THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONSTURCO ATTILIO

THE LAST DECADES OF THE 18TH CENTURY WERE MARKED BY GREAT REVOLUTIONS: THE AGRICULTURAL AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS, WHICH RESHAPED THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL

BACKGROUND OF BRITAIN.DURING THIS PERIOD, IN FACT, THE METHODS OF FARMING AND OF

THE MANUFACTURE OF GOODS BEGAN TO CHANGE DUE TO THE INCREASE OF SCIENTIFIC THINKING THAT LED TO NEW INVENTIONS

WHICH SPEEDED UP THE MANUFACTURE OF GOODS AND THE EXTRACTION OF RAW MATERIALS.

THE MAIN CONSEQUENCES OF THESE REVOLUTION WERE THE GROWTH OF THE POPULATION AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF

CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN FACTORIES.THE LATTER CONSEQUENCE BROUGHT A LOT OF VIOLENCE IN

HOUSES.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WAS A SIGNIFICANT TURNING POINT IN WORLD HISTORY

• DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, MACHINES WERE USED TO MANUFACTURE GOODS

• PRIOR TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, GOODS WERE MADE BY HAND

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONNEW TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ARRANGEMENTS ALLOWED THE INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES – FIRST BRITAIN, THEN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES – TO UNLEASH MASSIVE INCREASES IN PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY, EXPLOIT THE WORLD’S NATURAL RESOURCES AS NEVER BEFORE, AND TRANSFORM THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN LIFE IN UNPRECEDENTED WAYS.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION• BUT THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WOULD NOT

HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT EARLIER ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

• AS FARMS BECAME MORE PRODUCTIVE, FEWER WORKERS WERE NEEDED ON FARMS

• MORE WORKERS WERE AVAILABLE FOR FACTORY WORK

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION• THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION WAS A PERIOD OF

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE 18TH CENTURY AND THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, WHICH SAW A MASSIVE AND RAPID INCREASE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND VAST IMPROVEMENTS IN FARM TECHNOLOGY.

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION• INDEED THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION HAD BEGUN LONG

BEFORE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY• ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT WAS THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTATO,

INTRODUCED FROM SOUTH AMERICA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY• IN THE COOL AND HUMID REGIONS OF EUROPE FROM IRELAND TO

RUSSIA, POTATOES YIELDED TWO TO THREE TIMES MORE FOOD PER ACRE THAN DID THE WHEAT, RYE, AND OATS THEY REPLACED

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION• BUT THE SECURITY OF SMALL-SCALE TENANT

FARMERS AND SHARECROPPERS DEPENDED ON TRADITIONAL METHODS AND RURAL CUSTOMS SUCH AS COLLECTING PLANTS LEFT OVER IN THE FIELDS AFTER HARVEST, PASTURING THEIR ANIMALS ON COMMON VILLAGE LANDS, AND GATHERING FIREWOOD IN COMMON WOODS

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION• ONLY PROSPEROUS LANDOWNERS WITH SECURE TITLES TO THEIR LAND

COULD AFFORD TO BEAR THE RISK OF TRYING NEW METHODS AND NEW CROPS

• RICH LANDOWNERS THEREFORE “ENCLOSED” THE LAND – THAT IS CONSOLIDATED THEIR HOLDINGS – AND GOT PARLIAMENT TO GIVE THEM TITLE TO THE COMMONS THAT IN THE PAST HAD BEEN OPEN TO ALL

• ONCE IN CONTROL OF THE LAND, THEY COULD DRAIN AND IMPROVE THE SOIL, BREED BETTER LIVESTOCK, AND INTRODUCE CROP ROTATION

• THIS “ENCLOSURE MOVEMENT” TURNED TENANTS AND SHARECROPPERS INTO LANDLESS FARM LABORERS

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION• MANY LANDLESS FARM LABORERS MOVED TO THE

CITIES TO SEEK WORK; OTHERS BECAME HOMELESS MIGRANTS AND VAGRANTS; AND STILL OTHERS EMIGRATED TO CANADA, AUSTRALIA, AND THE UNITED STATES

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLUTIONS• ECONOMIC GROWTH WAS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT THE NORTH

ATLANTIC AREA, YET INDUSTRIALIZATION DID NOT TAKE PLACE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE

• THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION BROUGHT GREAT RICHES TO THOSE WHO PUT IT IN MOTION (THE ENTREPRENEURS).

• HOWEVER, THE REVOLUTION ALSO BROUGHT HIGH POVERTY RATES AND HARSH LIVING CONDITIONS FOR OTHERS.

• THE REVOLUTION BROUGHT RAPID URBANIZATION

SEVERAL FACTORS CAUSED PEOPLE TO MOVE QUICKLY:• CHANGES IN FARMING• POPULATION GROWTH• DEMAND FOR FACTORY WORKERS

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLUTIONS

THE WORKING CLASS HAD CRAPPY LIVES.• THEY LIVED IN FOUL-SMELLING SLUMS• THEY LIVED IN TENEMENTS

MULTISTORY BUILDINGS WERE DIVIDED INTO APARTMENTS• THESE HAD NO RUNNING WATER, JUST COMMUNITY PUMPS.THERE WERE NO SEWAGE OR SANITATION SYSTEMS; THIS MEANT GARBAGE ROTTED IN THE STREETS.SEWAGE WAS ALSO DUMPED INTO THE RIVERS AND STREAMS. THIS MADE THE WATER STINKY AND IT BECAME LABELED AS CONTAMINATED. FULL OF BACTERIA OR DISEASE, WHICH SPREAD CHOLERA.