Revolutionizing the world

     

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/287086/Industrial-Revolution

       What made the Industrial Revolution, revolutionary? We decided to answer this in class by reading an article about the "Ingredients for Industrial Revolution". Each group in class focused on one of the four areas of the article, Technology, People, Resources and Transportation. We then collaborated and shared our notes on each section. I decided the sections people and technology best answered the main question. 

       People made the Industrial Revolution revolutionary, by changing how food was produced, decreasing death rates and the enclosure movement. First, farmers used their land more efficiently, combining smaller fields into large ones. Also, they used improved fertilization and crop rotation methods. the last way farming was revolutionary, was a new machine called the seed drill which evenly deposited seeds in the best way possible. All these tactics improved the amount and quality of food farmers could produce. Death rates decreased mainly because of the great advancements in agriculture. There was less of a risk of famine and people ate healthier, leading to healthier posterity. Finally, death rates decreased during the Industrial Revolution because of improved medical treatments, better hygiene and sanitation.Enclosure is "the process of taking over and fencing off land formerly shared by peasant farmers." Enclosure increased the efficiency of farms and put money in the pockets of their owners, but at a cost. Peasants who formally tended the land were kicked out and forced to migrate to the cities. There they found work in the factories the Industrial Revolution is famous for. For these reasons, people were very important in revolutionizing how they lived and worked.

     During the revolution, people built machines and discovered new technology to make their lives better. For most of history, energy was provided from the muscle power of animals and humans, during the revolution, wind and water power were harnessed. Great water wheels and windmills were used to provide energy for the machines inside the factories. those machines revolutionized the clothing industry by weaving clothing faster than ever before. The Flying Shuttle worked much faster than any human could. Also, iron was improved, allowing production of machines to increase. Technology made the Industrial Revolution so revolutionary because things could be done on a huge scale and many new things were being created.