The industrial revolution that swept through Britain, Europe, and America in the 18th and 19th century was a major turning point in human history. The change from a manual/animal based labor economy to a machine based manufacturing economy, had a major impact on both cultural and socioeconomic conditions. In order to gain a better understanding of Industrialism one must examine the key innovations of the 18th and 19th century, that was the catalyst for the all the changes in the European and American way of life.
First, from an examination of the textile industry; and the effect that Frances Cabot Lowell had on New England, one can gain an understanding of the vast impact that industrialization of the cotton mills had on both culture and socioeconomics from Europe to America. Second, looking at steam power and the effect James Watt’s inventions had on water pumps, the mining industry, and the rail road industry, proves to be critical in an examination of understanding the changes of the industrial revolution as well. Third, an examination of 18th and 19th century metallurgy and advancements in both, iron works by Sir Henry Bessemer and of Steel by most notably Andrew Carnegie, will demonstrate how industrialization has caused major changes in building infrastructure, machine tools, cars, ships, and weapons; thus, changing culture and socioeconomic conditions around where these goods and services are produced. Also, notably are the changes the industrial revolution brought forth in working conditions, child labor laws, the advent of unions, and regulations of the modern day industrial sector.
TEXTILES
The mechanized textile revolution started in Great Britain in the 18th century and soon made its way to New England. When textile revolution came to Lowell, Massachusetts and the surrounding New Hampshire area, the true rise and fall of the ideals of the great utopian industrialized factory life still impact these small New England towns today. The article,...