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From the World Book Online

The Industrial Revolution

During the late 1700's and early 1800's, great changes took place in the lives and work of people in several parts of the Western world. These changes resulted from the development of industrialization. The term Industrial Revolution refers both to the changes that occurred and to the period itself.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain (a country now known as the United Kingdom) during the late 1700's. It started spreading to other parts of Europe and to North America in the early 1800's. By the mid-1800's, industrialization was widespread in western Europe and the northeastern United States.

The introduction of power-driven machinery and the development of factory organization during the Industrial Revolution created an enormous increase in the production of goods. Before the revolution, manufacturing was done by hand, or by using animal power or simple machines. Most people worked at home in rural areas. A few worked in shops in towns and belonged to associations called guilds. The Industrial Revolution eventually took manufacturing out of the home and workshop. Power-driven machines replaced handwork, and factories developed as the most economical way of bringing together the machines and the workers to operate them.

Jacob, Margaret C. "Industrial Revolution." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016

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Useful search terms:

"industrial revolution" AND inventions

"cotton gin" effect OR impact

"sewing machine" AND "industrial revolution"

"industrial revolution" medicine (costs OR benefits OR improvements)

Primary Sources

Hard Times Cotton Mills Girls, Excerpt 1
From the Smithsonian Museum. Read a first-hand account of the Industrial Revolution written by a child laborer.
Child labor in Gulf Coast canneries
Read a first-hand account from Lewis W. Hine, a staff photographer from the National Child Labor Committee, of his experience photographing the children working in canneries along the Gulf Coast.

Secondary Sources - Useful Websites

The Industrial Revolution and the Growth of Cities
From Newsela. Learn about how the Industrial Revolution lead to the rise of cities.
The origins of the Industrial Revolution
From Newsela. Learn about the origins of the Industrial Revolution.
When Everything Changed: the Industrial Revolution
From Newsela. Learn about the many changes caused by the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution
From the BBC. Learn about the Industrial Revolution and its impact on science and learning, education, agriculture, industry, inventions, and transport and communications.
The Industrial Revolution
Look at the effects of the Industrial Revolution on working conditions, living conditions, urbanization, life expectancy, public health, child labor, families, and income.