The Industrial Revolution’s Development and Impact upon Society The Industrial Revolution is arguably one of the most outstanding achievements of man. It greatly propelled society forward with the creation of numerous inventions and machines, all of which helped advance the Industrial Revolution even further than before. Although it would eventually spread across Europe and to all corners of the Earth, the Industrial Revolution started off in England for a myriad of reasons having to do with both its physical geography and socio-political conditions. As such, England would be the first to benefit from the Industrial Revolution, gaining the huge commercial and technological head start that later allows them to flourish and become dominant
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Quite a few of these factors had to do simply with the geography of England. For example, England is blessed with navigable rivers and canals. These rivers and canals allowed for the easy transport of goods and provided factories with a source of power. In fact, Adam Smith, the first modern economist, believed this was a key reason for England’s early success, writing that “Good roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of the country more nearly upon a level with those in the neighbourhood of the town,” (The Industrial Revolution Begins in England (1760-1850)). Furthermore, England possessed rich coal and iron deposits, which were essential to the development of new technologies like steam-powered machinery in factories and locomotives. It is also important to realize the impact geography had on Eurasia as a whole that helped to push England ahead. Evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies) sees “… the Industrial Revolution as an inevitable result of geography and evolutionary biology that played out not only in a burst of activity, but over many thousands of years,” (The Industrial Revolution Begins in England
Quite a few of these factors had to do simply with the geography of England. For example, England is blessed with navigable rivers and canals. These rivers and canals allowed for the easy transport of goods and provided factories with a source of power. In fact, Adam Smith, the first modern economist, believed this was a key reason for England’s early success, writing that “Good roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of the country more nearly upon a level with those in the neighbourhood of the town,” (The Industrial Revolution Begins in England (1760-1850)). Furthermore, England possessed rich coal and iron deposits, which were essential to the development of new technologies like steam-powered machinery in factories and locomotives. It is also important to realize the impact geography had on Eurasia as a whole that helped to push England ahead. Evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies) sees “… the Industrial Revolution as an inevitable result of geography and evolutionary biology that played out not only in a burst of activity, but over many thousands of years,” (The Industrial Revolution Begins in England