British Manufacturing: A Comparison of the Industrial Revolution and Modern Time

British Manufacturing: A Comparison of the Industrial Revolution and Modern time
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British Manufacturing: A Comparison of the Industrial Revolution and Modern time
Great Britain Industrial Transitions
Great Britain underwent major Industrial transitions. The era preceding the British Industrial Revolution was relatively primordial. The British textile was a small scale where production processes were carried out on a small scale by individual spinners, dyers, and weavers (Wrigley, 2013). The transport and road system before the Great Britain Industrial Revolution was relatively rudimentary. The Industrial Revolution of 18 century reflects a crucial transition marked by improvements in communication, banking, increased mechanization, widening sources of cheaper energy, and better transport systems, including canals, widening railroad networks, steam engines, and other locomotives. For example, in 1600, there was a formation of the East India Company., which was a joint-stock company that later played a critical role in maintaining a trade monopoly, thereby aided in increasing demand, production, and profit (Historic UK;). This company assisted Britain in competing with its European neighbors and grows in economic and trading strength. Despite such improvements, these transitions led to poor working conditions.
Textile production in England was a critical pioneer of mechanization. The textile industrial mechanization caused the social disruption, leading to the abandonment of home weaving, which could no longer increase migration and dwindling activities in rural areas. Social upheaval included increased mobility of women from homes towards industrial textile areas where they could provide cheap labour in providing complementary services and operating textile machinery.
The industrial transition characterized by increased mechanization led to a series of backlashes. People felt increased oppression leading to attacks against industries, such as damage to industrial machinery. As a result, laws that criminalized machine breaking were initiated.
The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain before its effects were felt in other parts of the world. The Industrial Revolution spanned the era of growth and development in the late18th century. The Industrial Revolution substantially improved from the previous era where goods were designed and produced using hands. This improvement was achieved via the deployment of machines and new approaches to production. This Industrial Revolution was leveraged on the use of steam power. Britain's steam engine was a historic feat that made Britain be a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, which proceeded the next era period of industrialization, which occurred in the late and early 19th and20th centuries, respectively (Wrigley, 2013). The second period of industrialization was marked by developments facilitated by increasing steel and automobile industries. Britain emerged as a critical source of the Industrial Revolution due to critical leads such as a suitable climate for raising sheep.
The 18-century British Industrial Revolution was marked by great strides that improve the manufacturing industry. The inventions such as spinning yarn speeded the process and amount of work done with less human labor input. Generally, there was more transformed mechanized production in British textile industries. The British colonization efforts were a beneficial phenomenon because they created markets for textile products.
During such a time, the British iron industry witnessed immense growth marked by innovations, including emerging new approaches to smelting iron ore, especially heating coal, instead of conventional charcoal. The smelting of iron ore using heating coal was cheaper and led to higher quality steel and iron production standards. The iron and steel industry's growth was boosted due to Napoleonic wars and revolutions that occurred between 1805 and 1814 due to increased demands. Further growth in this industry was witnessed during and after the construction of the railroad industry. Another critical resource that profoundly impacted the British Revolution includes the inventions and improvements on steam power engines. The steam engine's emergence had revolutionary industrial applications in various spheres of production, such as cotton mills (Wrigley, 2013). This steam engine had a rotary motion that eased production processes and improved efficiency. Furthermore, steam power allowed a deeper search for cheaper energy sources, especially coal, leading to far-reaching implications in the British Industrial Revolution. The demand for coal was hitting the roof through the Industrial Revolution because it was a necessary ingredient for goods manufacturing and in developing railroad and steamships that could transport goods.
Transportation was a critical phenomenon that underwent improvement in the Industrial Revolution. The British road network, which was quite rudimentary before industrialization, experienced a significant facelift. These improvements were further enhanced by constructing canals that connected different points in Britain in 18 century. Richard Trevithick introduced a steam-enabled locomotive, and later other locomotives commenced transportation (Mohajan, 2019). These means of transport were complemented by steam-powered boats and ships.
The British Industrial Revolution story is incomplete without mentioning the tremendous supports that such development gained from communication technologies and banking advancement. The Industrial Revolution occasioned the need for improved communication covering long distances. Inventors developed a commercial telegraphy system that facilitates communication. Banks and industrial financiers emerged to provide monetary services in that era.
It is critical to evaluate working conditions because it provides the vivid context of the British Industrial Revolution. There was a wave of accelerated population migration to urban areas and towns during the Industrial Revolution. This sudden urbanization resulting from population inflow led to substantial problems such as congested urban centers, pollution, poor sanitation, and inadequate clean drinking water. Industrialization increased economic output leading to improved living standards for the wealthier socio-economic classes. However, poor and working-class people continued to struggle and suffer due to poor working conditions. The increasingly mechanized labor occasioned by technological advancement made working in factories difficult and even fatal in some instances. Several workers were forced to work long hours for low wages. These poor working conditions fueled opposition to industrialization. This condemnation and opposition to poor working conditions later led to increased outrage over substandard working and living conditions (Wrigley, 2...