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Changes in Farming
The new towns needed more food for the workers who
kept moving in from the countryside. The farmers transported their
food to the towns and made more money.
The farmers enclosed their fields and experimented
with breeding the strongest, healthiest animals together. The new
animals would make more milk or more meat.
The poor villages who had sold their land now had
nowhere to live or work, so many moved to the town for new jobs.
Wealthy farmers bought many small farms from poor
villagers who needed money, then made larger farms out of them so
they could experiment with new crops.
Changes in Living and Working Conditions
Conditions in some of
the new towns were terrible. Workers lived in tiny house with no
running water or toilets.
Conditions in the factories were
just as bad. Young children who cleaned the machines had to work
for as long as 14 hours a day.
Later in the 19th century, some politicians tried
to win the workers’ votes by passing laws to improve living and
working conditions.
In the 19th century, laws were passed to stop very
young children from having to work and to shorten the hours which
older children worked.
Changes in Government and Power
In 1750, only very rich people could vote for a
Member of Parliament.
Some of the rich factory owners and business men
finally gained the vote in 1832.
In the second half of the 19th century, more and
more working people were given the vote.
By the early 1800’s, there still weren’t
enough Members of Parliament representing the growing populations
in the new industrial towns.
Changes in Industry
The factories helped the coal and iron industry
because the new machines’ steam engines needed these materials
to function.
Large factories were built so there would be
enough room for the many machines and all the workers
Britain was called the ‘workshop of the world’
because not only people in Britain bought the goods, many people
from all over the world did so as well.
With the new spinning and weaving inventions,
factory owners could make more products quicker, which helped them
make more money because more products were being sold.
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