Positives And Negatives Of The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain during 1760 to 1840, and it lead to new technological and intellectual advances. Inventions and new ideas revolutionised the way tasks were done, but with that, came both positive and negative consequences. The impacts of the Industrial Revolution were more positive than negative, because of the slave trade’s benefits that were gained through commerce and trade, the agricultural changes that allowed the rapid production of food, and the protection and freedom that countries under the growing British Empire were given. The Industrial Revolution did have negative consequences, but the positives outweighed them, and it led to the success of Britain’s growth and development.

Commerce and trade were

Britain had strengthened their power by adding countries such as India, Australia, and parts of Africa into their empire. It had positive consequences, which allowed trade to be more productive, their countries were industrialised, and their citizens were given freedom and security. It also had negative effects, that mainly impacted their citizens in the countries they controlled, but the benefits of the British Empire heavily outweighed the negatives. In 1871, Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian political leader, had recounted on the positives and disadvantages of living in India under British control. The negatives he stated was that the British didn’t give the Indians a share of control over India, they were exhausted in making materials for trading, and they did not have many means to pay their taxes. He stated more positives though, such as the reduced crime rates in India, democracy for the Indians, education for children, and the development of railways and irrigation systems. The positives were mainly concerned with the protection, education, and liberty of the Indians, in which they heavily outweighed the negatives in terms of priorities. Naoroji also said that, “Our great misfortune is that you do not know our wants”, which implied that the British looked after and prioritised their needs first, because it was more

The reasons that allowed more positives than negatives to occur in the Industrial Revolution, was due to the advantages of the slave trade through commerce and trade, the way agricultural changes allowed farming to be done rapidly and efficiently, and how the growth of the British Empire gave people protection, security and direct benefits from the British trade. The Industrial Revolution was a new era in Britain that had a few disadvantages, but it positively impacted the nation, and allowed it to progress and advance at a rate never seen