Technological_Advancements_and_the_Industrial_Revolution

Technological Advancements and the Industrial Revolution Technological Advancements and the Industrial Revolution In Pre modern times in the transition from medieval to the renaissance there were many ideas and new schools of thought. Many new philosophies were introduced, feudalism rose and fell, and there was the development of many new territories such as the thirteen colonies. The people hungered for culture and education,” the printing press helped make that possible it made information available to more people faster” (Getz and Brooke, 2012). The period of British Hegemony was when industrialization really took off. With mass coal available to them and the invention of the steam engine it really put England on top. Steam Engines, factories and assembly lines made goods in mass quantities at lower prices. Rational thinking was the reason for many of the new ideas of the modern age with less rigidity a free mind will tend to be more creative. Ration and Reason lead to modernity. Rational thinking made the advances in technology possible, it lead to the advances in science, mathematics and technology. Advances such as politics, industry, society, economics, commerce, transport, communication, mechanization, automation, science, medicine, technology and culture have formed the Old World into the New Modern World. The Industrial revolution happened in England for many reasons the main one being resources they had food, labor, iron and coal, the Agricultural revolution jump started the Industrial revolution. The agricultural revolution changed the way farmers did things their new methods produced more food, cheaper and with less labor. Some of the major technological developments of the time were textiles, iron making, and steam power. In the field of textiles there were many new inventions or improvements made, before industrialization most of the manufacturing was done in homes using hand tools or very basic machines which only produced limited amounts of goods. In this time of pre industrialization we see the inventions of the water frame the spinning Jenny, and the spinning mule. Before the Industrial revolution textile production used mainly flax and wool but the cotton started being imported. The textile industry was the first to become mechanized with its mechanical looms. “The mechanization of the industrial revolution led many former artisans, craftspeople and farmers to leave the sphere of community and self-sufficiency in order to enter the labor markets of the larger global organizations”(Victor 1994). Demand increased for manufactured goods, and to keep up with demand they had to find a way to produce more, faster hence the cotton mill. While the mills brought more employment and it brought the rural people to the cities it also brought child labor and poor living and working conditions. With the Health and Morales of apprentices act of 1802 things got a little better for the child laborers. Instead of a fifteen to twenty hour shift they were limited to 12 hours a day, they had better sleeping accommodations, some education was provided to the children, they were given two outfits, and on Sundays they were given time for Christian worship, some medical coverage of infectious diseases and improvements on sanitation. Advances in Iron working or metallurgy were made, before the industrial revolution metal working was slow and expensive using medieval methods. New techniques and the invention of cast iron made many changes to metal working such as steel being made from iron. Around 1780 England reduced its number of iron imports because of new iron making technology England became an exporter of Iron. Many other industries were helped because of the cheaper supply of iron. Developments in machine tools led to better working of iron, making it used more in the machine and engine industries. Advances in steam power were essential to the Industrial Revolution, without it Industrialization would have taken much longer to achieve. Factories that ran on water or wind power were limited in its locations due to the need of the water. With Steam factories could be built anywhere and other industries benefitted from steam power as well such as transportation with steam power came the steam powered locomotives and steam powered boats. Steam engines were first used to extract water from mines, later on they were used to power manufacturing plants and machinery, and then in trains and boats. Today steam turbines generate about 90 % of the electric power in the United States. “Technology like life is in a constant process of change” (Volti, 2009). Power driven machines did what people and animals did before. There were huge changes in the way goods were produced, steam engines were invented, coal replaced wood and charcoal, steel was created from iron, and improvements were made to roads, canals and railroads. Another important development during the industrial revolution was machine tools, industrialization created a demand for metal parts for machines. This led to the development of machine tools for cutting metal parts. Before industrialization metal was worked manually using hand tools making it very laboring and costly. Transportation, Canals and Roads were improved on. Before the Industrial revolution transportation was basically boat, wagon or horse. Industrialization improved England’s transportation infrastructure with turnpikes, canals, waterways, and railways. Transportation allowed not only raw materials and manufactured goods to be moved faster, easier and cheaper it allowed new ideas to spread quickly. The first inner city railway was opened it ran from Manchester to Liver pool. The railways did not really gain momentum until the end of the first industrial revolution. The standards of living during industrialization were not the best, though transportation improvements such as canals and roads lowered food costs, living conditions were horrid people living in little shacks with dirt floors, no sanitary facilities, too many people in one building and too many to a bed things were not much better or worse before industrialization. “Child Labor had existed before the Industrial revolution but as the population increased it was more visible” (Goldstone 1998). Also since they could pay a child less than an adult and they had comparable outputs child labor ran high. Children as young as four were employed, there hours were long and their pay little, and they were often beat or killed if they fell asleep. They worked in dangerous conditions. Eventually after being reported for the abuses the politicians and the government tried to limit child labor by passing a series of laws for factories. So for all its good and bad aspects “this was an era of tremendous intellectual and material advance. The 18th and 19th centuries were a period of “extraordinary invention and innovation” (Berstein 2006). In the end everything changes, people, places and most definitely technology. Some of the greatest advances of the time were made during the industrial revolution and the only way that these advances were made possible was due to enlightenment and rational thinking.. When man started thinking and doing for himself instead of what he was told. References Getz, T.R., and Brooke, J.E. (2012). World History: The Human Experience From 1500. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. The Health and Morales of Apprentices Act of 1802 | Bernstein, A. (2006). The Tragedy of Theology: How Religion Caused and Extended the Dark Ages. The Objective Standard, 1(4), 1-22. Victor, B., & Stephens, C. (1994). The dark side of the new organizational forms: An editorial essay. Organization Science, 5(4), 479-482.Landes, D. S. (2003). The unbound Prometheus: technological change and industrial development in Western Europe from 1750 to the present. Cambridge University Press. | Volti, R. (2009). Society and technological change. Worth Publishers. | | Goldstone, J. A. (1998). The Problem of the" Early Modern" World. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 41, No. 3 (1998), pp. 249-284 | |