The Positive Impacts Of The Industrial Revolution

In Britain, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Industrial Revolution gave rise to changes that radically altered society and its way of life. Before the Industrial Revolution, people produced their own furniture, clothing, food, and tools. Manufacturing was generally done in homes or small shops using hand tools or simple machines. Most people lived in small, rural communities and the average person’s existence revolved around farming. The ordinary person had a very small income. The Industrial Revolution saw many inventions that led to efficacious practices, and the betterment of the way of life for all and positively affected Britain. It led to efficiency, cheaper goods, and more rights for underserved people.

Inventions …show more content…
Citing terrible working conditions, child labor, disease, and its lasting impact on the environment as proof. There is validity to all of these. For example, working conditions were wretched; machines were almost never fenced off, leading to many gruesome injuries and deaths, and, the workplace was very hot, and workers often worked for 12 hours or more. Child labor was also a major issue during the Industrial Revolution. Children as young as six years old were sent to work in factories, working 12 to 14 hours with minimal breaks. Disease became rampant during the Industrial Revolution. Changes in the way people lived, such as urbanization, and the conditions in which they worked led to disease spreading vehemently. Towns grew quickly as more and more factories sprung up. As the demand for more houses grew, the quality of houses decreased in order to speed up the building process. People were often cramped in these houses leading to disease. In addition, factories would dump their waste into the water. Sometimes human waste also ended up in the drinking water, which also helped spread disease. The most common diseases at the time were typhoid and cholera. Those who claim the Industrial Revolution was negative also refer to the lasting effect it had on the environment. It led to a depletion of natural resources such as deforestation and carbon emissions. It also was a factor in causing pollution, global warming, and human health problems. Despite all these valid arguments, they pale in comparison to the to the positive effects of the Industrial Revolution. The way of life was transformed for the better thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Even more so, some of the negatives such as child labor and bad working conditions led to changes in the law. So in fact, these negatives led to positive changes in