2. Introduction
•The Industrial Revolution began in
Great Britain and then spread across
the United States and the rest of the
world.
•The revolution in Britain is often
called the First Industrial Revolution
while the later worldwide revolution
is referred to as the Second
Industrial Revolution.
•Taken place in the time between
1760 and 1840
•A major turning point in history as
it hugely impacted the way societies
in the world would function in the
years to come.
3. 1.Political and economic competition in Europe
• What was at stake was
competition for being a global
world superpower.
• In the beginning of the 18th
century, Britain had just a quarter
and two thirds the population of
France and Spain respectively.
• It was thus under constant
pressure fighting against these
perennial and larger enemies.
• The British engaged in many major wars during this period
like Austrian war of succession (1740-48), Seven Years‘ War (1756-
63), American Revolutionary War (1775-83) and the Napoleonic Wars
(1803-15) to name a few.
4. 1.Political and economic competition in Europe
• The British engaged in many
major wars during this period
• The need to keep up with the
enemy put tremendous
pressure on the country to
produce more.
• This desperate need
incentivized the invention of
labour-saving devices, which
played a key role in the
revolution.
5. 2.AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION IN
BRITAIN
• The British Agricultural Revolution
refers to the unprecedented rise in
agricultural production in Britain
from the 17th to mid-19th century.
• Agricultural changes revolved
around intensive farming methods
like:-
i. Crop rotation
ii. Enclosed fields
iii. Using an improved version of the
Chinese Plough
iv. Selective breeding and heavy
manuring
6. 2.AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION IN
BRITAIN
• Increased food production
meant that the British
population could be fed at
lower prices with less effort
than ever before.
• This rise in productivity
accelerated the decline of
the agricultural share of
the labor force and added
to the urban workforce on
which industrialization
depended.
7. 3.Growth in population
• Britain's population was a quarter of
the population of its European rival
France and around 4% of India and
China, which were the leading
economies of the time.
• In a world without machines lack of
working hands was a big
disadvantage.
• The agricultural revolution gave the
society enough food and the
population grew rapidly throughout
the century, more than doubling
itself in a hundred years.
• This led to Britain having enough
labor to feed its industrial growth.
8. 4.AVAILABILITY OF COAL AND IRON
• Britain was blessed with vast coal
and iron reserves which proved
valuable for the evolution of
industries.
• Large quantities of coal was
required for smelting of iron ores,
transportation etc.
• The demand would further
increase with the invention of the
coal powered steam engine.
• Continuous efforts were made to
refine iron and make it cheaper
which allowed England to stop
importing iron from northern
Europe and instead to create the
largest iron industry in the world.
9. 5.Transport Systems
• With the rising economy there was
pressure to improve the roads.
• The canal systems were built and
soon became a popular source of
transportation since they were
economical and reliable.
• Boats on the canal were pulled by
horses that walked on either side
of the canal on tow paths.
• Early railways consisted of wooden
tracks linking coal mines to rivers
and canals; and carriages were
pulled by horses.