Industrial revolution is a gradual
development process which led to the transformation of early mans’ way of
living through sound innovation in various sectors of the economy (Ashton, 1948).
Industrial revolution totally transformed not only the way things are done but
also the way man operates. Agrarian revolution changed the lifestyle of humankind.
Prior to 18th century, the early man used to survive on hunting and
gathering, more often using crude weapons in his day-to-day activities (Eric,2009).
The practice of hunting and gathering was tedious and time consuming as
individuals had to cater for their daily needs and those of their immediate
families. Industrial revolution totally alienated individuals from their
traditional working modes. This has largely transformed the agrarian society in
a number of ways. First, there was mitigation of time wastage as persons worked
on the fields to produce their products that they were sure of harvesting, this
replaced the uncertainty of capturing something to eat. Early man used to cover
a wide area hunting but with revolution he was able to operate in a small
location which increasing his output.
Textile manufacturing was in small scale
before the revolution; it was termed as cottage industry (Clark, 2007).
This mostly was done by individual workers and missing on innovation and
division of labor. The mode of transportation could only accommodate the
small-scale production. With the wave of revolution, textile industry had a
massive shift into large-scale production (Clark, 2007). However, at
the beginning the working conditions at the ginneries were not human. Dim
lighting and working for long hours were problems that were realized at the
early stages. Child labor was also a common issue during this progress.
Industrial revolution led to the development
of advanced machines, which replaced human activities in many aspects (Eric, 2009).With
the help of these machines, production was always on the rise although less
labor was in operation. The transformation of labor from man to machine power
necessitated other invention to allow massive transportation of these products
to the market. Bernal (2006), pointed out that spinning jenny and the
flying shuttle that were later replaced by spinning mule were the first
innovations that transformed the textile industry. Some expertise on the how to
run these machines was required, this additional training increased the
efficiency hence increased production. These developments changed how work was
being done as it accommodated increased number of individuals it also advocated
for division of labor. Moreover, iron folding and steam power are other 18th
century sectors that transformed the agrarian life. The early man through these
sectors was able to develop advanced weapons that were used for various
purposes (Ashton, 1948).
According to Bernal (2006), industrial
revolution was a blessing to the early man; this is because the daily dues from
wages and salaries outweigh the struggles of hunting and gathering. In
addition, working in these firms is dignifying enough. Moreover, the source of
food in the industrial generation was more stable as individuals could work
more efficiently in one location and produce surplus to help sustain them.
References
Ashton, T. S. (1948). The Industrial Revolution (1760-1830).UK: Oxford
University Press.
Bernal, J. D. (2006). Science and Industry in the Nineteenth Century. London:
Routledge,
Clark, G. (2007). A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of
the World. New Jersey :Princeton
University Press,
Eric, H,(2009).The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848.United Kingdom :Weidenfeld
& Nicolson Ltd
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