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In Britain about two hundred years ago, great changes took place in making goods and transport, which has moulded the way our world works today. These changes made big differences to many people’s lives and work methods; and put together these are called the Industrial Revolution. They started in Britain and spead to Europe and on to the United States. A lot of the Industrial Revolution’s changes helped the lives of people as transport was more secure and faster, but also mass production was brought in.

Before the Industrial Revolution people made goods on a small-scale from their own homes, or in workshops beside their house, the whole family would be involed in producing and selling the product. It was safe to work at home as they only used hand tools and simple machinery, these worked by hand or foot. In some situations a few bigger machines were used and water wheels were used as a power source.

Before the invention of steam engines, wind mills and water wheels were used for powering big machinery. The first steam engine in the early seventeen hundreds was mainly used in the mines for pumping out water. James Watt in 1782 developed a new steam engine that was able to power factory machines. By that time factories had built up, particularly in the cotton industry, which took over from wool. In 1733 John Kay, a workman from Bury, invented his “flying” shuttle, which made the making of cloth much faster.

More Raymond mill machines were built and some were not in factories, since farmers were also using machinery for faster and more efficient methods of growing crops. Jethro Tull invented his ‘Seed Drill’ so that it would half the time and also straighten the seeds being put into the ground whereas before the seeds were scattered randomly. The increased use of machines in factories and the greater use of steam power lead to the coal and iron industry. The Industrial Revolution made the two industries the most important in the country and the areas of mining became the source of Britain’s wealth. ore beneficiation:http://www.crusher-machine.com/n51.html
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The result of these changes was industrial towns, places like Manchester, which was the mass producing city of cotton, and Birmingham, which produced metal trades. The growth in towns made problems as houses became crowded and new houses were built quickly and cheaply in small streets. Another result was the improvement in the transport system as goods needed to be moved from place to place.

As the new hammer crusher machines were powered by horses, water or steam engines and did not need human strength, people thought that women and children could look after them. People also said that because the machines weaved or spun themselves, skilled workers were not needed. Children worked for fourteen or more hours a day until the government passed a law on their hours of employment, later the hours women worked were also controlled.

The way we work today is affected by the changes in industry and technology that took place between 1750 and 1950. There were some bad points in the Revolution but overall they helped to improve the way we live.