Abstract
The term ‘Industrial Revolution’ is widely and rather vaguely used to describe a complex period of social, ergonomic and economic change from around 1750 to around 1830. Its principal characteristic was the invention and application of means to produce goods more efficiently and cheaply. This process was facilitated by periods when capital was available for the building of machines and factories. It also coincided with a steep rise in population (caused principally by a reduction in the rate of mortality), which provided more markets, more mouths to feed, more employees for a workforce, and attendant problems of housing and economic welfare.
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© 1992 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Watson, J.R. (1992). The Industrial Revolution. In: Raimond, J., Watson, J.R. (eds) A Handbook to English Romanticism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22288-9_40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22288-9_40
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-22290-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-22288-9
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