Recipe for Industrialization

This week, our class learned about discoveries and achievements of the Industrial Revolution and the components of industrialization. During the Industrial Revolution, industrial production increased enormously, providing us with the technology and resources that are available to us today. Achievements from this revolutionary era have changed our world for the better, making it easier for generations to advance. During this period of time, many ingredients, such as people and resources, lead to the overall success of the Industrial Revolution.

One aspect that led to the industrialization of the Industrial Revolution were the people. The people of the 18th and 19th century helped improve farming, created the Enclosure Movement, and contributed to the declining death rates. During the era of the Industrialization, farming was improved by combining small fields, into larger fields, in order make better use of the land. Fertilizer was also introduced, enabling farming to be more efficient with the assistance of new machinery. The people of the Industrial Revolution also created the Enclosure Movement. The Enclosure Movement consisted of rich landowners taking over and fencing off land previously owned by peasants. The creation of these large land parcels allowed productive farming. In addition, the movement established enlarged pastures for sheep, resulting in a larger wool output. Fewer workers were needed as a result of these changes, forcing farmers to move to cities to operate machinery. Due to the lack of workers needed in the fields, profits rose. Lastly, the advancements created by the people of the Industrial Revolution contributed to the decline in death rates during the 1700's. The decline of death rates during this era contributed to the rapid population growth.Many advancements led to increase in the quality of life during this period. Due to the Agricultural Revolution, there was  a reduced risk of famine. Many antibiotics were introduced, saving people from illnesses. Also, women began to eat healthier to improve the health of their babies. As a result of the need for few workers in the field, there was not a need for hard labor to be done, increasing the safety and health of people.

Another ingredient that contributed to the industrialization of the Industrial Revolution was resources.
Important resources of the Industrial Revolution consisted of iron, coal, capitol, and cotton. During this era, iron was used in the construction of steam engines and machinery. In 1709, Abraham Darby found a new, efficient way of producing iron in which coal was used to smelt iron from it's ore. However, the use of coal in the production of iron produced impurities. Darby's discovery led to future production of less expensive,better quality iron. Iron was used even more after the invention of the railroad. Another important resource during the Industrial Revolution was coal. Coal was used as a vital source of fuel in one of the first methods used to produce iron. Coal was also an essential material needed in the construction of machines and steam engines. In addition, the business class accumulated capitol. Capitol is the wealth used to invest in enterprises such as shipping, mines, railroads, and factories. Many workers risked their capitol by traveling overseas. Lastly, during the Industrial Revolution, cotton cloth imported from India became popular. Merchants attempted to create a cotton industry at home by creating a putting out system.This putting out system consisted of raw cotton being distributed to peasants and spun into thread, and then cloth. Unfortunately, this putting out system was inefficient and the machines used to spin the cotton were too large to be stored in homes. Factories were then created to house the cotton spinning machines.

People and resources contributed to the transformation of a primarily agricultural society into one based on the manufacturing of goods and services. Without these key aspects of the Industrial Revolution, we would not have made advancements during the 17th and 18th century or helped contribute to advancements made over time.




 Industrial Revolution. N.d. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Sept. 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Hartmann_Maschinenhalle_1868_(01).jpg>.