:

What role did the Industrial Revolution play in these developments?

Hattie Krajcik
Hattie Krajcik
2025-04-21 18:39:40
Count answers: 2
The Industrial Revolution played a significant role in the development of the textile industry, as innovations like the spinning jenny, the flying shuttle, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster and required less time and far less human labor. More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and abroad, where the British Empire’s many overseas colonies provided a captive market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also adopted new innovations, such as the smelting of iron ore with coke, which was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material. The demand for coal skyrocketed throughout the Industrial Revolution and beyond, as it would be needed to run not only the factories used to produce manufactured goods, but also the railroads and steamships used for transporting them. Britain’s road network, which had been relatively primitive prior to industrialization, soon saw substantial improvements, and more than 2,000 miles of canals were in use across Britain by 1815. The Industrial Revolution also saw key advances in communication methods, as people increasingly saw the need to communicate efficiently over long distances. The latter part of the Industrial Revolution saw the establishment of a stock exchange in London and the rise of banks and industrial financiers, which promoted an economic system based on free enterprise and private ownership of means of production.