American revolution and the indutrial revolution

What are the causes of the industrial revolution?

The causes of this revolution are the great increase of the population that we can find towards 1750, the change in demand for the products, in particular the population started to ask more pots and clothes, and also we can see that in those years people need for more efficient production, so England changed from a farming to an industrial country. The industrial revolution led to the creation of new technologies and inventions , new sources of power and transport and also the development of the factory system .

Key inventions of the industrial revolution

The most important inventions of this period were the spinning jenny, water frame and steam engine. The spinning jenny was a machine that allowed a worker to work eight spools at once. The water frame used the power of water to make the clothes. The steam engine, the most important invention of James Watt, was a particular machine, then applied to train, that allowed to make cloth more cheaply.

Growth of industrial cities

During the industrial revolution the mushroom towns grew up. They were small towns built near the factories to house the workers; they were near the water, in general a little river. These towns were overcrowded, without elementary services and air and water were polluted.
The working conditions were bad. The workers had long working hours, children and women were availed, paid less than men. So the life expectancy of the poor was below twenty years because of the condition of the worker, the pollution and the incessant toil.

Causes of the American revolution

The causes of this revolution are the elevated taxes imposed to the American colonies.

In particular a tax on the important of the tea caused the “Boston tea party”, in which a group of rebels threw tea imported from Britain into the harbor because they thought that they couldn’t pay the taxes without a representation in the English parliament (no taxation without representation).

Divisions and declaration of independence

The Americans were divided into patriots and loyalist. The first had no army, but they knew the land very well; they were supported by the French fleet. The second had an army, but too small to attack and defend the land. In 1776 in the American Declaration of independence written by Thomas Jefferson, American people stated that the new colonies were a new nation and all men had a natural right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.

Recognition of American independence

Britain recognised the independence of its former colonies with the Treaty of Versaillles in 1783. In 1787 the republic of the United States of America adopted a federal constitution and Washington became the first president.