The Industrial Revolution is the period encompassing the social and economic changes resulting the transition from handmade production methods to steam-powered machinery and mass production methods. Beginning around 1760 in England and extending to the first half of the 19th century, the industrial revolution generally helped life but it also hindered it, resulting in both productive and dire consequences. .
The period before the industrial revolution was characterized as a period of very slow changes in technologies and commerce. People preferred to live in rural areas and were dependent on the cottage industry, where farmers worked their lands and produced goods for their own homes. However, the latter was not sufficient and therefore they sought out another source which was the domestic industry. Merchants brought raw materials to the farmers who cleaned and transformed the materials into cloth. Although the process was efficient, the costs were very high; the longer it took to produce, the higher the prices became, which meant that good were exclusively available for the rich only. As for the lower class, aka, the poor people were highly illiterate – considering there were no public schools- and could not afford products of high quality.
In 1733, the demand for cotton cloth became very high, yet the production was incredibly slow, the crisis had to be solved in order to boost the English economy. The answer came from John Kay, who invented the flying shuttle which cut the weaving time in two. Although many workers didn't accept the fact that they were the first to be replaced by machines, they eventually accepted it because machinery had already made their way across the country. By the year 1750, the industrial revolution had begun. At first, inventions were limited to cotton weaving machines, such as: The spinning Jenny, and the water-powered frame, but after a while inventions started to progress, they accelerated and launched the mass production.
