The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution essentially sprouted from the French Revolution. The French Revolution brought new ways of thinking into the world and before that the Scientific Revolution brought in new ideas about God and the universe. There were always pushes for scientific and technological advancement, but they were always made by the royalty and high classes of society so they were usually superfluous inventions made for hobbies or weaponry for the military. There hadn’t been any huge movements for making life easier for the lower classes. There had been inventions, but no huge, ongoing improvements. And of course, the lower classes had been too busy working to discover and invent much more than what they stumbled upon by accident. However, once the social boundaries and strict classes were brought down (at least, the idea of social boundaries being brought down was put in before being shut down), it was much easier for the poor farmer to become a wealthy middle-class man. All he needed was a way to be more efficient than all the other poor farmers he was competing with. Thus, the Industrial Revolution would have a driving force behind it. The Industrial revolution was also related to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The Industrial revolution was all about more efficiency and higher profits, as was the Slave Trade. They both created opportunities to make more money for less work/money, the Slave Trade was just a lot less ethical. Slaves were a huge asset to America’s economy at the time, they held up the plantations for much less money than what paid laborers would have.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was most similar to the French Revolution in its social ramifications. Both revolutions connected the people of their respective countries and changed the structuring of the social order. The Revolution in France connected people throughout the country by polarizing their ideals, forcing them to be either revolutionary or conservative. Dividing the people like this increased connectivity amongst the supporters of each side. The Industrial revolution changed this more peacefully, connecting towns or major industrial hubs by way of train. As the map on page 531 showed, railways became a much more prominent feature in Europe. Likely they were most often used for trade and transporting goods, but before long, people would be allowed on too. Increased infrastructure always brings people from far places together allowing for cultural exchange. Also, in the French Revolution, the lower and middle classes were raised above the nobility and clergy. Similarly, in the Industrial Revolution, the wealth and state of living of the lower classes were increased because there was a novel way to make a living that was available for almost anyone. Another possible connection between the two is the increased consumption of natural resources. The French Revolution was, in large part, a war with countries and insurgent groups that opposed the new ideas. Wars always exhaust myriad materials such as metal for weapons, food for troops, and even cloth for uniforms. The Industrial Revolution did something similar except, instead of wasting the raw material without any real product, they manufactured something that could be sold to consumers. The Industrial Revolution was the more fruitful of the two.

The Industrial Revolution and the Slave trade can be related most easily through the economic changes that occurred. As is true with industry, all economies that came in contact with the slave trade came to rely upon it heavily. As opposed to hiring and paying workers indefinitely it was economically more sensible to buy slaves who would work for all their lives and produce children to continue to do the same. For industry, though we would now like to cut back some on it to allay our problem with pollution, it is almost impossible to do so completely. Without manufacturing, many more people would be jobless and all economies would suffer horribly. All the little things that are necessary to our lives were not hand made, but produced through the combined efforts of many production line workers or even just machines that were thought up in the industrial revolution. Arguably, the Industrial Revolution continues today, even if slave trade does not.

Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution holds many connections to the French Revolution. First of all, both the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution united the people. During the French Revolution, the people came together, and changed up the strict social hierarchy that was established at the time. After the French Rev, it was possible to change social ranks, and they were not as set in stone as before. Similar social changes occurred in the Industrial Revolution. Before the Industrial Rev, there were three main classes in Great Brittain: the British Aristocracy, the Middle Classes, and the Laboring Classes. Similar to the situation in France before the French Rev, it was very difficult to move up a social rank. Also, the large majority was a part of the Laboring Classes, just like the majority of people in France was part of the Third Estate. After the Industrial Revolution, people of the Laboring Classes could get better jobs working in factories, and improve their way of life. Another similarity between the two is how quickly their ideas spread. During the French Revolution, it was mainly ideas that were spread around the population. During the Industrial Revolution, not only were ideas spread, but things were actually built. For example, the amount of trains increased dramatically all over Europe, allowing easier transportation for the people. Both the Industrial Rev and the French Rev's main ideas were spread around different countries. One difference between the two is that the Industrial Revolution had longer positive effects. During the French Revolution, the Terror was instituted - killing 10 000s of people, and France later returned to an absolute monarchy. The Industrial Revolution appears to be permanent. Once people had jobs in factories, the improved their way of life for the rest of their working life in most cases.

The Industrial Revolution also resemble the African Slave Trade. In both cases, the economies grew. Jobs were being created, and the workers were being payed. In the Industrial Rev, many factories were established, creating jobs for many people. These factories manufactured goods, and sold them to make a profit. The creation of the African Slave Trade is similar to creating a  factory. People took other people, and sold them to make money. It created jobs, and opportunities for profit for leaders of African people and slave traders. However, there is one major difference between the Industrial Rev and the African Slave Trade: the things being sold from the factories were objects; the things being sold for the slave trade were people.

Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade

All that I remember about that Industrial Revolution or know is that there were many factories, railroads, and vehicles such as trains then being manufactured. Also that it required more forced labor and it made tons of people have to work on/with it. The Industrial Revolution was also away to increase the technology, as I said at the beginning certain vehicles and labor facilities ie: factories would have been made because of labor and inside a factory there had to have been labor or else the factory would not have flourished or even stayed in business. The Atlantic Slave Trade I remember being where European and even Americans would come by boat to the shores of Africa and round up local citizens who then would be forced to do slave work or more labor, but not before the families were auctioned off by buyers looking for some cheap work that would not cost them much. By separating the slaves they would literally tear apart families without a care in mind. There was also a connection between the two if I recall that once the slaves were sent to America, the Americans would send minerals and resources such as wood to England who then used these resources to build factories and induce labor onto some of the slaves they rounded up to work in the factories.

Atlantic Slave Trade and The Industrial Revolution

Atlantic slave trade was exactly what it sounds like, slave trade across the Atlantic ocean. Slaves were taken from their homes in west and central Africa and brought to America as slaves. They were forced to do hard, manual labor and were treated not as human beings, but rather as animals or livestock of sorts. People were able to buy, sell, trade, and treat them as they liked. Many of them were sold to plantation owners to work on fields of things like cotton, coffee, and sugar. They were essential to the economy at the time because they worked for free and therefore gave the plantation owners lower costs to maintain their fields and give them a large profit margin. The industrial revolution was a period in time when many places were making huge advances in technology, especially technology that made physical labor easier and more efficient. A revolution like this brings progress to all SPECS categories. Scientifically, it is obvious, new technology means scientific advancement. Socially and culturally it brings new ways of thinking and brings the lower classes closer to the higher ones in terms of getting a chance for education. If they have machines that can do their jobs faster and with less effort, then they can spend more time trying to learn or picking up hobbies. Economically it helps because people could then create more goods in the same amount of time, giving them a surplus and letting them sell it.

Slave trade and European Industrial Revolution

I'm going to be honest, I don't remember much from middle school history about the slave trade. I know that people were taken from their homes in Africa to be shipped off to different places in the world to be slaves. The chiefs of African tribes would either -I can't remember- a) sell their own people to the slave traders for profit, or b) kidnap people from other tribes and sell them. The conditions on the boat were terrible. They barely had any room to move, since as many people as possible were crammed into large boats. Many people became ill with disease from the horrendous conditions, and died on the boat. They were tossed overboard so as not to stink up the boat. They were treated terribly even off the boat, and were chained to one another to make sure they could not escape. Once they arrived at their final destination, they would be auctioned off to the highest possible bidder. Families were separated, and many buyers could care less whether they were or not. Usually, the strongest, fittest men would sell for the best price, since they could do the most hard labor. I don't remember when the slave trade started, but would like to know. I'd be curious to know who thought up this "wonderful" - sarcastic- idea to treat people this way. Also, I'd like to know how they could treat people this terribly - what motivated them?

I do not remember that much about the industrial revolution in Europe either. I know that people started inventing machines - machines that could do work. These machines and contraptions started taking the places of people who worked, causing them to be without jobs. The companies realized that they would save quite a bit of money if they had machines do work. They did not have to pay them, like they had to pay the workers. That's pretty much all I remember. I'd like to find out what these people did once they were fired? Also, when did this take place? It might have caused the people to be unhappy, making them more likely to revolt.

Industrial Revolution and Atlantic Slave Trade

Everything I know about the Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade is from a US standpoint. The Industrial Revolution took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the Industrial Revolution in the US, there were inventions that led to great stimulus in economy and society. The inventions started with agriculture. Many machines were made, such as the cotton gin, that led to efficiency and speed while growing and picking crops. There were also industries and factories that produced goods in mass production. This brought jobs to many unskilled workers who would work all day in the factories with the machinery and produced many products in mass fashion, and received very cheap pay. It also took jobs away from many skilled craftsmen who took much longer to produce products. Overall, the new inventions from the Industrial Revolution greatly stimulated the economy because it led to a very cheap and efficient way for mass production and distribution across the US. This later led to successful trade with other countries of all the crops and other products.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the US was when Americans went to Africa and kidnapped many people who became slaves. The slaves were treated as property, and were bought, sold, and traded as if they were goods. A majority of the slaves in the US worked on plantations. There they picked crops such as cotton and worked long days in the blazing sun. They lived in terrible conditions, being given very little in terms of shelter and food. As the Industrial Revolution occurred, the demand for slaves declined. The reason for this was because new machinery could get a lot done much faster, so one person using the machinery could do the work of many in a day. After a while, the terrible living conditions of slaves sparked interest of people in the US, particularly in the North which led to questioning beliefs and rebellion.

Atlantic Slave Trade and the Industrial Revolution

From what I understand, the slave trade was when people were taken from Africa and forced to work for people in America. Slaves were brutally taken from their homeland, shipped on a filthy boat which they were packed into like sardines, then sold to plantation owners. The conditions on the slave vessels were awful, the slaves were abused, and many died on the long journey. At the plantation, they were forced to work for the rest of their lives. This brought in an extreme profit for wealthy land owners in a growing America, but it completely disregarded the rights that these slaves had as human beings.

I honestly have no recollection of the industrial revolution. I think (although I might be confusing myself) that it was the revolution of factories and machines that make work a lot easier and more proficient. This allowed people to make much more money and much faster. I'm wondering, first of all, if I'm actually right. If I am, I would like to know what kind of advances came out of this period and how giant of an impact it had on the common working man.