The consequences of the Industrial Revolution were the formation of the working class, urbanization, cheaper products, increased environmental damage, among others.
This process concentrated wealth in the hands of an elite and with it, the misery and insalubrity in which the less favored populations lived increased significantly..
In the first phase of the Industrial Revolution, factory workers lived in precarious conditions, with long working hours and low wages. Women and children also worked in factories and were paid less than men.
Main Consequences of the Industrial Revolution:Summary
- Division and specialization of labor
- Strengthening of two classes:industrial bourgeoisie and factory proletariat
- High economic growth
- Income concentration in the hands of industry owners
- Political and economic strengthening of the bourgeoisie
- Formation of an industrial elite
- Emergence of assembly lines (Fordism and Taylorism)
- Decrease of corporations linked to crafts (manufactures)
- Replacement from manufacturing to machine-making
- Creation of companies and industries
- Dynamization of the industrial process
- Increased income from work
- Production cost reduction
- Increased competition
- Expansion and consolidation of the capitalist system
- Emergence of Socialism
- Scientific and technological progress
- Advancement of communications and transport systems
- Industrial and urban development
- Increased rural exodus
- Growth of cities and population
- Disorderly growth of cities
- Cities become major industrial centers
- Expansion of trade and industrial activities
- Increased productivity and consumer market
- Emergence of a new working class (proletariat)
- Increase in workers' struggles
- Emergence of the Trade Union (unions)
- Expansion of imperialism
- Increasing social inequalities
- Advancing environmental impacts
Causes of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a movement that began in England in the 18th century, and which directly influences the world's social, economic and political system to this day.
It began for several reasons, among which the following stand out:the strengthening of the bourgeois class in England, various inventions (spinning machines, mechanical looms, steam engines, etc.), the use of modern sources of energy (coal and oil) and the improvement of production techniques based on technological and scientific advances.
See also Causes of the Industrial Revolution
Stages of the Industrial Revolution
It is worth remembering that the expansion of industrialization was divided into three periods:
- First Industrial Revolution (1750 to 1850)
- Second Industrial Revolution (1850 to 1950)
- Third Industrial Revolution (1950-present)
Want to better understand each period of the Industrial Revolution? Access the article:Phases of the Industrial Revolution.
Learn all about the Industrial Revolution in this text: Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution - All Matter