Industrial Revolution


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution:

The Industrial Revolution doesn’t have clear start or end dates. However, during the 19th century, several crucial inventions—the internal combustion engine, steam-powered ships, and railways, among others—led to other innovations across various industries.

  • Suddenly, steam power and machine tools meant that production increased dramatically. But some of the biggest changes coming out of the Industrial Revolution were social in character.
  • An economy based on manufacturing instead of agriculture meant that more people moved to cities, where techniques of mass production led to an emphasis on efficiency both in and out of the factory.
  • Newly urbanized factory laborers no longer had the skill or time to produce their own food, clothing, or supplies and instead turned to consumer goods.
  • Increased production led to increases in wealth, though income inequalities between classes also started to grow as well.
  • Increased wealth and nonrural lifestyles led to the development of entertainment industries. Life changed rapidly.
  • Media were central to these revolutions. As we have seen, the fusing of steam power and the printing press enabled the explosive expansion of books and newspapers.

  • Literacy rates rose, as did support for public participation in politics.

  • More and more people lived in the city, had an education, got their news from the newspaper, spent their wages on consumer goods, and identified themselves as citizens of an industrialized nation.

  • Urbanization, mass literacy, and new forms of mass media contributed to a sense of mass culture that united people across regional, social, and cultural boundaries.

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