Which Revolution Had The More Important Effects In Essay, Research Paper

Before we figure out which revolution played a greater part in shaping the world in the 19th century we must first describe what the meaning of each revolution was and why it occurred. First I will start out with the French Revolution it is described in our text as an internal revolt against entrenched feudal, clerical, and monarchial privilege within the most populous and most powerful European state of its time (Spodek, p. #477). The French Revolution first started from such a simple thing as the third class people upset about bad harvests. The farmers were hit hard by a series of poor harvests they in turn felt that the government church and nobility should do more to help them (Spodek, p. #478). Because of this a National Assembly was formed from all three classes and during this assembly was when the third class leaders began to ask for less feudal privileges, because it reduced the opportunities available to everyone else (Spodek, p. #478). When KING LOUIS XVI found out about the new National Assembly and their ideas of drafting a constitution for the new government of France, he called up around 18,000 troops to defend himself from a possible attack at his palace in Versailles, where all these major events were taking place (Spodek, p. #478). While this was all going on in Versailles things turned from bad to worse in Paris when angry mobs started to rise up against organized authority. These events all led up finally to the 361 to 359 vote by the new National Convention to execute King Louis XVI.The Industrial Revolution is described in our texts as a revolution which changed more than the machinery we use and the organization of our work. It also changed the locations of our workplaces and homes, the size and composition of our families and the quality and quantity of the time we spend with them, the educational system we create, the wars we fight, and the relationships among nations (Spodek, p.# 497). The Industrial revolution did not begin, because of any political unrest or any such thing as that, but from the growth of nations and their need to find improved ways of accomplishing tasks. The industrial revolution is said to have began in Britain and 1740-1860 is usually considered the crucial era of its arrival (Spodek, p. #497). During this time, Britain became the world s super power when it came to the textile industry. Because of the increased competition between countries, new inventions were developed to help simplify the process of manufacturing raw cotton, but after that, people were inventing new ways to simplify every mechanical machine and process known to man. Britains staple textile had been woolens until India s new light, colorful, durable cotton textiles began to displace woolens in the market (Spodek, p. #498). Britain responded by doing everything in its power to ban Indian cottons, while British inventors produced new machinery, which allowed Britain to surpass India in both quantity and quality.Now I am going to compare and contrast the different ideas and events, which separated the French and Industrial Revolution. The main difference between the French and Industrial Revolution was the people, which each event effected. The French Revolution effected the people which were closely related to it, while the Industrial Revolution effected the whole world. The Industrial Revolution led to many innovations in technology while the French Revolution lead to a new form of government in France. The Industrial Revolution began with Britain and then just went from there involving almost every country. The French Revolution probably could be compared equally in size of importance just not for the same reasons. After comparing all the above facts and figures I have came to the belief that the Industrial Revolution had a greater effect on the world in the 19th century then the French Revolution, and below I will show how I came to this conclusion.Overall the Industrial Revolution had the most profound effect on a greater number of people than did the French Revolution. The first real machine that was invented which saved on time and money was called the flying shuttle this machine allowed a loom operator to operate the loom by himself without the need of a second set of hands helping him, and because of this increased production the spinners were not able to keep up with the loom operators. Therefore, the Spinning jenny was created in 1764 to help the spinners keep up with the loom operator s henceforth the Industrial Revolution began. From here things started to take off. The only problem was that all these machines were still running on human power. In 1769, the water frame was invented. It used water as its power instead of human labor therefore cutting back on costs. The big break came in 1780 when Richard Awkright the inventor of the water frame substituted a steam engine in place of the water for his water frame, and because of this the small workshop adjacent to a river or stream of water was moved to the new steam-powered cotton textile mills. These new mills were increasing in size and productivity daily. By 1820 the cotton textile industry had become the most important product of British industries making up almost half of Britains exports. Even though all these new mills were abundant the factory owners still kept the home-worker on the payroll for the increased productivity, and in case of a depression or something the home-worker could be cut letting the factory worker skate away free without much loss at all. These new inventions were helping to benefit the whole world, because of the increased productivity there was a need for more raw cotton, which in turn helped revive slavery on the plantations in the south in America. Another industry that was greatly benefited because of the Industrial Revolution was the iron industry, because of new ways of making iron, and the drop in the price of the production iron was starting to be used in the construction of buildings. The demand for iron at the same time was also rising for use in such things as the steam engine, the railroad track, steamships and even new urban systems of gas supply (Spodek p. # 502). The increased availability and the entry of new inventions gave birth to the railroad industry. Other relatively new industries that were greatly benefited from the Industrial Revolution were the chemical and electrical industries. When it came to electricity the best new inventor of the age was Thomas Edison. Edison had some two hundred and twenty-five new products patented between 1879 and 1882. The only problem was that with all these great new technologies that were being born human jobs by the hundreds were being lost in the process. The term manpower was no longer being used. With this increase in technology came a new wave of workers ones that were far more skilled then the ones in the past it only took two to three skilled workers to do now what it may have taken ten ordinary workers to do back then.

We know that the Industrial Revolution had the greatest effect on the world, because of the factors that happened after the Revolution that were a direct result of it. Two things that were a direct result of the revolution were the drop in death rates, because people were eating better and they were becoming more sanitary, and also birth rates went down, because parents were realizing that improved health was allowing children to grow to adults and not die at a young age. Towards the end of the revolution, many countries were still benefiting from it. Great Britain s middle class was greatly helped by the revolution helping them to secure more seats in the house so that they could get a fair shake when it came to the government. An finally one of the greatest benefits which the United States received from the revolution were better working conditions in part due to the new innovation of large unions of skilled workers which banned together to fight for their rights.