Industrial Revolution: Agricultural, Demographic and Economic Causes

The Industrial Revolution includes all the changes to goods production and consumption resulting from the incorporation of machines into industrial manufacturing.

• Occurred over a long period of time
• Slow and constant progress
• Affected other sectors
• Changed the economy and society

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain around 1870 due to favourable economic and demographic factors.

• Agricultural Revolution
• Demographic Revolution
• Modernisation of transport
• Growth of financial means
• Availability of energy sources and raw materials

Agricultural Revolution

• Technical progress
  • Triennial (three-field) rotation was replaced by the Norfolk four-course system
    • Continuous rotation of four sections:
      • Wheat (for bread)
      • Turnips (helped to replenish the soil and were used to feed livestock)
      • Barley (used for beer, meal, and fodder)
      • Forage (alfalfa and clover, used as fodder)
    • Allowed for increased livestock farming
      • Provided more fertilisers (increased crop production)
      • Increased meat and milk production (improved human diets)

• • Spread of new crops (potatoes and maize)
  • Use of seed drills and horse-drawn harvesters
      
  • Selective seeding
  • Selective breeding of livestock
  • Use of chemical fertilizers
• Changes in the system of land ownership
  • Enclosure Acts were announced
    • Converted large fields shared by the community into private property
      • Landowners were required to fence or enclose the land
    • As poor peasants didn't have money to build fences, they had to sell the land
      • Sold to aristocrats, the bourgeoisie, and rich peasants
      • Many became wage workers or emigrated to cities in search of industrial jobs

• Consequences of the Agricultural Revolution
  • Increase in agricultural production
  • Improvement in nutrition
  • Concentration of land ownership
  • Reduction in the number of peasants
  • Increase in agricultural income
    • Led to improved agricultural developments
    • Investments in other areas like industry

Demographic Revolution

The European and British population grew in the 18th century for various causes.

• Decrease in mortality
  • Improved nutrition
  • Decline in major epidemics
  • Improvements in urban hygiene
  • Improvements in medicine
• High birth rates
  • Led to a large natural population growth

This led to an increase in the workforce and a higher demand for products:

• Led to more agricultural and industrial innovations
• More emigration to other continents

Other Contributing Factors

• Modernisation of transport and transport networks
  • Domestic trade
    • Improvement in road surfaces
    • Construction of canals
  • Foreign trade
    • British colonial domination
      • Capital
      • Raw materials
      • Markets
• Growth of financial means
  • Profits from commerce and land were used to finance industry
  • The number of banks increased
• Availability of energy sources and raw materials
  • Energy resources
    • Coal (invention and development of the steam engine)
      
      
  • Natural resources
    • Cotton
    • Iron