Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
Activity
• (par. 1) 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. On this account it is not only one of the most important facts of English history but it led to the growth of two systems of thought:
1) Economic science 2) Socialism
a) Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776) |
b) Malthus' Essay on Population (1798) |
c) Ricardo's Principles on political economy and taxation (1817) |
d) John Stuart Mill's Principles of political economy (1848) |
• (par. 2-3) Facts of Industrial Revolution.
1) greater rapidity that marks population's growth |
2) positive decline in agricultural population |
• (par. 4) Decrease in rural population.
causes: 1) destruction of the common-field system of cultivation
2) enclosure on large scale of common and waste lands
3) expansion of small farms into large
• (par. 5) Agricultural advance.
cause - more scientific approach:
e.g.
Breed of cattle |
Rotation of crops |
Steam-plough |
agricultural societies |
• (par. 6-7) Growth of industry.
causes;
1) mechanical inventions in textile industry
e.g.
Spinning-jenny (1770) |
Water frame (1669) |
Crompton's mule (1779) |
Self-acting mule (1792) |
most important:
steam engine (James Watt) |
Power loom |
2) mechanical revolution in iron industry
e.g.
Invention of smeting by pit-coal |
Application of the steam engine to blast furnaces (1788) |
3) improved means of communication
e.g.
Canal system |
Turnpike road |
railroad |
results: 1) big increase in commerce
2) substitution of factory system for domestic system.
• (par. 8) Revolution in distribution of wealth:
rise in rents caused by
1) money invested in improvements |
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
• (par. 9) Social changes in manufacturing world: the new class of great capitalist employers made enormous fortune
consequences:
1) high prices
2) lost of common rights
3) class conflict.
• (par. 10) Misery of working people often caused by:
1) conditions of labour under the factory system |
2) rise of prices |
3) recurrent periods of bitter distress |
Conclusion: the effects of the Industrial Revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well being.
Industrial Revolution -> new class of great capitalist employers
Workmen -> disastrous conditions of labour