The term "Industrial Revolution" was first used by the
English historian Arnold Toynbee at the end of the 18^th century to
describe the substitution of
competition for the mediaeval regulations which had previously controlled the
production and distribution of wealth.

This process (started in England and then expanded to
the western world) influenced the growth of two big system of thought: Economic
Science and Socialism.

The development of
Economic Science in England has four chief landmarks, each connected with the
name of one of the four great English economists. The first is Adam Smith who investigated
the causes and the new laws wich regulate the production of wealth in his wrote
The Wealth of Nations (1776). The
second is Malthus wich analyzes the causes of poverty in his Essay on Population (1798). The third is
Ricardo with his wrote Principles of
Political Economy and Taxation (1817) about the distribution of wealth.
Last but not least John Stuart Mill discusses about how wealth should be
distributed in his Principles of
Political Economy (1848).

The main facts of the
Idustrial Revolution were: the growth of urban population, the decrease of
rural population and agricultural advance.

The decrease of population was due to three factors:
the disappearance of the common fields, the system of the enclosures and the
consolidation of small farms into larger ones.

Agricultural advance was  caused by : the breed of cattle's improvement,
rotation of crops, the steam-plough and the birth of agricultural societies.

On the other side the growth of
Industry was supported by mechanical inventions
in textile industry (the steam-engime, Cartwright's power loom, Hargreaves's
spinning-jenny, Arkwright's water-frame, Crompton's mule and Kelly's
self-acting mule), mechanical revolution
in iron industry and transportation's
improvement (new canals, road and railroads).

This growth had as result the commerce's increase and
the substitution of factory system for domestic system.

There were a rise in
rents and a social change in country life, wich caused the disappereance of the
old relations master-men, the formation of the Trade-Union and a class conflict.

As said at the beggining
Industrial Revolution affected on a different distribution of wealth but wealth
didn't (and still doesn't) respond to well-being. In fact working people's
misery was caused by: fall in wages, rise of prices and fluctuation of trade.