What was farming like before the industrial revolution




















Which of the people or inventions discussed above do you think contributed the most and ultimately brought about the industrial revolution? The Industrial Revolution was made possible due to the many changes and innovations in the agriculture industry.

Major Contributors such as Jethro Tull and Lord Townshend found innovative ways to utilize the land and animals alongside new agricultural machines from Inventors, Robert Bakewell and James Hargreaves. Fewer men were involved in agriculture, which meant that more would find employment in other industries further driving the Industrial Revolution.

Though the many inventions and inventors contributed to further drive the Agricultural Revolution, it is also not limited to these factors alone; many other influences helped drive the agricultural revolution, and ultimately the Industrial Revolution. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Wiesner, Ruff, and Wheeler, Pollard, Ulbrand, Brodie. Professor Mark. BBC 17 Feb. Overton, Professor Mark. Burchill, Shirley.

Hughes, Nigel. Price, Peter. Modern U. Wheat harvest in Idaho. Specialization aims to increase efficiency by narrowing the range of tasks and roles involved in production. This approach was applied to nearly all facets of food production. Diversified farms gave way to genetically uniform monocultures—fields planted with just one crop species at a time, over a very large area. Photo credit: USDA.

Workers in a cigar factory. Tampa, Florida; circa In the early s, more than half of Americans were farmers or lived in rural communities. A diversified farmer, for example, might need to manage and care for many different vegetable crops, a composting operation, a flock of egg-laying hens, a sow, and her litter of piglets. Specialized farmers, by contrast, can focus all their knowledge, skills, and equipment on one or two enterprises, such as growing corn and soy, or fattening beef cattle.

Over the course of industrialization, specialization was applied to nearly all facets of food production. Diversified farms gave way to genetically uniform monocultures—fields planted with just one crop species at a time, such as corn, wheat, or soy, over a very large area. Meat, milk, and egg production became largely separated from crop production and involved facilities that housed a single breed of animal, during a particular period of its lifespan, for a single purpose e.

Farmers, once skilled in a breadth of trades, fell into more specialized roles. Specialization was also applied to animal genetics, as selective breeding produced animals designed for a single outcome—large breast meat, for example, or increased milk production.

The combine harvester performs two processes at once: cutting grain reaping and removing it from the inedible part threshing. Mechanization in agriculture greatly reduced the need for human and animal labor. From to , production on U. Threshing rice. Harnatar, India; circa Mechanization brought tremendous gains in efficiency.

By hand, a person can thresh roughly 15 to 40 kg of grain per hour, usually by beating the harvested crop against a hard surface to shake the grain loose from the inedible chaff that surrounds it.

In the same amount of time, a mechanized thresher can process to kg of rice, sorghum, or beans, or 1, to 2, kg of corn. Like work on an assembly line, specialized labor often involves repetitive tasks that can be performed by machines. This meant routine jobs like sowing seeds, harvesting crops, milking cows, and feeding and slaughtering animals could be mechanized, reducing and in some cases eliminating the need for human and animal labor.

Between and , the share of the U. In some cases, mechanization brought tremendous gains in efficiency. Grain and bean crops, such as corn, wheat, rice, and soy, must be cut from the fields reaped and removed from the inedible parts of the plant threshed. Doing this by hand involves an enormous amount of time and effort. Fertilizer applications on U. In just 12 years, between and , synthetic and mineral fertilizer applications on U. Many left their old lives behind and headed for towns and cities to find new employment.

The growth of British cities was further accelerated by the development of factories. Industrial cities such as Manchester and Leeds grew dramatically in just a few decades. In , about 20 percent of the British population lived in cities. In just 50 years, by the middle of the 19 th century, that number had risen to 50 percent. Other Western European nations, including France, the Netherlands, and Germany, also saw an increase in the urban population, although their changes proceeded at a slower rate.

Factory work in urban areas differed from farming. Before the Industrial Revolutions, artisans such as jewelers, weavers, and blacksmiths produced most manufactured goods.

The mains sources of energy were human and animal muscle, along with the waterwheel. Families Were Forced To Focus on Factory Work The dawn of industrialization came alongside inventions such as the coal-powered steam engine, and the pace of work increased as a result. In factories, coal mines and other industrial workplaces, workers put in long hours in miserable and dangerous conditions.

As countries industrialized, factories became larger and produced more goods. Larger companies that were able to achieve economies of scale did better in international trade. Earlier forms of work began to disappear. Perhaps the most harmful consequences of industrialization were those affecting families. Before industrialization, families served both social and economic purposes.

Married couples and their children often worked together in farms or shops. In 18 th -century Great Britain, women and men often worked in their homes doing jobs such as spinning wool into textiles and weaving textiles into cloth.

They then sold their products in a system that was called the "putting-out" or domestic system. However, the rise of factories meant that most male workers no longer worked at home.

Some men left their families behind for jobs in the city. Even when men stayed with their families, factory jobs were oftentimes so difficult that they had little time for relaxation and family life after returning from work. Unmarried women commonly worked as servants in other families' homes. Many British women, including mothers, worked in textile mills.

During the first century of industrialization, child labor was common. Factory owners appreciated workers whose fingers were small enough to weave thin threads in complex machines. During the first century of industrialization, children worked in factories.

Factory owners wanted workers whose fingers were small enough to weave thin threads. Despite their importance and hard labor, women and children received low pay.

They were forced to work 16 hours per day or longer. Although their work conditions could be very dangerous, women's jobs were seen as less skilled than those of their male co-workers. Industrialization caused similar changes in the United States.

During his administration from to , President Thomas Jefferson established a trade embargo. The embargo banned foreign countries from sending products to the United States to trade. This meant Americans had to buy more U. During the War of , the British navy blocked ships from sailing in and out of U.

By the s, the United States was one of the world's leading economic powers. Industrialization Meant Economic Growth In the first 50 years after American independence, many farmers moved to factory jobs. As in Great Britain, textile production led the way. Industrialization, along with new inventions in transportation including the railroad, generated economic growth.

There was now a large working class, and this would eventually lead to conflict between workers and factory owners. Working men and women led strikes to demand better working conditions. Starting in the late s and early s, industrialized countries such as Great Britain and the United States passed laws to help workers.

However, harsh conditions arose in other parts of the world as it too was industrialized. We continue to live with the Industrial Revolution's effects today. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

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