Ap Euro Dbq Industrial Revolution

993 Words4 Pages

The Industrial Revolution was the rapid development of industry that occured in Britain in the late !8th and 19th century; often associated with the introduction of machinery. With new developments of machinery, mass production and the use of steam power were very commonly brought up during this time. However, the Industrial Revolution not only brought along new technology, but also marked the start of the ‘industrious revolution’, the cruel and long labour that was often related with industrialism. Although there are many drawbacks to the Industrial Revolution such as the working people's’ pain, the Industrial Revolution impacted many crucial factors that were advantageous. The gains of the Industrial Revolution included technological advancements, …show more content…

Due to the fact that it was creating large quantities of goods in a short amount of time, it was extremely beneficial to the factory owners and merchants. However, it also benefited the lives of the common working class people. Mass production allowed the goods to be at a cheap cost, which allowed even labourers to buy items. In A Brief History of the Industrial Revolution, a historian explains the effects of the Industrial Revolution and the impact it had on the lives of common factory workers. They state, “The new factories used mass production by means of power-driven machines to produce cheap goods for the broad masses (middle and working classes) “(Document 9). Before mass production, every product had to made by hand and took a long time, which increased the cost of the item. Using mass production to quickly and efficiently create the good allowed the item to be valued at a cheaper cost. Now everyone could buy simple goods, not only the …show more content…

With mass production and the increase in technology, it offered many to get jobs and move to the city. Since mass production offered more goods, many started to participate in the process. Blackburn explains, “The availability of such treats drew consumers into greater participation in market exchanges and greater reliance on wages, salaries, and fees”. With more of the mass produced products out on the market, people realized it was necessary to have money to buy goods. It encouraged them to find jobs which were in large cities. Jobs were created by factories who needed mass amounts of people to work the machines and produce the goods. It increased the population immensely and popularized urbanization and employment. With more jobs on the market, the economy flourished. Not only were there many jobs available, England’s economy thrived and prospered in another way. In the late 18th century, England still had its plantation colonies in which they used to produce their products. Blackburn writes, “The plantation colonies supplied the mother country with a growing stream of popular luxuries-dyestuffs,sugar, tobacco, then later coffee and chocolate as well-and cotton, a crucial industrial input”. It immensely benefited England in that they could have these good that they would trade and export while it was made at a very low cost. It’s similar to today where many companies will go out to other