The Industrial Revolution

1750-1850

What Was The Industrial Revolution? 

 Industrial Revolution: N. The totality of the changes in economic and social orginization that began about 1760 in England and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines, as the power loom and the steam engine, and by the concentration of industry in large establishments; the transformation in the 18th and 19th centuries of first Britain and then other W European countries and the US into industrial nations; The rapid industrial growth that began in England during the middle of the eighteenth century and then spread over the next 50 years to many other countries, including the United States. The revolution depended on devices such as the steam engine,  which were invented at a rapidly increasing rate during the period. The Industrial Revolution brought on a rapid concentration of people in cities and changed the nature of work for many people.

 Above: Many factories were being built in towns when the Industrial Revolution hit America. Many people were moving to cities to work in these crowded, damp buildings for little pay every day. They got by with just enough to support their families.

Many new machines were being thought of and produced as improvements in factories and farming were needed. Many inventors produced new machines and tools, which were used frequently throughout the Industrial Revolution.