Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution is a period of history that is generally considered to cover the latter decades of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. The period is imprecise, as is the identification of the Second Industrial Revolution which followed it.

In brief, an industrial revolution (uncapitalised) is the transition from an agrarian economy where the majority of the population is geared towards subsistence to an industrial economy with a greater focus on manufacturing. The Industrial Revolution is the name applied to the transition in Great Britain when the combination of mercantile activity with overseas colonies supported by energetic inventors and entrepreneurs harnessed the natural resources of coal, iron and water to create a manufacturing industry that was dominant in the western world. The British Industrial Revolution was closely followed by industrial revolutions in continental Europe, and in the newly fledged United States, with the United States and the newly federated Germany being the major players in the Second Industrial Revolution.