The
Industrial Revolution

Arnold
Toynbee, the author of this argumentative text organizes his essay
into paragraphs, so thanks to this strategy he is able to explain
every concept very deeply. He poses a thesis that is" Free
competition may produce wealth without producing well-being". First
paragraphs introduces Industrial Revolution saying that involved not
only England but all the world, its essence is "the substitution of
competition for the medieval regulations which had previously
controlled".

This
revolution results in 2 system of thoughts: Economic Science and
Socialism. After that the writer, in the middle of first paragraph,
quotes 4 economists with their work: Adam Smith (Wealth of nations),
Malthus (Essay on population), Ricardo (principles
of political economy and taxation )
and John Stuart Mill (principles of political economy
).

First
fact caused by the revolution was the growth of population and at the
same time the decline in rural population; to make the reader realize
this aspect Toynbee uses a lot of quantity data (percentages,
examples and dates). Afterwards he lists the causes of decrease in
rural population; they are the destruction of common-field system of
cultivation, the enclosure and the consolidation of farms into large.

In
this period happens an agricultural advance thanks to a scientific
approach, so it causes the breed of cattle, the steam-plough,
rotation of crops and agricultural societies.

Also
the textile industry growth thanks to mechanical inventions like the
spinning-jenny, the water frame, Crompton's mule and the self-acting
mule. Other important inventions are the steam engine and the power
loom. On the other hand also iron industry evolves: smelting by
pit-coal and steam-engine to blast furnaces.

Another
important aspect  is the improvement in means of communication to
follow the general growth of population and trade: development of
canal system and railroads.

Industrial
Revolution doesn't bring only positive aspects, in fact an
intelligent reader can notice that there is too much difference in
the distribution of wealth and well-being so a lot of people become
very poor, especially for 3 reasons: law wages, high prices and
fluctuation of trade.