A Much Better Life

     A few days ago, my history class was put into groups and we were each assigned a few topics to learn about the Industrial Revolution.  We learned about how the industrial revolution affected everyday people, and how it was the era of new technology, resources, and transportation.  The Industrial Revolution was a huge revolution because of the significant changes and impacts it had created not only in its origin, Europe, but all over the world.  The industrial revolution led to a better life for people and amazing new technology. 

     The Industrial Revolution changed people’s lives and was the beginning of improved farming methods and enclosure.  The Dutch started the agriculture revolution by building walls called dikes, combined smaller fields into larger fields to make better use of the lands, and used fertilizer from the livestock to renew the soil.  The British expanded from these ideas in the 1700s.  Roy Charles Townshend urged farmers to grow turnips which restored exhausted soil.  Jethro Tull invented a new mechanical device, the seed drill, to plant the seeds in rows (an organized fashion) rather throwing them randomly.  Rich landowners also used enclosure.  Enclosure is the process of taking over and fencing off the land formerly shared by the peasant farmers.  The new farming techniques helped farmers farm more efficiently.  Because of enclosure, peasants were forced to move to factories to build machines.  The agriculture revolution also increased the population of people in Europe.  There was a decrease in famines and because everyone was well fed, more and more people led healthier lives. 

The Spinning Jenny 

     A lot of new technology was also invented during the Industrial Revolution.  In 1712, the Steam Engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen.  The Steam Engine was powered by coal to pump water out of mines.  Iron was also improved.  Coal plays a very important role in the production of iron by separating the iron from its ore.  People were able to produce higher quality iron that was less expensive.  The higher quality iron was used everywhere and especially when building rail roads and textile machines.  There were also many innovations in textiles.  John Kay’s flying shuttle allowed weavers to work faster than spinners.  James Hargerave invented the Spinning Jenny in 1764 which spun many threads at the same time.  Richard Arkwright invented the water frame which used water power to speed up spinning.  To house the machines and the people who worked with them, long sheds were built.  Later the machines were powered by the steam engines.  The machines produced what an entire industry of a district used to produce.  The new technology made people’s lives more efficient and less of a struggle.    

Spinning Jenny: http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/SpinningWeb/lecture15.html

World History: Connections to Today. Chapter 20 Sections 1 & 2. PearsonSuccessNet.com. Accessed Aug. 25, 2014.