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Industrialisation or industrialization is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing . [ 3 ]
The Industrial Revolution spread southwards and eastwards from its origins in Northwest Europe. After the Convention of Kanagawa issued by Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced Japan to open the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade, the Japanese government realised that drastic reforms were necessary to stave off Western influence.
Economic historians agree that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in human history since the domestication of animals and plants. [17] The precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes.
The Industrial Revolution altered the U.S. economy and set the stage for the United States to dominate technological change and growth in the Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age. [28] The Industrial Revolution also saw a decrease in labor shortages which had characterized the U.S. economy through its early years. [29]
This can be illustrated by the index of total industrial production, which increased from 4.29 in 1790 to 1,975.00 in 1913, an increase of 460 times (base year 1850 – 100). [5] American colonies gained independence in 1783 just as profound changes in industrial production and coordination were beginning to shift production from artisans to ...
The Industrial revolution played a central role in the later abolition of slavery, partly because domestic manufacturing's new economic dominance undercut interests in the slave trade. [10] Additionally, the new industrial methods required a complex division of labor with less worker supervision, which may have been incompatible with forced labor.
The Industrial Age is defined by mass production, broadcasting, the rise of the nation state, power, modern medicine and running water. The quality of human life has increased dramatically during the Industrial Age. Life expectancy today worldwide is more than twice as high as it was when the Industrial Revolution began.
An important indicator of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 1850s was the sudden increase in the use of hard coal. Behind this were various growth processes: a sharp rise in iron and especially steel production, the increased construction of machinery, not least locomotives , and the increase in the transport services of the ...