Textuality » 4A Interacting
• (par. 1) The Industrial Revolution is a convenient phrase to describe the change from an agrarian and maritime economy to an industrialised economic system. It is the substitution of competition for the mediaeval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth. it led to growth of two systems of thought:
1) Economic science 2) Socialism
a) Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations |
b) Malthus' Essay on Population |
c) Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation |
d) John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy |
• (par. 2-3) Facts of Industrial Revolution.
1) growth of population |
2) decline in the agricultural population |
• (par. 4) Decrease in rural population.
causes: 1) the destruction of the common-field system of cultivation
2) the enclosure, on a large scale, of common and waste lands
3) the consolidation of small farms into large
• (par. 5) Agricultural advance.
cause - more scientific approach:
e.g.
breed of cattle |
rotation of crops |
the steam-plough |
agricultural societies |
• (par. 6-7) Growth of industry.
Causes:
1) mechanical inventions in textile industry
e.g.
James Hargreaves' spinning jenny( 1770) |
Arkwright's water-frame( 1669) |
Crompton's mule introduced in 1779 |
Kelly's self-acting mule( 1792) |
most important:
steam engine |
power-loom |
2) mechanical revolution in iron industry
e.g.
the invention of smelting by pit-coal |
application of the steam engine to blast furnaces(1788) |
3) improved means of communication
e.g.
canal system |
roads |
railroad |
results: 1) expansion of trade
2) substitution of factory system for domestic system.
• (par. 8) Revolution in distribution of wealth:
rise in rents caused by
1)rental of land |
2)enclosure system |
3)consolidation of farms |
4) high price of corn |
Social changes in country life: a change in the balance of political power and in the relative position of classes. The farmers shared in the prosperity of the landlords; many of them held their farms under beneficial leases, and made large profits by them.
• (par. 9) Social changes in manufacturing world: the new class of great capitalist employers made enormous fortunes; they took little or no part personally in the work of their factories; their hundreds of workmen were individually unknown to them.
consequences:
1) disappearance of the relations between masters and men
2) substitution of a "cash-nexus" for the human tie
3) class conflict.
• (par. 10) Misery of working people often caused by:
1) fall in wages |
2) rise of prices |
3) sudden fluctuations of trade |
Conclusion:
The effects of the Industrial Revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being. As a consequence, a lot of horrors ensued in England before it was restrained by legislation and combination.