India came under the East India Company at the time of the start of the Industrial
Revolution. There was some technological progress (such as the introduction of railways,
canals, modern banks and postal system).
Hyder Ali and his son Tippu Sultan pioneered in the field of rocket science in the South.
Tippu was the last hope for Indian science and he was defeated. Otherwise, interest in
science was waning.
In social progress, there were a few movements. Raja Ram Mohan Roy & a band of Bengalis
started reform movements in the east. In geological survey we made great progress in
discovering our past. We organized our Vedas, rediscovered Ashoka and the Indus Valley
Civilization. Other than these things there is not much to say.
The 18th and 19th centuries were terrible periods in Indian history. India had over 20 major
famines ravaging our population. Intellectual centers in Bengal and Tamil Nadu were
ravaged by mass deaths. Wars among the colonial rulers and with other Indian rulers also
took a big toll. Everyone was concentrating on warfare while neglecting science & art.
After 150 years of terrible instability, normalcy started resuming around the dawn of the
20th century. The end of 19th century darkness brought a variety of amazing thinkers. India
started rediscovering some of her past roots.Satyendra Nath Bose (Bosons were named after
him), Jagadish Chandra Bose (father of radio), C. V. Raman (Raman effect), Srinivasa
Ramanujan (one of the greatest mathematicians ever) and 100s of other Indian scientists
brought cheers to India. They were joined by progressive thinkers in other fields such as
Rabindranath Tagore (first Asian to win the Nobel Prize), Mahatma Gandhi, U. V.
Swaminatha Iyer and Swami Vivekananda.
Although the early 20th century advancements healed some of the wounds, overall the
period of the Industrial Revolution was a disappointing period in India as an era was
shutting down and a new era was waiting to start. Just at the time when India should have
been kicking ass, India spent in absolute darkness.
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from
about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand
production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes,
improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam power, and the development
of machine tools. It also included the change from wood and other bio-fuels to coal. Textiles were
the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and
capital invested; the textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods.[1]
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was
influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit
unprecedented sustained growth. Some economists say that the major impact of the Industrial
Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population began to increase consistently
for the first time in history, although others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve
until the late 19th and 20th centuries.[2][3][4]
A Watt steam engine. The steam engine, made of iron and fueled primarily by coal, propelled the Industrial
Revolution in Great Britainand the world.[5]
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and spread to Western Europe and North America
within a few decades.[6]The precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among
historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes.[7][8][9][10] GDP per capita was broadly stable
before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the moderncapitalist economy,[11] while the
Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic growth in capitalist economies.
[12]
Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most
important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals, plants[13] and fire.
The First Industrial Revolution evolved into the Second Industrial Revolution in the transition years
between 1840 and 1870, when technological and economic progress continued with the increasing
adoption of steam transport (steam-powered railways, boats and ships), the large-scale manufacture
of machine tools and the increasing use of machinery in steam-powered factories.
Industrial Revolution
Background
In 1750, most people in Europe lived on small farms and produced
most of their needs by hand. A century later, many people lived
in cities and most of their needs were produced bycomplex
machines using steam power. The Industrial Revolution began
in Great Britain and spread to Belgium, France, Germany, the
United States and Japan. It was a fundamental change in the way
goods were produced, and altered the way people lived. The
Industrial Revolution is a major turning point in world history.
Causes
Agrarian Revolution: was a change in farming methods that
allowed for a greater production of food. This
revolution was fueled by the use of new farming
technology such as the seed
drill and improved fertilizers. The results of this
revolution if farming was a population
explosion due to the higher availability of food.
Also, theEnclosure Movement, which was the consolidation of
many small farms into one large farm, left many people jobless and
homeless. These people would provide theworkforce of the
Industrial Revolution.
Geography: Great Britain has an abundance of the natural
resources needed
for industrialization, such
as iron ore and coal. Britain
also had access to
many navigable
rivers and natural
harbors which provided for the
easy movement of goods both
within the country, and
overseas.
Capital: The British had a
vast overseas empire that provided them with a strong economy.
They had the capital (money) needed to buildrailroads, factories,
and mines.
Technology & Energy: Britain experienced a revolution in
energy use as they switched from animal power, to water power,
to steam power in a few short years. The steam engine was the
power source of the Industrial Revolution.
Effects
Mass Production: The use of the Factory System
allowed for mass production of textiles and other
goods. This shifted people from production at
home with the Put Out System, to production in large factories in
cities. Mass production also allowed for lower prices on the good
produced.
Big Business: As the Industrial Revolution grew, so did business.
To meet the needs of this growth, business owners sold shares of
their companies to stockholders who would share the profits and
losses. The influx of capital allowed business to grow
into corporations that had dealing in many different areas.
Laissez-Faire Economics: This was an economic philosophy
begun by Adam Smith in his book, Wealth of Nations, that
stated that business and the economy would run best with no
interference from the government. This economic system
dominated most of the Industrial Revolution.
New Social Class Structure
Very rich industrial & business families. Old
Upper Class:
Noble class.
Business people & professionals such as,
Upper Middle Class:
lawyers & doctors.
Other professionals such as, teachers, shop
Lower Middle Class:
owners, and office workers.
Working Class: Factory workers and small farmers.
Urbanization: People moved to towns and cities to be closer to the
factories. Conditions were very poor
during the early part of the Industrial
Revolution, as factory workers lived in
over crowded buildings, with no sewage
or sanitation services. This resulted in
widespread disease.
Working Conditions: Factory workers
worked very long hours, for little pay,
under harsh conditions. Workers
included children as young as 8, both male and female. Many
people were injured or killed due to unsafe working conditions.
Societal Changes: New roles were defined for Middle Class men
and women. MC men went to work in business, while MC women
worked from home and cared for the family. The
higher standard of living for the middle class
meant that their children received some form
of formal education.Working Class families
faced many hardships due to poor living and
working conditions, and most WC children never
received an education.
Communism: Karl Marx wrote in The Communist
Manifesto (1848) that all of human history is based on the conflict
between the bourgeoisie (those who own the means of production)
and the proletariat (working class). He predicted that the proletariat
would rise up in a violent revolution to overthrow the bourgeoisie
and create a society with an equal distribution of goods and
services. This socialist theory would form the basis for
the Bolshevik, Chinese, and CubanRevolutions in the 20th
Century.
Imperialism: Africa, China, India, South East Asia, and others
were controlled by Europe to provide raw materials and new
markets for industrialized goods. Imperialism had a negative effect
on most of these cultures, and did not completely end until
after World War II. Imperialism usually only benefited the
European nations.
The Industrial Revolution was a major turning point in world
history as it resulted in a complete change in society on all levels.
Effects of the Industrial Revolutions were long reaching, and
influenced many other cultures both positively and negatively.
