· The process of change that transformed Britain first and then other countries from agricultural to industrial economies.
· The industrial revolution began about 1750 when the agricultural revolution was well under way. Inventions were made in the textile industry by such men as James Hargreaves (spinning jenny, 1764), Richard Arkwright (water frame, 1769), and emend Cartwright (power loom, 1785), which made the production of cloth much faster and the yearn produced of better quality.
· Capitalism: economic system in which a county’s trade and industry are organized and controlled by the owners of capital, the chief elements being competition, profit, supply and demand.
· These new machines required factories to house them, at first near rivers for water power and then, when the steam engine was invented (by James watt in 1769), near coalfields.
· England, an agricultural country was now turned into a manufacturing country. The production increased manifold. Things were available at cheaper rates. Improved methods of communication followed.
· The economic progress and industrialization of England influenced the social & cultural life of the people. It had far – reaching affects on the political history of England.
· By 1850the industrial revolution had penetrated into Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and USA. By 1900 it had extended to Sweden, Italy, Russia, Japan & Argentina. Presently it is penetrating into china, India and Africa.
AMERICAN REVOLUTION OR AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE: 1775 – 83
· The American Revolution is the name given to the struggle by which 13 colonies of England in North America declared their independence from England and fought as war to make it a reality.
· By the middle of the 18th century, differences in thought and interests had developed between the colonies who maintained that the British government was imposing ‘taxation without representation’ and that only the colonial representative assemblies could rightfully tax the Americans.
· Boston tea party (1773): the tax on tea led to trouble. In 1765) and tax on tea (1767) angered the colonists who maintained that the British government was imposing ‘taxation without representation’ and that only the colonial representative assemblies could rightfully tax the Americans.
· Boston tea party (1773): the tax on tea led to trouble. In1773, several colonies refused to unload the tea coming in English ships. In Boston, when the governor ordered a ship to be unloaded, a group of citizens dressed as American Indians, boarded the ship and dumped the crates of tea into the water. This incident is known as the Boston tea party’
· The American Revolution started in 1775 and lasted until 1781.
· On July 4, 1779, the declaration of independence was issued. Its author was Thomas Jefferson. The declaration started that all men are created equal; that they have a natural and inalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; and that they are justified inrevolitng when these rights are violated by any government.
· The colonies won the war against England. The American Revolution made possible the establishment of a new nation, the United States of America (U.S.A).