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iii. Effects in Economic areas
The invention resulted in increased production which in turn led to the reduction of the price of articles. There was expansion of trade, commerce and banking. Countries like England became wealthy and prosperous. Agriculture also underwent revolutionary changes.
The changes in the industrial organization demanded much capital.
Hence there was the rise of capitalism which in turn produced many
effects, both good and bad. Though countries became wealthy, wealth
came to be concentrated in the hands of a few persons. The gross
inequalities of wealth and income produced many problems.
iv. Effects in Social areas
The new inventions not only lowered the prices of articles but they also greatly increased the social comfort of the common man through the improved means of communication etc. But industrialization also produced many social evils. Production by machinery threw a large number of people into unemployment. The factory system resulted in over-crowding and unhygienic conditions and also the development of slum areas. The profit-minded capitalists paid low wages, employed women and children whose labor was cheaper, and enforced long hours of work, i.e. twelve to fifteen hours a day. Because of the division of labor and specialization, the worker had no mental satisfaction since he found his labor monotonous. Conditions in mines were still worse. The miserable conditions of workers’ life naturally let to the growth of labor movements in the form of trade unions. The trade union is regarded as the child of industrialization.
The aim of the Trade Union was two-fold, to improve the standard of life of the workers and to capture the machinery of the state as the first step towards the reconstruction of the social order. Trade unionism gradually gained strength and gave rise to political movements. Of such movements, the important were those of the Methodists and Chartists. The labor movements also forced the government to pass factory laws and to redress the grievances of workers.
The scientific inventions of the period depended on the sense of national unity. The capitalists in their own interests strengthened the cause of nationalism.
Colonialism and imperialism were also closely connected with the cause of capitalism. If nationalism had intensified, so had internationalism. The vast international trade that grew up as a result of the Industrial Revolution tended to bind the various nations of the world into a common economic life.
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