SGiannangeli - Summary: The Chief Features of the Industrial Revolution 

The Industrial Revolution has its source in England, where the typical mediaeval regulations of production were gradually substituted by the rules of industrial competition. This transformation begun during the 17^th Century and reached its highest point of development during the 19^th Century. Thanks to this changes, two different system of thought were born: The Economic Science and its opposite, Socialism.

The major English economists, who elaborated different economic theories and laws, were four. They wrote some essays that are nowadays considered the landmarks of the Industrial Revolution. The first one is Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) in which he investigated the causes of wealth and declared the relevance of an industrial freedom in the economic system. Then, Malthus with his “Essay on Population” (1798) inquired into the causes of poverty. Also, with the essay “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation” by Ricardo, the laws of the distribution of wealth were defined. Lastly, John S. Mill published “Principles of political economy” where he made a distinction between the laws of production and the laws of distribution: he tried to understand how wealth had to be distributed.

One of the most striking effects of the Industrial Revolution was the exponential growth of population. Also, agricultural population declined for industrial and factory one. Both an agrarian revolution and a manufacturing one lead to incredible changes.

As regards agricultural alterations, the three main causes of the decline of rural population were: the destruction of the common-field system of cultivation, the enclosures of common lands on large scale and the substitution of large farms for small ones. Anyway, these changes brought to a more scientific approach to agriculture: arable cultivation were extended, the rotation of crops (which made lands more productive) was introduced, the breed of cattle was improved, the steam-plough was invented, agricultural societies were introduced and good farm buildings were assembled.

One important change in production was the substitution of the factory for the domestic system. Manufacturing industry owes its development to technologic and mechanical discoveries too, such as the spinning-jenny, the water-frame, Crompton’s mule and the self-acting mule, which altered the cotton manufacture. Some time later, also the steam-engine was applied. The greatest invention was for sure the power-loom: before its application many workmen were injured. Meanwhile, the iron industry was revolutionised, too, thanks to the introduction of the steam-engine to blast furnaces and the invention of smelting by pit-coal. As a consequence, the amount of manufactured irony almost doubled.
The development of the industrial system is also due to an increase of trades, that was a consequence of a development of canals, an improvement of roads and the opening of railroads.
The several changes brought at first an increasement on workmen’s wages, but some time later things changed.

The commerce and trade increased incredibly. Merchants had the necessity to constantly get a supply of goods, so they relied on weavers. However, workpeople were disadvantaged by this new relation with merchants: the went from being independent to being dependent to someone else, they no longer had the property of the manufacture they produced. Another feature of this changes in trades was the periodical variation of over-production and depression, due to the production on a large scale, which was linked to the laws of the demand and the offer.

The distribution of wealth changed, too. As regards agricultural industry there was a rise in rents caused by the rental of land, the enclosure system, the consolidation of large farms and the high price of corn. Farmers and capitalist made large profits: they did not cooperate with the labourers who, on the contrary, saw a fall in their wages. This led to a change in political power and to the birth of two new distinct classes: an incredibly rich bourgeoise and an extremely poor working-class. Workmen were forced to lived in miserable conditions as a consequence of a rise of prices, the high price of bread and the sudden fluctuation of trades and commerce. Employee found a voice thanks to the birth of Trades-Unions, that began a fight for workers rights.

The misery brought by the Industrial Revolution in England and all over Europe shows that the rise of wealth does not necessarily comes with the improvement of well-being.