Chapter 21: Introduction

The Revolution in Energy and Industry (Chapter 21)

A dramatic change in lifestyles was about to take place in Europe as the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 1780s. This revolution would change almost everything about how life was lived in Europe, and its roots would soon be spread to the rest of the world. Everything from the way people worked to the social structure of the time would be dramatically overhauled, and a standard of living would develop that had not previously been available. Rapid population growth would also be a factor of the time however, and many would become impoverished by the lack of production. My objective for this chapter is to decipher how the Industrial Revolution would change the world not only in this time period, but how it would effect the world in the further future. 

Essential Question: How did rapid Industrialization affect the quality of people's lives?

Industrialization changed a great many things in regards the the quality of life. Working in factories was vastly different from working on farms; instead of working for your own survival people were now working to earn money. With the development of the steam engine, a lot of goods that had been previously unavailable to a family were now in abundance, thanks to the ability to trade long distances. The middle class became much larger and much wealthier as jobs available from factories became abundant, and even the women and children would work to keep the family happy and alive.