Background

The Industrial Revolution was a period of major mechanization and innovation that began in Great
Britain during the mid-18th century and early 19th century and later spread throughout much of the world. The
British Industrial Revolution was dominated by the exploitation of coal and iron. The Industrial Revolution
was the transition from creating goods by hand to using machines. Its start and end are widely debated by
scholars, but the period generally spanned from about 1760 to 1840. The Industrial Revolution began in Great
Britain, and many of the technological and architectural innovations were of British origin. It has been said that
the Industrial Revolution was the most profound revolution in human history, because of its sweeping impact on
people’s daily lives. The term “industrial revolution” is a succinct catchphrase to describe a historical period,
starting in 18th-century Great Britain, where the pace of change appeared to speed up. This acceleration in the
processes of technical innovation brought about an array of new tools and machines. It also involved more
subtle practical improvements in various fields affecting labor, production, and resource use.
The term Industrial Revolution was first used by Louis – Auguste Blanqui in 1837 and it was then
widely adopted following a series of lectures entitled ‘Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century in England’ by
Arnold Toynbee delivered in 1882. The First Industrial Revolution as it is more commonly called spanned the
period between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many historians cite the period between 1780 and 1830 as
the time when Britain witnessed the most rapid industrialization activity although other historians define other
periods. In addition, a number of historians have argued that industrialization occurred much earlier than 1780
and strictly was not a revolution but rather an example of gradual evolution. A number of studies using
econometric techniques showed that the slow production rates coupled with low national incomes would
indicate that industrial evolution rather than industrial revolution was a more appropriate term to describe the
process. Other writers identified that there was a piecemeal development in processes associated with industrial
innovation and in organizational structures. Clear evidence now exists that industrialization was not the
exclusive domain/province of Britain but included developments both in Asia and Europe.