The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, but the exact moment is difficult to define. Some scholars cite events as early as 1811, others place the timing as late as the mid 1830’s, but there is no debate on the impact of the Industrial Revolution. Within a short period of time, the slow manufacturing process based on manual labor was transitioned to mass production by machinery. This period saw increases in chemical production, new methods of forging metals, the birth of the textile industry, and machine tool development. Factories sprang up to produce every imaginable modern marvel. Those remaining on the farm were not excluded; new machinery allowed more acreage to be put into production. Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine, invented in 1712, was an engine powered by condensed steam; it may have been the invention to spark the Industrial Revolution.
