Preview on the Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade

The Industrial Revolution (IR) is a time period in European history in which there were huge increases in industry and mass production. Factories and new methods of farming played key roles in the goals and results of the Industrial revolution. Engineers, scientists, and worker learned more about how to build efficient laboring technology and applied this technology to everyday factory work and farming. The IR is also significant because it applied ideas from the Scientific Revolution to everyday life, in terms of technology, engineering, and efficient farming patterns. However, the IR also introduced new issues, such as poverty, unhealthy work environments, and child labor. Through the IR, social class distinctions were emphasized. A worker's title placed him in a certain social class based on his/her salary. For instance, bankers were at the upper end of the social ladder, while coal miners placed lower. Through the IR, important advancements in laboring methods were introduced, but the downturns remain obvious as well.

The Atlantic Slave Trade (AST) consisted of a "trading triangle" between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Through this trade route, slaves from Africa were transported to plantations across the globe. Due to horrid health conditions in transporting ships, many slaves died on their way to their workplaces. In addition, they were considered the lowest social class and were treated poorly as they worked for wealthy white landowners. As the years progressed and as Enlightenment ideas spread, slaves gained awareness of their potential rights as human beings, soon leading to various violent slave revolution in numerous territories.