The Most Important Revolution Ever?

          This week we started learning about the industrial revolution. We broke up into groups and took notes on certain aspects of the revolution. the question we were trying to answer was: What was 'revolutionary' about the industrial revolution? I'll talk about the two aspects that effected the world the most during this revolution.

          First, the advancements in technology were helpful in all sorts of areas. One of the most influential pieces of technology was the steam engine. The steam engine was invented in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen to pump water out of mines so miners could get resources that were lower. It was later used in locomotives and boats which made transporting goods easier across land and sea. Next, was the new found uses for iron. Coal was an important part in the improvements of iron. The coal separated the iron from the ore better which led to the production of higher quality iron. Iron was used all over the world, but especially in the building of railroads and building textile machines. Finally, there was the innovation of Textiles. The flying shuttle made by John Kay allowed weaving to be faster than spinning. In 1764, James Hargreaves created the spinning Jenny allowed many threads to spin at the same time. Later, machines used steam engines which made them even faster. Soon single buildings were producing as much as an entire industry district used to produce. The improvements in technology made goods more accessible and allowed us to get many more raw materials.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~belghist/Flanders/Pages/textiles.htm

          Second, the improvements actual people had were revolutionary. First, there advancements in agriculture. Roy Charles Townsend proposed the idea of growing turnips which restored the exhausted soil. Jethro Tull invented the seed drill which helped farmers. Another thing that helped was enclosure. Rich landowners started to use enclosure and force peasants off their land which forced the peasants to work n factories. This allowed the factories to produce goods faster. Finally, the life expectancy for humans increased. The improvements of agriculture led to less famines. Also it kept women well fed which made them healthier which led to healthier babies. With better food production and people living longer life became a lot easier and not many people had to work on farms and work more in the factories. Healthier humans means a better world and during the industrial revolution, humans were getting a lot healthier.