The chief features of the Industrial Revolution Summary

The Industrial Revolution is an historical process: it implied the substitution of competition for medieval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth. It brought radical changes into England and the western world.

It led to the growth of 2 systems of thought: Economic Science and Socialism.

The main landmarks of the Economic Science were four English economists: Adam Smith, Robert Malthus, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill.

The main facts of the Industrial Revolution were: the growth of population and the decline of rural population.

The main causes of the decrease in rural population were: the destruction of the common-field system of cultivation, the enclosure of common and waste lands and the consolidation of small farms into large ones.
In addition, agricultural advance was due to different causes like: the breed of cattle, the rotation of crops and the steam-plough, which all together brought to the birth of agricultural societies.

At the same time a growth of industry was recorded due to new mechanical inventions in textile industry like: the spinning-jenny, the water frame, the Crompton’s mule and the self-acting mule.
However, the most important inventions were: the steam-engine and the power-loom.
What’s more, a mechanical revolution was recorded in iron industry thanks to: smelting by pit-coal and the steam-engine to blast furnaces.

A further growth of industry was due to the great advance in the means of communication. For instance, the canal system was rapidly developed while new roads and railroads were constructed.

These improved means of communication brought to some results such as an increase in commerce and the substitution of factory system for domestic system.

As a consequence, it led to a revolution in the distribution of wealth. The main visible fact was the rise in rents, which was caused by: the money invested in improvements, the effect of the enclosure system, the consolidation of farms and the high price of corn.

In addition there were many social changes in country life: the farmers became richer and richer while the laborers were underpaid and they had lost their common rights. Therefore, this period marked the alienation between farmers and laborers.

On the other side, there were many social changes also in manufacturing world: the new class of great capitalist employers didn’t take part personally in the work of their factories.
As a consequence, the old relationship between masters and men disappeared, a “cash nexus” was substituted for the human tie and a class conflict started.

Therefore misery of working people was often caused by: the condition of labour under the factory system, the rise of prices and the fluctuations of trade.

In conclusion, the effects of the Industrial Revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being.