Industrial Revoultion In Canada
Essay by 24 • November 9, 2010 • 1,027 Words (5 Pages) • 1,783 Views
The Industrial Revolution was a significant part of history; much was accomplished in a short amount of time. The first to experience the industrial revolution was England in the 1760s. Within a half a century later it began to spread into other countries. (Footnote). The Industrial Revolution in England would not have been possible without the high population brought through high morality rates, high fertility rates and migration.
Population growth is somewhat the cause of the industrial revolution. Before the industrial revolution the domestic system (which meant that everything was made by hand) was producing enough goods to satisfy the needs of the people. A craftsman would make a whole shoe from start to finish. However with the population growth there was more need for products and the old way of manufacturing was not able to keep up with the demand. The "transition to an industrial, manufacturing economy required more people to labour" (Richard Hooker), people started to try and find solutions to the problems by inventing ways to increase productivity. Inventors were quite conscious of working to fill a need (Footnote). Once the wave of inventions began each one triggered the next. Factories started to show up and there was no need for the domestic manufacturing system anymore. Once when a craftsman would make the whole shoe, he would only maker the souls know.
One of the causes of increase in population was due to the fact of high mortality rates. Death affected the way people made decisions. It affected the decision to marry, because it would vary the duration of the marriage. Before the industrial revolution many were left widowed. The widowers could remarry and those who had inherited land or business were more attractive to remarry. On the other hand a widow that was left with dependent children and no assets was less attractive. Since there was longer mortality marriages tended last longer. Not only did the marriages last longer, women were expected to live longer because they would not have children late into there life, and less likely to have complications in delivery. They had more time in there life that they did not have to look after children. "Mortality and life expectancy need to be integrated with the age if marriage and the timing of births in order to understand the changing shape of the family life-cycle." (M .J. Daunton 409). Another factor that increased life expectancies was less disease was coming into the country and this increased the population. Mortality crises caused by famine and epidemic disease certainly disappeared (M. J. Daunton 410). There was a great reduction in urban morality as well, due mostly to the labour laws. There was no longer more deaths then births (M. J. Daunton 410).
In addition to higher mortality rates, higher fertility rates also added to the increase in population during the industrial revolution. The increase in population was the product of both a rise in the reproduction rate and the increase in life expectation. Initial change was in the proportion of the population getting married. People know had more of a choice to marry then being arranged. There were few restrictions upon fertility within marriage, to determine the birth rate with in the marriage you would have to determine the number of years women were married before menopause. The couples did not depend upon the number of children already born. More people married at a younger age, as well as better food and less disease meant that more children survived to adulthood, which increased in population and also made more available parents, increasing the population more (Footnote). Also the reduction in the need to undertake hard physical work in childhood increased the likely hood to
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