outline for history essay

outline for history essay

The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Society

1. Introduction

The Industrial Revolution had a lasting effect on class structure, urbanization, and lifestyle. The period from 1750 to 1850 was marked by major industrial and technical developments. At the same time, in the economic sphere, it reduced the proportion of agricultural labor in favor of industry. In the first phase of the Industrial Revolution, agriculture was greatly improved in Europe, except for Ireland, which supplied housing to the workforce. It witnessed the birth of the industrial capitalist class and the radical modification of social organization with the eternal struggle between workers and employers. Out of the Industrial Revolution developed factories, as well as communication methods such as railways, shipbuilding, and transportation, and new methods of production such as assembly lines. The most advanced technologies were used in the more developed countries, mainly in Great Britain and the United States.

2. The Origins and Key Innovations of the Industrial Revolution

The first steam-powered vehicle was built by Nicolas Cugnot in 1769. This vehicle was extremely heavy, it went slowly and therefore was not commercially viable. However, in 1806, the first practical steam-powered vehicle was built by Oliver Evans. The vehicle had a stove for heating its boiler, and the steam went through a huge pipe. This pipe was made long to give the steam the time to cool (and shrink), creating a partial vacuum that pulled the vehicle. In 1830, George Stephenson built a practical steam-powered train. The train was successful, the British Parliament authorized its usage, and the British railway system was born.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. The revolution was characterized by a series of technological and social innovations. One of the most important technological innovations was the development and improvement of the steam engine. The first wood-burning steam engine was built by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. This engine was used to pump water out of the coal mines in many places. The great advantage of steam power over water or water power was that the location of the new factories and workshops was no longer determined by the place where water fell or could be dammed. The first steam-powered engine moved because steam was admitted into the chamber beneath a piston, which was then forced upward, and the steam was then condensed by cold water, creating a vacuum that drew the piston downward. When the steam was then admitted back into the chamber, the cycle continued.

3. Economic Transformations and Urbanization

Public policy had to consider the discontent of the work force, which was displaced from the land and later from cottage industries and close family ties as a consequence of industrialization. Social protests created the Great Tradition of social protest in place of the Little Tradition of small-scale revolts. This Great Tradition, since it often led to political rather than short-term economic consequences, contributed to the economic power of the state apparently trying to control it. Any society aspiring to more than a static equilibrium, including the societies prior to the industrial revolution, could develop economic policies that established some property rights that encouraged private enterprise but discouraged excess profits. For example, every good farmer would want the first chance to use a new machine that would significantly increase the output of the farm, but no sensible farmer would build a machine unless laws established his right to use the machine before competitors did not take advantage of the invention.

Owners of the means of production contributed to population movements in the rural areas by enclosing common fields, which significantly increased the efficiency of farming, and by mechanizing spinning and weaving, which decreased the need for labor in the textile industry. This forced many people off the land and into the cities where they lived in unhealthy conditions that often resulted in a high mortality rate. The economic policies of the industrial state were designed to provide an increasingly larger army of consumers working in the cities to purchase the machinery produced in the factories, while providing opportunities for profits from the ownership of the machines to as large a proportion of the population as possible. Furthermore, the social value of factory work was emphasized by the state, as it tried to channel work away from short-term money making and toward the production of consumer goods that would strengthen the industrial state for military confrontations with its rivals.

4. Social Changes and Labor Conditions

The role of society in the generation of the Industrial Revolution is considered in the context of technological change and the numerous social changes and labor conditions that resulted from the shift from agriculture to industry. The burgeoning middle class of the period and the many changes that it brought to British society are considered. The mill owner and his employees were involved in an employer-employee relationship that is also examined. The nature of work, particularly as it applied to the factory and the demands made on workers by the new industrial system, is explored. Changes in work relationships, working hours, child labor and the arguments made on behalf of child labor, wages and labor protests, labor conditions, the onset of trade unions, and the beginning of welfare schemes are discussed. From this perspective, the Industrial Revolution is seen as a mixed blessing, generating economic growth and consumer benefits at the cost of a socially unacceptable toll on the labor force.

5. Conclusion: Legacy and Lessons Learned

The Industrial Revolution was a mixed blessing. It had both positive and negative effects. It benefited the world and those who were wise enough to use the new technology as an advantage. The people who didn’t use the technology and still worked hard to get the job did not benefit to the same rewards as the people who deserved it did. We face similar dilemmas today with modern technology. We use technology every day of our lives, which is a really good advantage to us, but when we have a project to do in school, we have to use information from a book instead of the internet. But one will always have its advantages and disadvantages. Because the Industrial Revolution was such a complex set of events, social change was the main result of the Revolution. The society was changed as a result of the Revolution. The staple diet was not necessarily bread and potatoes anymore, and the fashion and way of speech seemed to be changed because the attitudes and way of thinking were changed. The change in music and art gave society an outlet for expression of feelings or relief from boring attitudes and behaviors. And the impact of all these was a legacy that represents the foundation for life in the 21st century.

Who would have thought that the Industrial Revolution would have had such a lasting effect on the world? From the beginning of the revolution in Britain, the Industrial Revolution had always been dependent on coal. Coal was greatly in demand for energy to make steel and run steam engines. As long as China, the United States, and India were willing to supply coal of varying qualities, then the Industrial Revolution could continue for at least another one hundred and fifty years. Once oil became popular, the Industrial Revolution took off, at least until 1974 when the price rocketed. After that point, the world moved to more energy-efficient sources and less polluting ones. Now in China, the atmosphere is completely unbreathable half of the time because of how the Industrial Revolution in China has taken off.