Activities

Complete the following notes. They will give you an outline of the information contained in the passage. The main points, relations of cause-effect, illustrations etc. are clearly indicated in the text by logical connectors. Look out for them. 

•  (par. 1) The Industrial Revolution

The essence of the Industrial Revolution is the substitution of competition for the medieval 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

 • (par. 2-3) Facts of Industrial Revolution. 

• (par. 4) Decrease in rural population.

causes:     1)  The destruction of the common-field system of cultivation

     2)   The enclosure of a common and waste lands

     3)   The consolidation of small farm into large

• (par. 5) Agricultural advance.

cause — more scientific approach:

e.g.  

• (par. 6-7) Growth of industry.

causes;

1) mechanical inventions in textile industry

e.g.  

 most important:

 2) mechanical revolution in iron industry

e.g.  

3) improved means of communication

e.g.  

results:   1)  Regular recurrence of periods of over-production and depression

     2) substitution of factory system for domestic system.

• (par. 8) Revolution in distribution of wealth:

rise in rents caused by

social changes in country life:

• (par.9) Social changes in manufacturing world:

The farmers shared in the prosperity of the landlords.

consequences:

1)  The farmers ceased to work and live with their labourers, and became a distinct class. Change in their habits, food and furniture; the luxury and drinking, which were the consequences of more money coming into their hands.

2)  Condition of the labourer exactly opposite and the most disastrous one.

3) class conflict.

• (par. 10) Misery of working people often caused by:

Conclusion: The effects of the Industrial Revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being.

Short Argumentative  Text

The Industrial Revolution refers to a period of massive economic, technological, social and cultural change which affected human beings  of all classes. It is not only one of the most important facts of English history, but Europe owes to it the growth of two great systems of thought: Economic Science and Socialism. A mainly agrarian world economy based on manual labour was transformed into one of industry and manufacturing by machines. 

The three most relevant  causes were:

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 ones.

This period was one of great agricultural advance; the breed of cattle was improved, rotation of crops was generally introduced, the steam-plough was invented and agricultural societies were instituted. People started to move from the country to cities which began to grow generating the phenomenon that goes under the name of  urbanization.

Four great inventions changed the character of  cotton manufacturing

• The spinning-jenny, patented by Hargreaves in 1770;
• The water-frame, invented by Arkwright the year before;
• Crompton's mule (introduced in 1779) ;
• The self-acting mule first invented by Kelly in 1792, (brought into use once Roberts improved it in 1825).

None of the previous facts  alone would ever revolutionis industry. The iron industry had been equally revolutionised by the invention of smelting by pit-coal brought into use between 1740 and 1750, and by the application in 1788 of the steam-engine to blast furnaces.

The production of wealth necessarily involves an equal revolution in its distribution.

In agriculture the main effect was the  enormous rise in rents which was the result of  the money invested in improvements, the enclosure system, the consolidation of farms and the high price of corn.

The previous  changes  also represented a great social revolution, a change in the balance of political power and in the relative position of classes.

Farmers closed any form of relationship with their labourers, and became a distinct class. The effect upon the condition of labourers was exactly the opposite and the most disastrous one. They began to rebel against the situation.

In short, it can be said that the consequences of the Industrial Revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being.