The Industrial Revolution was a major change in the nature of production in which machines replaced tools and steam and otherenergy sources replaced human or animal power. The IndustrialRevolution began in England in the middle 1700s. During the IndustrialRevoltuion, workers became more productive, items weremanufactured, prices dropped, making hard to make items available tothe working and middle class and not only the wealthy. Life generallyimproved, but the Industrial Revolution was also harmful. Pollutionincreased, working conditions were harmful, and capitalists employedwomen and young children, making them work long hours for lowwages. The Industrial Revolution began in England for many reasons. In 1700s,Britain's economy was mainly an agricultural economy. Wealthylandowners bought up all the land and enclosed their land with fencesallowing them to cultivate larger fields called enclosures. This causedthe enclosure movement, which put most small farmers out of workcausing them to move to cities. This movement to cities is known asurbanization, which gave Britain a large population of workers. Britainalso had many natural resources and an expanding economy tosupport industrialzation, or the process of developing machineproduction of goods. The resources needed to provide these goods andservices were called factors of production, which included land, labor,and capital (wealth).
New inventions and technology helped to spark the IndustrialRevolution by advancing different industries. The textile industry wasthe first industry to be reformed. Before, cloth was woven at