The Industrial Revolution, which initially took place in Britain but then spread out to all the western world, began around 1760 and did not complete until around roughly the 1830´s or 1840´s. This Revolution was so important and so huge, that many scholars and experts consider it the second most important development in human history, aside from the domestication of animals. With the emergence of a surplus of foodstuffs being produced, the growth of the textile industry due to high sales of cotton, and other factors, people began to move on from a manufacturing system to an industrialized one. Many industries were born at this time, not just in England, but also other parts of Europe and the U.S. As for the impacts it had, there were many. Socially, the Industrial Revolution generated the growth of new social classes, whose emergence came from the involvement with factories and industries. There was also the emergence of urbanization, the centering of the flow of people from the rural areas to the cities. This caused two things; for those who were wealthy, or who were made wealthy by their trade, or profession, or by being owners of businesses, they saw a great development and enjoyed advantages from developing cities. But for the large majority of the lower and some of the middle classes, especially in Britain, they faced severe hardship. Children began to work as well, and women became part of the labor force. In the families, this affected the unit as well, as most of the time both parents were needed to work and work extra hours to keep their families. There was the emergence of the middle classes as well and a turn from social status coming from birth and land-owning to crafts and professions. Economically, it also had an impact, as modern capitalism took control of all the systems of the western world. Trade, but mostly, industrialization, marked the development of nations. Politically, there was a lot of unrest and changes, as the middle classes emerged and people requested and received better training and better education. They began to demand improvements in their living conditions and this led to both several protests and marches, as well a conflicts and finally, political change.
In all, the Industrial Revolution had many effects and the truth is that the world we have today is thanks to this enormous economic, political and social movement.
