THE CHIEF FEATURES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution is an historical process that brought radical changes into England and the Western world during the 19^th century. It implied the substitution of competition for the mediaeval regulations, which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth.

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

The four chief landmarks were four English economists: Adam Smith, Robert Malthus, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill.

The main facts of the Industrial Revolution were the rapid growth of population and the decline in agriculture.

The main causes of the decrease in rural population were the destruction of the common-fields system of cultivation, the enclosures of common and waste lands and the consolidation of small farms into large ones. In addition, agricultural advance was due to different causes that contributed to the decrease in rural population 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 the textile industry like the spinning-jenny, the water-frame, 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 the irony industry thanks to the smelting by pit-coal and the steam engine for blast furnaces.

The trade of manufactory products was also promoted by means of communication like the expansion of roads, the canal system development and the invention of railroads.

The results of such growth of industry were: regular recurrence of periods of over-production and of depression and the substitution of factory system for the pre-existent domestic one.

All the changes and innovations quoted above contributed to substantially modify the distribution of wealth, increased also by rise in rents. These were caused by wide investments, by the positive results of the enclosures systems, by the consolidation of farms and the high price of corn.

What’s more, social changes in country life were recorded, especially in the manufacturing world, marked by the estrangement between capitalist employers and labourers. It followed a “Cash nexus” kind of relationship, but also a blend of the working class and the class conflict.

Misery of working people was often caused by the rise of products prices (especially concerning raw materials: bread), the sudden fluctuations of trade and the reduction of salaries.