We explain what were the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution at an economic, social and political level, and its positive and negative consequences.
During the Industrial Revolution, work was mechanized and factories increased exponentially.
What were the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution?
Among the causes of the industrial revolution Important changes in the economy, society and politics of the time are highlightedsuch as the agricultural revolution, the rise of the bourgeoisie and the displacement of rural populations to the cities, which meant their availability as labor for factory work.
As a result of this, Work was mechanized and factories increased exponentially. Additionally, communication and transportation improved considerably with the railroad and steamship. In this period, the political power of the bourgeoisie was also consolidated, parallel to the emergence of the labor movement and unionism.
The Industrial Revolution was a process of economic and social transformations that began in England in 1760 and concluded around 1840. It involved a series of technological and productive changes that revolutionized the world of work, commerce, transportation and finance. During this process the steam engine, textile machines and gas-powered street lighting were invented. Furthermore, manual work in workshops was replaced by large-scale industrial work in factories.
Causes consequences
Economic
- The agricultural revolution
- Enclosures of communal fields
- Availability of raw materials (from the country and the colonies)
- Technological innovations
- The mechanization of work in factories
- The growth of industrial cities
- The emergence of the figure of the entrepreneur and modern banks
- Improving communication and transportation
- The global expansion of capitalism
Social
- Population growth
- The movement of population from the countryside to the cities
- The increase in population in cities
- The growing differentiation between city and countryside
- The social division into two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
- Workers’ organisation and the birth of unions
- Environmental pollution
Policies
- The political rise of the bourgeoisie
- The application of economic liberalisation measures
- The union between England and Scotland
- British naval dominance
- The political protagonism of the bourgeoisie in England and other countries
- The formation or consolidation of liberal and parliamentary regimes in Europe and the United States
- The promotion of measures favorable to the industrial bourgeoisie in Western Europe, the United States and Japan (which led to the Second Industrial Revolution)
Causes of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the result of a series of historical causes that can be organized according to their economic, social and political aspects.
1. ECONOMIC CAUSES
The agricultural revolution
One of the most important economic causes of the Industrial Revolution was the agricultural revolution, which radically changed the way of production. Manual labour and animal traction, which had persisted since the Middle Ages, were replaced by the use of agricultural machines, whose technology was perfected as the Industrial Revolution developed.
The technological transformation was combined with some changes in the cropping system, such as the introduction of the “Norfolk rotation system”, which allowed crop varieties to be rotated so as not to deplete the soil of nutrients. This agricultural revolution increased productivity and the amount of food available, which promoted population growth and the movement of population from the countryside to the city.
The enclosures
Simultaneously with the agricultural revolution came the enclosures, that is, the policy of enclosing communal fields and turning them into the private property of large landowners. This process turned many landless peasants into workers in the emerging urban factories.
Availability of raw materials
England was characterized by a wide availability of resources essential for the development of the technology of the Industrial Revolution, such as coal for steam engines and iron for all kinds of toolsmachines and transport (such as railways and ships).
Also fundamental was the availability of other resources that were obtained in territories under colonial control or easily accessible thanks to British commercial predominance, such as cotton from India and the southern United States, which was used in the textile industry.
Technological innovations
The characteristic inventions of the Industrial Revolution were the result of years of experimentation and innovation. For example, at the beginning of the 18th century Various steam devices were designedalthough none of them were comparable to James Watts’ revolutionary steam engine, patented in 1769 and based on an earlier design by Thomas Newcomen.
On the other hand, technological innovations that favored the agricultural revolution included machines and tools such as the seeder and the cast iron plow.
2. SOCIAL CAUSES
Population growth
The agricultural revolution contributed to population growth, since greater productivity in the countryside generated greater availability and cheaper food. This fact intensified during the Industrial Revolution, when improvements were developed in the field of medicine. The result was a decrease in the death rate and an increase in the birth rate.
Migration from the countryside to the city
Demographic growth and the displacement of population from the countryside to the cities generated a wide availability of labor for factory owners in the citieswhich gave rise to a new social class: the proletariat.
Besides, Population growth increased the demand for manufactured goodsand the combination of these phenomena made the new model of industrial production possible.
3. POLITICAL CAUSES
The political rise of the bourgeoisie
The main political cause of the Industrial Revolution was the growing influence of the bourgeoisie in government decisions. In England, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 established a parliamentary monarchy that favored the political participation of the bourgeois sectors and placed limits on the power of the nobility.
Economic liberalization policies
The political rise of the bourgeoisie allowed the implementation of measures favorable to trade and private enterprisessuch as the defense of private property, market freedom, the enclosure of lands for cultivation (where communal fields had previously existed) and the founding of the Bank of England.
The union of England and Scotland and British naval dominance
Other political causes were the union between England and Scotland, which guaranteed peace in Britain and expanded the boundaries of the internal marketand the British naval predominance that ensured the extension of trade.
Consequences of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution had important consequences, both for England and for much of the world. These consequences can be ordered into three groups: economic, social and political.
1. ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Mechanization and industrial cities
One of the main economic consequences of the Industrial Revolution was the mechanization of work, which accelerated production times, reduced costs and enabled large-scale production in factories. This economic transformation fueled the growth of large industrial cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield.
The industrial Revolution involved the replacement of artisanswho worked using traditional methods in workshops, by industrial workers who sold their labor in exchange for a salary in the factories.
The rise of entrepreneurs and banks
Another consequence was the emergence of business managementbased on calculations of profit and capital investment, and the credit system through the emergence of modern banks.
Communication, transportation and the expansion of capitalism
Next to the Emergence of the figure of the entrepreneur and modern banksmore effective and faster means of transporting raw materials and goods (such as railways and steamships) promoted the global expansion of capitalism.
The Second Industrial Revolution
Finally, the accumulation of capital and the technical and technological innovations of the Industrial Revolution laid the foundations for a second stage of industrialization.
This process is known as the Second Industrial Revolution, and It took place between 1870 and 1914 and mainly in the United States, Japan, Germany and other Western European countries.. This second phase radically changed the patterns of production, consumption and leisure in most of the world.
2. SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
The differentiation between countryside and city
The Industrial Revolution caused a clear differentiation between the city and the countryside, and a significant increase in the population in the cities. Urban life benefited from gas street lighting and medical and health advancesbut at the same time it generated overcrowding in working-class neighborhoods, which favored the spread of infectious diseases (such as cholera).
The social division into classes
The Industrial Revolution introduced a social division centered on two social classes: the bourgeoisie (made up of factory owners, merchants and other owners of means of production or capital) and the proletariat (made up of workers who sold their labor force in exchange for a salary in factories or mines).
Although the Industrial Revolution produced a greater distribution of wealth, the working conditions of the workers were very harsh and their way of life was very unfavorable compared to the comforts of the bourgeoisie. The working hours were very long and child labor in factories and mines was common..
Protests against machines
Industrial machinery caused protest movements that were dedicated to destroying the machinesas was the case with the Luddites, a group of skilled textile artisans who believed that the use of machines destroyed jobs and reduced wages.
The labor movement and unions
The difficult working conditions caused by the Industrial Revolution stimulated the organization of the labor movement and the emergence of unions, in addition to political ideologies such as socialism, anarchism and communism. The labor organization motivated the implementation of labor regulations and better working conditions.