Reflection topic 3: Industrial Revolution

Topic:
Did the Industrial Revolution affect the way people lived, worked in the 19th century for the better or the worse? Explain your answer by providing examples.


The Industrial Revolution was a time of dramatic change, from hand tools and handmade items (manual labour), to products which were mostly produced by industry and the manufacture of machinery . Workers became more productive, and since more items were manufactured, prices dropped, making exclusive and hard to make items available to the poor and not only the rich and elite.


Life generally improved, but the industrial revolution also had its harmful side. Pollution increased, working conditions were harmful, and capitalists employed women and young children, making them work long and hard hours. The industrial revolution was a time for change for mostly the better, and some the worse.


The following is the series of events that formed the main part of the Industrial Revolution in British.

*Mechanisation of the textile industries - In the early 18th century, British textile manufacture was based on wool which was processed by individual artisans, doing the spinning and weaving on their own premises. This system is called a coltage industry. Flax and cotton were also used for fine materials, but the processing was difficult because of the pre-processing needed, and thus goods in these materials made only a small proportion of the output.
Use of the spinning wheel and hand loom restricted the production capacity of the industry, but incremental advances increased productivity to the extent that manufactured cotton goods became the dominant.

*Steam power - The improved steam engine invented by James Watt was initially mainly used for pumping out mines, but from the 1780s was applied to power machines. This enabled rapid development of efficient semi-automated factories on a previously unimaginable scale in places where waterpower was not available.

* Iron founding - In the Iron industry, coke was finally applied to all stages of iron smelting, replacing charcoal. This had been achieved much earlier for lead and copper as well as for producing pig iron in a blast furnace, but the second stage in the production of bar iron depended on the use of potting and stamping (for which a patent expired in 1786) or puddling (patented by Henry Cort in 1783 and 1784.

*Trade expansion - With the invention of the steamship, more Europeans could now sail to the east to obtain raw materials such as tin, and to sell their goods. At 1880s, many Europeans and American steamship made Singapore their port of call in this region. This meant that ships stopped at Singapore to refuel and obtain food supplies. Asians in Singapore also began to use steam ships to transport their goods between Singapore and other ports in the region. Singapore became and important port in the collection of the goods from the east and the distribution of manufactured goods from the West.


In my opinion,I thought that the Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological and culture conditions in the late 18th century and early 19th century as it affected the way the people lived,worked and interact in the good way!


done by:yu jia (15)
faith 2-1