THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution started in nineteenth century in England and in the western world and it is a change from rural economy to industrial economy, so it is a radical change in the system of production.

The essence of the Industrial Revolution is the substitution of competition for the medieval regulations which had controlled the distribution and production of wealth. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution the private property started and it was one of the most important causes.

During this revolution it was the Agricultural Revolution too, because the use of new machines helped change farming into a more mechanised activity. The Agrarian Revolution was the consequence of the decreased of rural population for the closed of lands.

There were a lot of factors that facilitated the industrial transformation that is technological innovations, such as: wrought iron, the cotton industry and the woollen industry. In addition the steam-engine was invented by George Stephenson.

But during this revolution the poor people and the peasants became so poor that they had to move from country to the town. The most important towns were the ones nearer to the mines, because they were the first factories. One example of the most important towns about the Industrial Revolution was Manchester.

There were two antithetical systems of thought about the Industrial Revolution: Economic science and Socialism. The economic science study and analyze the laws that regulate the production of wealth.

As regard the Industrial Revolution we speak about four important people: Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo and John Stuart Mill.

In 1776 that is the date also of War of American Independence, Adam Smith, the father of liberalism published Wealth of Nations. In this book he expresses his assent about the restrictions against industrial freedom.

In 1798, during the French Revolution, Malthus published Essay on population, where he speaks about the causes of poverty analysis and he makes the theory of population.

In 1818, three years later the Congress of Wien, Ricardo published Principles of political economy and taxation. In this book he speaks about the laws of the distribution of wealth under a system of industrial freedom.

The last book is published in 1848 by John Stuart Mill and its title is Principles of political economy. It has socialism influences and it is about the distribution of wealth and the difference between distribution and production.