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What Caused The Industrial Revolution

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The Industrial Revolution took place from the 18th to 19th century and predominantly effected Brittan. It was the period when a transition occurred with current manufacturing processes. The slow production of textiles provoked inventor James Hargreaves to invent the spinning Jenny which was one of the many causes that lead to the Industrial Revolution. Shortly, hand production methods shifted to machine production, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes were introduced, there was improved efficiency of water power, an increasing use of steam power and there was a development of machine tools. Wood and other biofuels were changed to coal as a result of the industrialisation. The rise of new production methods resulted in factories being built, and these factories needed workers and this is where children came in. These children were chosen as the main source of labour for the factories as their …show more content…

For fourteen hours of work children could be paid as less than 10 cents an hour. These children were used for simpler, unskilled jobs. Countless children developed physical deformities as a result of the lack of exercise and sunlight. Children were often forced to work in difficult conditions for long hours. “We went to the mill at five in the morning. We worked until dinner time and then to nine or ten at night; on Saturday it could be till eleven and often till twelve at night. We were sent to clean the machinery on the Sunday.” Man interviewed in 1849 who had worked in a mill as a child.
There were no restrictions on the age of workers or number of hours that could be worked. Exploitation, however, prompted reform and by the mid-19th century, the government took steps to reducing child labor.
What were the positive and negative impacts that the Industrial Revolution brought to

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