FREE ESSAY ON THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution in North America
The industrial revolution started around 1750. It began in Britain and it spread through
out the World. England was known as "the world's workshop" because at that point in time,
England was the major manufacturing center of the World.(Bailey) It took about ten years
for the industrial revolution to spread to other places. It spread to America. The
Industrial Revolution was favorable to the American colonies by bringing the factory
system to America, supplying more employment which increased urban growth, and raising
the national economy.
The factory system was the key to the industrial revolution. The factory system was a
combination of Humans and new technology. New technology was arriving every day. The
greatest invention during this time was the steam engine. The creation of the steam
engine was credited to James Watt. There had been other steam engines before James Watt's
but none of them were efficient. Watt's engine was the first efficient engine that could
be used in a factory. The steam engine had the strength of ten thousand men.(Pollard)
This was not the only invention that helped the factory system evolve. Textiles were a
major product of the Industrial Revolution. Production was slow at first in the factory.
In 1764, a British inventor named James Hargraves invented the "Spinning Jenny." This
lowered production time which enabled the factory to produce more per day. In 1773, John
Kay, an English inventor, created the "flying shuttle" which lowered the production time
even more.(Encarta) If production had not been speed up, the Industrial Revolution would
have not had that big of effect as it did in North America.
The Industrial Revolution brought more jobs to North America, because the factories
needed the workers. Before the Industrial Revolution, most Americans lived on small,
self-sufficient farms and were widely spaced. They produced most of there own things
including food, clothes, fuel and furniture. Extra money came from selling of surplus
goods and it was spent on things like coffee and tea. "Land-starved descendents of
land-starved peasants were not going to coop themselves up in smelly factories when they
might till their own acres in God's fresh air and sunlight."(Bailey) Farmers did not want
to move into a big city because they liked it were they were even though there was a lot
of jobs that the revolution brought. Even though farmers were reluctant to move, they
did. They did this because they could make more money. The farmers were to far away from
the factories to go back in forth every day so they had to move into the cities were the
factories were located in the cities. This moving of people from the country to the city
caused a rapid urban growth. Cities were becoming larger and population was rising.
Cities were now becoming the place to live.(Vialls)
The industrial revolution also caused the national economy to rise. The jobs were being
filled and the factories were producing a lot of products. Because more products were
being made, there was more to trade with other countries, which made more money for the
economy. The factories were trading with other countries at a massive rate. North America
began to make so many products and trading them that in the 19th century the Americans
took over as the industrial leaders. Thus letting them make more money than any other
country. It wasn't the country that was making all the money though; the people were also
making more money since they moved off the farms. America in a whole was becoming richer
in a since. There was a downfall to the Industrial Revolution in the economy. The
factories were letting more people make more money than they did before. Thus widening
the gap between being poor and being wealthy. Land value was also increasing due to the
location of the factories. The North-East land became more valuable because that is were
most of the factories were located.(Bailey) Overall, the Industrial Revolution brought
more money to North America which caused the country to flourish and it kept the country
alive and helped it grow to what it is today.
The Industrial Revolution, in my belief, was the most important thing that ever happened
to America. The country needed money and the Industrial Revolution brought the money
which it needed. The cities began to grow because of the people moving to the factories.
The amount of jobs also grew and this was good for the society. And most importantly, to
keep the country growing, the Industrial Revolution brought more money to the economy.