THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

This chapter was all about the Industrial Revolution in the period of the mid 1700s to the early 1900s.
THere was a huge boost in the rate of technological innovation, and it led to a huge increase in output of goods and services, and many new sources of energy were also founded. There is much question as to why the Industrial Revolution took part in Europe and there are reasons for it, one being that other areas of the world had previously experienced many times of lots of technological advancement previously. There were many economic things that aided Europe in becoming the powerhouse of this movement as well. Life expectancies, wages, the standard of living, free markets, and much more made Europe well suited. Britain is also a burning question. Britain was the "most highly commercialized of Europe's larger countries". British political life had encouraged commercialization and many innovations of economy. In Britain, in terms of the Scientific Revolution, it is said that they were very concerned more with observation and experiments, and very precise measurements and mechanical devices. I found an interesting quote in the book that said, "The social transformations of the Industrial Revolution both destroyed and created." This is interesting to me because typically, you only think of these things as being positive. Eric Hobsbawm, who was a historian said, "In its initial stages, it destroyed their old ways of living and left them free to discover or make for themselves new ones, if they could and knew how. But it rarely told them how to set about it." This is very interesting, but the point is well taken. Interestingly enough, it is said that the middle class benefited most from the industrial revolution. Women in the middle classes were typically made into homemakers, wives, and moms, and they were supposed to just wait on their men hand and foot, this changed a bit during the revolution. Also, the lives of the working class were changed as well because of the revolution.