Scientific and Technological Advancements of Economic Systems
Western Governors University
By the time 1750 came around, American was experiencing what is known as the First Industrial Revolution (circa 1780-1850). It is hard now to fathom the idea of having to function economically without the use of factories, factory machines, and factory workers. By history shifting from the cottage industry, traditional agriculture, and manual labor into a factory-based manufacturing type systems made of complex machinery, constant technological expansion, and new energy sources and advanced in transportation, we evolved. The entire world evolved, soon to rely on industries to survive.
For hundreds of years, life was focused on agriculture. Most people lived in countries because city development was minimal. Most families farmed their own land and hand-made all necessities they needed, including farm tools, clothing, furniture and traded for things they could not develop on their own. Some trade items became more demanding such as thread developed on a spinning wheel or textiles being developed by hand on a weaving loom. This demand is what began the need for more products for more profit. (Riane Eisler (2007)).
A chain of inventions in Great Britain was created to develop an increase in the production of manufactured goods. People all over the country began to develop the need for more complex machinery that could complete the task quicker and more efficiently that human manual labor could provide by itself. Two significant rises of the Industrial Revolution are the textile industry and steam power. In 1760’s, the steam engine (developed by James Watt) further transformed the cotton industry and many other industries such as coal mining, transportation of goods and people and also the need and production of iron and its factories. Wooden railroads tracks were being replaced with iron tracks. And the steam engine locomotive continued to make...