"the Industrial Revolution was no mere sequence of changes in industrial techniques and production, but a social revolution with social causes as well as profound social effects".
Harold Perkin .
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In Britain about two hundred years ago, great changes took place in making goods and transport which has moulded the way our world works today. These changes made big differences to many people's lives and work. This great change in the way people lived is called the Industrial Revolution. It was revolutionary because it changed the productive capacity of England, Europe and the United States. But the revolution was something more than just new machines, factories, increased productivity and an increased standard of living. It was a revolution which transformed English, European and American society down to its roots. Like the Reformation or the French Revolution no one was left unaffected. Everyone was touched in one way or another (add). .
The Industrial Revolution implied that man now had not only the opportunity and the knowledge but the physical means to restrain nature. No other revolution in modern times can be said to have gifted so much in so little time. The Industrial Revolution attempted to affect man's mastery over nature. .
England was the birthplace of this revolution, because the political and economic conditions were ideal. The origins of the Industrial Revolution in England are complex and varied and it is still a subject a vast historical debate over origins, developments, growth and end results.
It began sometime after the middle of the 18th century. England wanted to keep their industrialization in secret, so they prohibited anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country. Meanwhile, Americans offered a significant reward to anyone who could build a cotton-spinning machine in the United States.