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The Industrial Revolution: Textiles and Their Role

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During the industrial revolution, the textile industry was a vast market of economic prosperity and technological innovation. Friedel even quotes it as being “the most important trade in England” (Friedel, p. 213). But why was it this particular industry that thrived and flourished? Both the lecture and course readings seem to point at the fact that it catered to the already materialistic society. This essay will address points of interest from the lecture regarding the industrial revolution. It will also expand upon Friedel’s view of the textile industry as being a staple industry and the beginning of factory production. Finally, I will share my own view of the industrial revolution as well.

The scene during the industrial revolution should have been one of sadness and turmoil. The rapid population growth that was happening at the time, coupled with the limited resources in England should have caused utter catastrophe. Instead, economic prosperity of unprecedented proportions resulted, making England the richest country per capita that the world had ever seen. This could in part be attributed to a change from an “organic economy” to a “mineral economy”. Instead of relying on the surface of the land, there was a shift towards using minerals to support the economy. This caused a great increase in industry and factory production. There was also a reliance on new resources (such as sugar, timber, furs, cotton, and coal), labour forces (growing population, Irish immigrants, women, and children), and sources of capital to produce a greater economic output. However, these increased inputs cannot explain the increase in output and national wealth. This unaccounted for increase can be attributed to technology, which changed the efficiency with which inputs were being converted to outputs.

Technology which was used coal for heating or smelting pig iron, and allowed new

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