Knowra Industrial Revolution Industrial Revolution The transformation from predominantly agrarian economies to industrial production, beginning in Britain in the late 18th century and spreading worldwide. It reshaped work, technology, cities, and economic life.
Steam engine : A heat engine that converts steam pressure into mechanical work. Improved steam engines supplied factories, mines, and transport with power beyond water and muscle.
Enclosure : The consolidation of shared or open fields into privately controlled land in Britain. Enclosure altered rural livelihoods and helped supply labor to expanding towns and industries.
Urbanization : The increasing concentration of people in towns and cities. Factory employment drew people into rapidly expanding industrial towns.
Second Industrial Revolution : A phase of industrial change from the late 19th century centered on steel, chemicals, electricity, and mass production. It extended industrialization through technologies and industries distinct from the first wave.
Factory system : A production system that concentrates workers, machines, and tasks in a shared workplace. Factories reorganized production around machinery, centralized supervision, and divided labor.
Agricultural Revolution : A period of major changes in farming methods, land use, and productivity, especially in Britain. Higher agricultural output supported population growth and freed some workers for industrial employment.
Child labor : The employment of children in work, often under conditions that limit education or threaten health. Children worked in mines and factories, prompting public debate and eventual regulation.
Meiji Restoration : The 1868 political transformation that restored imperial rule and initiated rapid modernization in Japan. Japan’s state-led industrialization shows a later path unlike Britain’s gradual early transition.
Coal : A carbon-rich fossil fuel formed from ancient plant matter and burned for heat and power. Abundant coal supplied the heat and energy behind steam power and metalworking.
British Empire : A global empire governed or controlled by Britain through colonies, settlements, and other territories. Imperial trade and coercive colonial systems connected British manufacturers to markets and raw materials.
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