A few days ago in class, I worked in a small group reading an article on the Industrial Revolution. While my group read, we were told to focus on one aspect of the Industrial Revolution. This included, People, Technology, Resources, and Technology. All of these terms fit well into the understanding of the great impact the Industrial Revolution had on the world. Each day in class we are asked an essential question. Basically, this question is supposed to get you thinking about the lesson ahead. Relating to the lesson a few days ago, the question was, "What is revolutionary about the Industrial Revolution?" Using this question, we were able to record what the essential ingredients were to the Industrial Revolution.
One of the most important ingredients to the revolution is known as Transportation. During this time, many more ways of transporting goods were invented. Steam boats, one of the most important ways of transportation, was built. This allowed faster overseas shipment and trade. However, steam boats couldn't carry much cargo because of all the coal that was used to power it. Therefore, people started towing the cargo in a separate hull. In addition, the steam locomotive was constructed for easier land travel and helped citizens to transfer goods more efficiently. Likewise, additional railroads were built for more vast transport. Although a small fee would have to be paid to use them, Turnpikes were also built to decrease the time it took to transport goods. Because all these new ways of transportation were designed, people had more access to products from places that were farther away. The key to developing a good transportation system is to allow people and goods to move efficiently and easily. Looking at the Industrial Revolution, it did just that. This made the invention of new transportation revolutionary.
Along with transportation, Technology is also one of the most important ingredients to the Industrial Revolution. New technology allowed for there to be many innovations in textiles. Created by John Kay, the flying shuttle allowed weavers to weave much wider fabrics and work faster than spinners. Similarly, James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny. This machine allowed for many threads to be spun at the same time. To speed up spinning, Richard Arkwright's invented the water frame. Additionally, long sheds were built to house machines and workers. All of the machines mentioned above now produced what an entire industry of a district could produce. These new machines were efficient and saved a great deal of time. Furthermore, the steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. Coal was used to develop the steam engine. The engine was used to pump water out of mines, so that miners could mine deeper. This greatly helped miners and made mining just a little bit easier. Lastly, iron was improved. Coal was used to separate iron from its ore. High quality iron was used all over the world, especially in building railroads and textile machines. Without the improvement of technology, people wouldn't have been able to work and produce goods efficiently. This was simply revolutionary because new technology made for a better society.
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