History essay

To what extent was the Industrial Revolution beneficial for those who experienced it?
The Industrial Revolution spanned along the years of the 7060’s to the 1840’s. The Industrial
Revolution was when many inventions were invented, such as farming equipment, steam
trains, and factory machinery. There were many positives to living during this time such as
having access to new inventions and being able to suggest changes and improvements. The
Industrial Revolution has benefited us along with those that lived through it.

Although not beneficial in every way, innovations in agriculture led the way to the Industrial
Revolution. Innovations like Jethro Tull’s Drill, the Rotherham Plow and Robert Bakewell’s
method of selective breeding led to an increase in food production. For example, selective
breeding resulted in cows growing in weight from 167kg in 1710 to 362kg in 1795. This
resulted in significantly more meat being /produced from each cow. With more food came a
population increase which can been seen in England and Wales. The population boomed from
5,772,000 in 1751 up to 20,066,000 in 1861. However, this was not beneficial for everyone.
Innovations, like those, resulted in less workers being required on farms. Thousands of
families were forcibly evicted from the land they have traditionally worked for generations.
Being removed from the only way of life that was familiar would be a very traumatic
experience. Other forms of resistance to innovation took the form of the Luddite movement.
This was inspired by Ned Ludd who encouraged people to smash the new machines that were
taking their livelihoods away. Overall, innovation in agriculture did uproot the lives of many
but it created a platform for more people as well as a better quality of life do to healthier and
more nutrient food.

Factories for clothing, agriculture machinery and other new inventions that needed to be
built. The benefits of factories included quicker and better-quality items. Factories made it
easier to produce items at a mass level for cheaper prices. This was highly beneficial for the
people that could afford it, but not so much for those that couldn’t. As factories had better
quality items people had started to buy from them, putting small businesses in loss. Those
people then started working in factories along with little children that had to work to support
their families. Working conditions in factories were harsh and traumatic, however due to their
need of money they had to continue. Factory working conditions for children included having
to work 12 to 15 hours straight without any breaks. Food was usually eaten while they
worked and punishments were given out for talking or taking small breaks when you weren’t
meant to. The factories were beneficial for those that bought from it but not so much for those
that couldn’t afford it, worked there or had a small business producing the same item.
The last invention I am going to talk about is steam trains. Steam trains were invented in
1804 and as all other invention they also had advantages and disadvantages. Starting off with
the advantages, steam trains helped in human transport as before them only horse – led
vehicles and wagonways were available. They were much quicker than any other form of
transport and offered the most comfort. Steam trains were also beneficial for companies
needing to transport goods across the area in a short time. There were a few disadvantages to
this as in it being slightly pricey compared to horse – led vehicles, Produced greenhouse
gases and factories had to make the parts for it meaning more child labour. Vhild labour was
also used to run the train as they needed someone to continuously feed the train with coal.
These were all factors that weren’t taken into consideration and had a negative impact on the
environment and on poorer people. Steam trains ran on coal meaning when burnt it produced
carbon dioxide, one of the gases that has the largest impact on the environment. As said in the
last paragraph, child labour was cruel and unnecessary as most children would work even if
they weren’t forced to as they had the need for money. Steam Trains had a positive impact as
they were a quicker form of transport and offered more comfort. They had disadvantages that
include the production of greenhouse gases and the use of child labour for both running the
train and making the parts.

In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on people that lived during it
along with those that live after. Each invention had many advantages and disadvantages
however most of the disadvantages has been eliminated by now, such as child labour is now
illegal. The three main areas’ that inventions were made for are, agriculture and farming,
Transport and the production of goods (factories). In farming and agriculture, Machines were
made to do what humans used to do such as planting seeds, harvesting and ploughing.
Factories made the production of goods quicker and offered higher quality however, they
used child labour where they abused the children which made it highly cruel. Lastly, steam
trains. Steam trains were invented for transport meaning a quicker and comfortable vehicle
was made helping the population travel. They produced greenhouse gases and used child
labour as a downside to the invention.

Bibliography
Most information was collected through class works such as the farming and agriculture
information and factories working conditions. Part of the steam train information was
collected from an external source however the author, date of publication and edits and
sponsor are unavailable. The name of the text is ‘Steam locomotive’ from the site History of
technology - Automation, Digitalization, Robotics | Britannica