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Example research essay topic: Late Eighteenth Century Industrial Revolution - 1,185 words

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The European expansion during the 15 th and 16 th centuries lead to major economic expansion throughout Europe and the newly established European colonies throughout the world. This economic growth, also called the commercial revolution, helped to fuel the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century by "Providing large and expanding markets for European industries" (p. 409) The commercial revolution created the need for new technology to meet the demands of the new and ever changing markets created by the European expansion. The commercial revolution also "Contributed the large amounts of capital necessary to finance the construction of factories and machines for the industrial revolution. " (p. 409) The industrial revolution began in the late eighteenth century with the invention of the steam engine by James Watt. Thanks to the steam engine, people were now able to harness the power needed to run pumps, locomotives and eventually machines used in factories. "It (the steam engine) provided a means for harnessing and utilizing heat energy to furnish driving power for machines. " (p. 412) The British quickly moved to the forefront of the industrial revolution due to their investment in the coal and iron industries. England was also at the forefront of modern banking due to the large amounts of profit from commerce that the British experienced. In addition to the steam engine, some of the most notable British inventions in the late eighteenth century were the new spinning machines that revolutionized the textile industry.

As a result of the technological advances of the steam engine and cotton machines, increasing amount of steel, coal and iron were now needed to fuel the new machines largely in use by the beginning of the nineteenth century. The various improvements made in mining and metallurgy contributed to the British becoming the world leader in producing coal and iron. Improvements in communication and transportation became apparent in the nineteenth century due to the expansion of the textile, mining and metallurgy industries. By the middle of the nineteenth century, communication was transformed by the invention of the electronic telegraph and the transatlantic cable, which "Established instant communication between the old and new worlds. " (p. 413) Transportation was also transformed by canal and road building, as well as the introduction of locomotives and steamboats. The newly independent United States was the "Pioneer in developing mass-production techniques" (p. 413), which revolutionized industry throughout the modern world. The assembly line, crafted by Henry Ford, as well as advanced mechanical devices exemplified by the steel industry lead to mass production of goods that was previously unfathomable.

The industrial revolution had several effects on Europe including: increased population, urbanization, increased wealth, consumerism and new roles for women. Increased productivity in agriculture, as well as advances in medical science, led to a population boom throughout Europe, and this, in part lead to the urbanization European cities. The industrial revolution also affected social classes and wealth. An overall improvement in wages and standards of living could be seen across economic levels by second half of the nineteenth century.

Perhaps one of the biggest transformations among social classes were the new roles for women created by the industrial revolution. Women, like never before, were now part of the working class, working in factories and leaving their housework behind. "The general effect was to force women out of the family economy in which they had lived and worked into a new wage economy outside the household. " (p. 420) The effects of the industrial revolution were not limited to Europe; in fact the population growth and transportation advances of the industrial revolution fueled the mass European migration to the United States in the mid nineteenth century. The political revolutions of Europe were just as influential in European world domination as the scientific and industrial revolutions were. Liberalism, socialism and nationalism were the underlying ideologies of the European political revolution. The English Revolution of the 17 th century consisted of a civil war between the English Parliament and the Stuart Dynasty.

The outcome of this revolution was the establishment of the supreme authority of the English Parliament. The doctrine of religious toleration was also established as a result of the English Revolution, this forbade the government or anyone else from forcing religious beliefs of any kind on people. The Enlightenment was the next phase of the political revolution. The main premises progress and reason, were the foundation of the enlightened ideologies that ultimately did not author laws governing human kind, but persuade some monarchs to use their authority to benefit the people. The French Revolution "Brought about more economic and social change and influenced larger portion of the globe than did the earlier upheavals" (p. 439), including the English and American revolutions.

The French Revolution began first as an aristocratic revolution, transitioned into the Bourgeois Revolution, and finally became a revolution of the masses. The aristocrats began the revolution in order to "Regain the political power they had lost to the crown during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. " (p. 440) The most successful arm of the revolution was the mass revolution lead by the lesser bourgeoisie. With the storming of the Bastille, the masses set out to "Struggle for power against the king, against the privileged orders, and eventually the old order in all of Europe. " (p. 442) After the revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France autocratically, and ultimately conquered much of modern day Europe. Napoleon's reign lasted until the Congress of Vienna. The Congress, guided by the three principles of legitimacy, containment and compensation, restored the French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian thrones, strengthened the borders of the countries surrounding France, and compensated themselves by taking various European territories. Nationalism, socialism and liberalism are the three ideologies that came out of the English, American and French revolutions.

The sense of national allegiance or pride was a new notion to most people as before, most Europeans viewed their countries as being property of one monarch or a few select aristocratic groups, and not a land of the people. Liberalism, the basis of modern democratic society, is "Emancipation of the individual from class, corporate or governmental restraint. " (p. 448) This ultimately led to the rising of the middle class and shifting away from autocratic dictatorship for the majority of the modern world. Socialism, emphasizing the community and the collective welfare, took a stronghold in various countries that proved to be short lived with the exception of World War I Russia. One last ideology, feminism, was also born out of the ashes of the European revolutions. The commercial, scientific, industrial and political revolutions of the European Transformation changed the world forever.

If it weren't for the technological and scientific advances made during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the world might still consist of isolated countries without communications between them, and without the ability to mass-produce and travel from one place to another quickly. The ideological advancements, perhaps the most important outcome of the 1400 - 1900 's, are what opened the doors to the freedom and independence from autocratic and class rule that the greater part of the modern world now experiences.


Free research essays on topics related to: late eighteenth century, nineteenth century, industrial revolution, steam engine, revolution began

Research essay sample on Late Eighteenth Century Industrial Revolution

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