Page 3 - World History Cover resized

The g of the Industrial Revolution is usually dated at 1769, when J Watt, Eng shman, invented the m em steam en ne, mak g ible much more rapid trans rtation and the manufacturing of large quantiti of g in a short amount of time. England t k the lead in the dustrial Revolutio not only u the steam engine had en invented there but ca the concentration of w th in the h ds of a few men as a result of the Protes nt Revolt meant that they had the ex­ ce wealth or capita needed to build a factory and buy the machines to u in it
The Industrial Revolution ou t a ut eat changes in the way ple lived. Lured by the promi of a st dy wage, op sed to the un­ cert ties of f m y ple left their farms and moved near the factorie ttlements ew to town then cities, coming more crowded all the time. Ex s were hi er in the cities, since men could no longer ow or ke m t of what they needed. Thus the wages paid the h d of the fam y were not always enough to sup rt it, women and c dren would have to go to work t . Since the whole f ily was dependent on factory inc e, the factory owner could often take advan­ ta of them, ying low wages and requiring long hou in r condi­ tion cau the family would starve if they quit
Thus capita ism came to dom ate En ish iety. Capitalism is an economic system whereby we th and wer and the means of pr uction are concentrat in the hands of a few. Capita sm stands in contrast to the system of the Middle Ag di rib is where wealth was more evenly ­ vided cau the individ would own his own t l equipment and land and could there re inde ndent and -sup in
Teh changes in the way ople lived al had an effect on litical id Capitalists came do nant the gove ent and their main con­ ce w more wealth A new th ry was develo ca ed laissez f re (a French phra meaning ve alone"} i z f e m ns that the gov­ e ent was not to inte ere in anyth g the pitalists di even if they mistreated the employe z faire e widely accepted in Eng­ land and Ame pro bly of the influence of the old Calvinist idea that the Elect were th who were materially su ful
Eventually con tions e d that Par ent was forced to p the F tory Act in 1 3. This act for de th employment of children under nine. Children from could not work more than hours a week, and teenage uld t work more than 69 hours a week. The fact that it had to e ted at a shows how bad conditions must ve en and