whose ecosystem services (clean air, clean water, etc.) the biosphere depends.

Con: Poor Working Conditions

When factories sprung up in the cities and industrial towns, their owners prized production and profit over all else. Worker safety and wages were less important. Factory workers earned greater wages compared with agricultural workers, but this often came at the expense of time and less than ideal working conditions. Factory workers often labored 14–16 hours per day six days per week. Men’s meager wages were often more than twice those of women. The wages earned by children who worked to supplement family income were even lower. The various machines in the factory were often dirty, expelling smoke and soot, and unsafe, both of which contributed to accidents that resulted in worker injuries and deaths. The rise of labor unions, however, which began as a reaction to child labor, made factory work less grueling and less dangerous. During the first half of the 20th century, child labor was sharply curtailed, the workday was reduced substantially, and government safety standards were rolled out to protect the workers’ health and well-being.

Con: The Rise in Unhealthy Habits

As more cheap labor-saving devices become available, people performed less strenuous physical activity. While grueling farm-related labor was made far easier, and in many cases far safer, by replacing animal power and human power with tractors and other specialized vehicles to till the soil and plant and harvest crops, other vehicles, such as trains and automobiles , effectively reduced the amount of healthy exercise people partook in each day. Also, many professions that required large amounts of physical exertion outdoors were replaced by indoor office work, which is often sedentary. Such sedentary behaviors also occur away from work, as television programs and other forms of passive entertainment came to dominate leisure time. Added to this is the fact that many people eat food that has been processed with salt and sugar to help with its preservation, lower its cooking time, and increase its sweetness. Together, these lifestyle trends have led to increases in lifestyle-related diseases associated with obesity , such as heart disease , diabetes , and certain forms of cancer .