Difference Between First And Second Industrial Revolution

After reading the following two articles on the Industrial Revolution, write an expository essay explaining the difference between the first and second industrial revolution. The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the 18th to 19th centuries, was a period during which predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Prior to the first Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the late 1700s, manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, using hand tools or basic machines. While (The Second Industrial Revolution) developed the iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved systems

(A Second Industrial Revolution would occur late in the 19th century and involve the development of the steel industry and giant corporations.) The initial focus of industrialization was on textiles; cloth was needed by almost everyone. Early textiles were produced by a “cottage industry" (or “putting-out") system in which a central agent, the factor, would provide raw cotton and oversee the work of the various production units. Individual families, usually farm wives and daughters, would master one part of the process—spinning, dyeing, weaving and so forth. This decentralized means of production would become obsolete through the actions of such people as Samuel Slater and Francis Cabot Lowell. Samuel Slater was born in Derbyshire, England, the son of a successful farmer and landowner. Francis Cabot Lowell was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on April 17, 1775, the son of John Lowell, noted jurist and delegate to the Continental Congress. Lowell became a successful merchant and traveled to England. Both played a significant role in the industrial

It also was the period during which modern organizational methods for operating large scale businesses over vast areas came into use. A synergy between iron and steel, railroads and coal developed at the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution. Railroads allowed cheap transportation of materials and products, which in turn led to cheap rails to build more roads. Railroads also benefited from cheap coal for their steam locomotives. (This synergy led to the laying of 75,000 miles of track in the U.S. in the 1880s, the largest amount anywhere in world history.) The First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution had some things in common. Both the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution involved the use of machines instead of hand tools. Machines were used to make various products in each instance. Another similarity between the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution was the impact they had on