The Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution began in Britain during the late 1700s, where the manufacturing which was majorly done in homes in small scale changed to manufacturing in industries in large scale (McCloskey, 1981). The revolution immensely affected sectors that required machinery for mass production for example agriculture, transportation, textiles, iron making among others. The revolution then spread around the European countries up to the United States in the early 19th century. The demand for goods had gone up, and the merchants were tired of the inconsistent and unreliable manufacture of products by people and thus the need to innovate and come up with faster and cost effective methods of production (Carter et al., 2006). This need by the people triggered the inventors to critically think and try to solve the problem that was at hand.
The textile industry was among the most fortunate sectors during the industrial revolution. This was because it was one of the errors where the first inventions were used for example, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny around 1764 which helped reduced the time spent in manufacture and production of threads. The Jenny was later improved by the invention of the spinning mule (Harley, 1998). The other significant invention was the power loom which was significantly reduced the time spent in weaving clothes. The initial cause of industrialization in the United States was caused by the enactment of the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812.

This was after a US cargo ship was gunned down by the British when they did not allow them on board to inspect the cargo. The conflicts finally led to the war of 1812.
The conflicts and the bad blood between the US and Britain who were more superior in industrialization forced the US to find new ways to expand within the country rather than outside. The country harnessed their efforts which saw the rapid increase that later surpassed British industrialization. The textile industry in particular, after it was established fuelled the industrial revolution because of the competition the merchants and the high demand for the products. During the early 1800s, the demand for cotton cloth in the US skyrocketed, this led to the inadequacy of the homemade clothes that used basic tools. This was inconvenient for the merchants as they could not satisfy the market. The prices of the clothes also rose, and the local consumers could not afford the clothes (Jones, 2001). This problem led to the development of quicker and more economical methods of production that was provided by the inventions and the modifications of already invented mechanisms.
The increase in the availability of cotton was another factor that furthered the industrial revolution. After the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 the supply of cotton increased tremendously, this in turned called for better mechanisms to process and make clothes to balance the business environment (Chapman, 1987). Inventors, therefore, were motivated by this move and strive to improve and provide solutions to the issues that were of concern during the time. Despite the constant riots and conflicts by workers against the introduction of the machinery the revolution propelled, and the people adjusted and learned how to operate the machines.
Finally, the advancement of other sectors such as transportation also contributed to the industrial revolution because of the complex nature all the areas depended on each other. The textile industry, for example, depended on the transport sector in the movement of raw materials and finished goods which increased the efficiency and volumes being processed (Jensen, 1993). The embracing of the innovations in the textile industry by the United States was the seed to the rapid advancement of the industrial revolution.
References
Carter, S. B., Gartner, S. S., Haines, M. R., Olmstead, A. L., Sutch, R., & Wright, G. (2006). Historical statistics of the United States: millennial edition.
Chapman, S. D. (1987). The cotton industry in the Industrial Revolution. In The Industrial Revolution a Compendium (pp. 1-64). Macmillan Education UK.
Harley, C. K. (1998). Cotton textile prices and the industrial revolution. The Economic History Review, 51(1), 49-83.
Jensen, M. C. (1993). The modern industrial revolution, exit, and the failure of internal control systems. The Journal of Finance, 48(3), 831-880.
Jones, C. I. (2001). Was an industrial revolution inevitable? Economic growth over the very long run. Advances in macroeconomics, 1(2).
McCloskey, D. N. (1981). The industrial revolution. The economic history of Britain since, 1700.