The Birth of the Industrial Age

The Birth of the Industrial Age

The industrial revolution was a period, which started in the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century when the major changes especially in the agricultural sector that took place. Additionally, it is in this era that the behaviors and the lifestyle of humankind changed completely (Montagna, 2006). Moreover, at this time, in the agricultural revolution, there were many inventions, which changed the face of agriculture, by improving it drastically and boosting the economy leading to changes in the lives of the human beings.

The first invention that took place in the industrial revolution and changed agriculture was the invention of the seed drill. It was first invented by Jethro Tull in 1701 in the UK. Before the seed drill was invented, people used to drill their seeds anyhow in the fields. Most of the seeds did not grow due to them being eaten by birds. After the seed drill was invented, seeds were planted in a more organized way and they were even buried in the ground in such manner that the birds could not eat them. This led to a great change in the economy and very many people changed their lifestyle. This change can be shown by the use of the bar chart shown in figure 1.1 below.

The second invention was the iron plough, which was invented by Joseph Foljambe. Before this invention was made, people used to plough the lands using the crude tools and hands to cultivate their land. The crops were not doing well in the fields and most of them did not grow. At that time, there was low productivity and the life expectancy was very low. The economy was very low and the crops never used to yield better production. The iron drill used to plough through to the soil and make it easier to plant the seeds and it loosened the soil making the fertility of the soil to improve. When this was implemented, the economy started to grow and the lives of people changed drastically. This change can be shown below by the use of the bar graph in figure 1.1 below.

The third invention, which came to boost the agricultural sector at that time, was the invention of the crop rotation system. In the early days before this invention, land was divided into three portions where one portion was left without anything for a whole year. There was wastage in the use of land since nothing was being cultivated. Due to this, animals were being slaughtered at some point of the year since they had nothing to eat but the invention of planting root crops in the crop rotation led to the increase in production especially in the dairy industry since food was now in plenty for the animals (Beard, 2006). Therefore, this led to the economic growth and the increase of the living standards.

The other inventions that were invented after the use of the above were just invention to modify the usage of the above tools and make them better. The first modifications were made to the iron plough where it was modified to make work easier and more efficient by the use of the horses. The work now could be done faster and efficiently at ease without any problems. This changed the economy to the pretty well because work in the fields was done at a faster rate than before. This meant that a large portion of the land could be finished at a faster rate. For this reason, there was an increase in productivity, which later led to the growth of the economy.

A further invention was made to the horse drawn plough, which led to the growth of agriculture. Instead of using the animals for the purposes of cultivating the lands, tractors that were using steam engines replaced the animals. This improved the efficiency of work even much better because the animals that were being used required a lot of money power as compared to the steam engine tractors. This led to the increase in the crop production. The increase in crop production led to an increase in the economy leading to the improved living standards of the human beings. However, the laborers did not go well with this new invention because many people lost their jobs. These changes could be shown by the use of the bar chart shown in figure 1.1 below.

Another invention that was modified to improve the productivity of crops was the use of the new diesel engine machines. For instance, the steam engine tractor, which required a lot of money and work force to operate, was changed to the new diesel tractor, which was by far much cheaper and required fewer workers to operate. Due to this, there was an increase in the productivity, which led to the reduced prices in the sale of the products. It also led to the loss of work to the different casual workers who used to work in the fields. Despite this, the living standards grew drastically.

Another great invention that helped in agriculture, which was in the technology sector, was electricity. Many inventions like the machines that used steam engines became obsolete. This was because they still required a lot of work force to operate them. Additionally, they required a lot of money to operate making the products to be sold at high prices to the end user. After the invention of electricity, the productivity of these crops changed leading to a high production rate and things became cheaper. Despite these major impacts, the laborers started to lose their jobs because they were being replaced by the machines. However, there is no doubt that at this time the world experienced the biggest change in the economy. This could be shown by the bar chart shown in figure 1.1 below.

Lastly, after all this inventions the agricultural revolution grew leading to the growth of the factory system by the early twentieth century. This meant that the food, which was cultivated from the land, could now be processed in the different factories. This led to low wastages of those commodities that would perish quickly leading to an increased productivity of goods. Additionally, it led to the increase in the living standards of the people, which led to a higher expectancy levels in the lives of the people (Montagna, 2006). These great economic changes could be shown by the use of the bar chart shown in figure 1.1 below.

Y – Axis = production in millions

X – Axis = years

 

References

Beard, C. A., (2006). The Industrial Revolution. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis

Montagna, J. A., (2006). The Industrial Revolution. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Retrieved From: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html