Friday, October 10, 2008

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Video)

CAUSES FOR THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Cause – Effect Essay)

Every day is more common to find machines doing the work that some years ago was done by humans, technological innovations, use of several energy sources, the insatiable need for capital and division of work like a support for the business' success, but maybe you never think about the origin of all things that have improved our business and also our quality of life, all this thanks to the speed with which we can produce products and provide services. Certainly what most of us know is that these interesting facilities available to us today were provided by the event known as the Industrial Revolution, however, what few people know is the reasons that promoted this event. Thus, the purpose of this essay is to analyze the three main causes of the Industrial Revolution, such as population’s increase, expansion of foreign trade and the need to develop efficient means of transportation.

The first cause for the industrial revolution and, in my opinion, the most important is the population's increase. Since the XVIII century, epidemics of plague were disappearing and the development of agriculture allowed the growth of food production and then there was a decline in catastrophic mortality (hunger, wars and epidemics). In addition, population’s increase amplified demand for goods and services. It promoted technical innovations that increased production and profits. These inventions began in England in the textile sector, at the beginning they were very simple inventions, they were built of wood and made by artisans and people without scientific preparation, but after that, this technological development in the industry made possible the emergence of what today we know as factory, it is a place where a high production is achieved through the division of labor because each worker took charge only in a portion of the process.

The second cause for the industrial revolution has to do with the expansion of foreign trade. The foreign trade let to get cheap and abundant raw materials and achieved broad market for industrial products. So, people were faced with the possibility of increasing its revenues through reducing of production costs and expanding of their market, take advantage of that opportunity was unquestionably the best option. Although initially the countries of northern Europe had organized a global trade for their benefit and their privileged status was delaying the industrialization of the rest of the world, the discovery of the optimization of profits through the purchase of raw materials in other markets led to countries realized that it was essential to establish stable relations with markets elsewhere in the world.

The third and final cause for the industrial revolution is the need to develop efficient means of transportation. The increase of population and agricultural production and also the development of trade had created large markets in which it was necessary to bring the products from one place to another. To that end, it was imperative to develop and improve means of transport. Besides, improving the means of transport was not an easy task because it was a slow and tortuous process. Nevertheless the growing need for efficient and effective means of transport, it led to the invention of railways and steamboats. Thanks to these inventions, large cities were able to stock up on food without problems, investments produced great benefits, employment increased and also increased the demand for the steel for the construction of rails and locomotives. All these aspects unquestionably strengthened the development of the industrial revolution.
In conclusion, the industrial revolution was caused by population’s increase, expansion of foreign trade and the need to develop efficient means of transportation. On the other hand, I have to say that we should appreciate the succeeded things by Businessmen of the XVIII century, we must be aware that the goals are not achieved easily but they are worth do a lot of work and effort!...