The Industrial Revolution took place in the late 18th and 19th centuries and was a time of great change when traditional agrarian societies were reformed to develop largely industrial economies. The Industrial Revolution had many causes. There were the technological developments like the steam engine, spinning jenny and the power loom which allowed a greater amount of production and the work to be done by fewer people. There were also the natural resources of coal and iron and how they could be used with the new technology. Additionally, there were also the geographical advantages that countries like England possessed with their rivers and the sea. These were vital for trade and the transportation of all the goods being produced.
The development of new machines created the need for industrial production on a large scale. To facilitate this growth, there was a requirement for a number of factors including raw materials and a location to establish a factory. Coal and iron became two of the main raw materials to be used in the Industrial Revolution. As the need for machinery and buildings increased, there was a requirement for more resources to be found and then transported to the point of use. This in itself created another problem as the resources had to be moved from the point of origin to the factory, thus the geographical location of a factory became increasingly important. The location of England in relation to the rest of Europe meant that it was an ideal location for trade, with many of the country's rivers being navigable to allow for the transportation of heavy loads, and with the sea being only a short distance away, there was an ideal location for trading with other countries.
As industry expanded, the most notable change to society was urbanization. With workers moving from rural settings to take up work in the new factories, many cities quickly grew at an enormous rate. In many cases, this led to crowded and unsanitary living conditions, and to areas of a city with little in the way of proper infrastructure. The new working class was subjected to the long hours and low wages that we associate with this era, but there were also many who sought labor rights and social reform. This would lead to such innovations as trade unions and cooperative societies.
The Industrial Revolution had far reaching economic consequences. The emergence of new industries and the growth of production in existing ones created the basis for the modern capitalist economy and generated unprecedented wealth. As production increased and markets expanded, there was a huge demand for goods and for new markets in which to sell them. As a result, there was a vast increase in international trade, with countries around the world trading goods and services with each other. In this way, the Industrial Revolution did not just change the way that industries were run, it changed the very nature of society. Today, we can see the effects of the Industrial Revolution in the many technological developments of the last few decades, in the growth of cities around the world and in current debates about the rights of workers in industries around the globe and the need for sustainable production.