The Industrial Revolution, at least in the sense that most historians describe it, was only just underway when the American Revolution broke out. Many of the changes that we associate with industry—the uses of new forms of energy and machines, the advent of the factory system, and the rise of an industrial working class—did not fully develop until after American independence. But the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution did affect the colonies in some very important ways.
For one thing, an important precondition for the advent of industry was the enclosure of common lands. This was an attempt to impose a market-driven style of agriculture on the British countryside, and it drove many small farmers off their lands and into the cities. Many of these people came to the American colonies, where they sought the cheap lands that were no longer available to them back home. Another effect was that...
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Parliament, under increasing pressure by powerful merchants and other financial interests, took steps to enforce a mercantilist trading relationship with the colonies.
In particular, the colonies were banned from trading with other European powers, and from producing many of the manufactured goods that came from England. Indeed, the expansion of production in England flooded American markets with these goods, and the result was an imbalance of trade that deprived many of the colonies of specie. The colonies had few of the emerging textile mills that were beginning to pop up in Britain, but some industries like mining and especially sugar growing were beginning to take on characteristics that some historians have identified as industrial.
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The industrial revolution had both negative and positive consequences for American and British soceity.
The mechanization of production allowed consumer goods to be more easily
produced. Items like guns, furniture, clothing, and like items requried huge
investments in both time and labor. But after machines began producing the
components or in some cases the finished products themselves, the price fell
and availability of these items grew.
Industrialization also had a positive impact on agrculture. Mechanization of farm labor helped farms become more productive and increase the food supply.
It also created new opportunities for trade and export with other countries.
As America and Britain increased their industrial output, they also were able
to expand their economy through trade with other nations. In the colonial
period, the colonies supplied raw materials such as cotton to the British who
milled it into cloth.
This relation stayed pretty much intact until the revolution because America
didn't have the industrial capacity to compete with it's Atlantic neighbor.
Inustrialization also had negative consequences. The burning of coal for power
led to increased pollution and health issues in cities. It also led to the a
decrease in working conditions as artisans lost out to factories as the main
providers of goods.