Thread: What is and how did the industrial revolution occur?

What is and how did the industrial revolution occur? Identify key advances in technology and medicine during this period. How did the Enlightenment influence the industrial revolution?

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1750 and ended in 1900

The Industrial Revolution was the period when massive technological advances took place. It begins in about 1770 with Abraham Darby III's introduction of coke fired iron smelting and continued up until 1900 - although I would argue that it continued up until 1914 and the outbreak of WWI.

It began because Britain had enjoyed quite a long period of political stability and Britain had been economically prospering. This let to land-owners having spare capital to invest in new ideas and innovations like new machinery. The price of agricultural produce had gone up on the Continent, so land-owners could reap great rewards by enclosing their land and buying a seed drill - making many of their farm labourers unemployed. (incidentally this also neutered the only real threat to Britain's stability - the Jacobite pretender as the highlands were cleared of people to make way for sheep). This climate of economic growth, new ideas and innovations (not only in farming, but in science as well), spare capital to invest and an unemployed rural work-force coupled with the abundant and easy to obtain natural raw materials, like coal and iron ore fed the early industrial revolution. As did the British weather - rain to feed the rivers that turned the water-wheels of the early mills and factories.
The growing Empire provided a ready market for the new industrial goods, and new raw materials for the factories of Britain.

So, in a nutshell, three factors which began the Industrial Revolution were:
1) Economic prosperity coupled with political stability.
2) Easy to obtain raw materials, especially iron coal and water.
3) Huge markets for finished products

The rest you can look up yourself from the links below.
General:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/agricultural_revolution_01.shtml
http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/

People & inventions:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SCwatt.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAtrevithick.htm
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/inventions.htm

Medicine and public health:
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/gcse/medicine/publichealth/publichealth_industrialrevolution.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PHchadwick.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bazalgette_joseph.shtml

Enlightenment and the Revolution:
http://www.birminghamuk.com/wikipedia/Industrial_Revolution.htm