1. What, in a nutshell, was the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution has basically transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient. 🙂
2. What was the standard-of-living debate?
The most famous debate on economic change about the impact of the British industrial revolution.While the standard of living was improved for the middle and upper classes, it may have worsened for the lower and impoverished classes. Many people in the upper classes benefited during this time, however, the majority of people that were being affected by industrialization were the people in poverty and immigrants.
3. What were the different arguments that combined in Britain to pave the way for the abolition of slavery in that country’s overseas colonies?
Britain had been engaged in slavery since the sixteenth century, with economic prosperity being secured through the use of slave-grown products such as sugar and cotton. The British Empire relied on cultivating products in order to trade in a global market: the use of slaves was paramount to this process.
Southern slaveholders often used biblical passages to justify slavery. Those who defended slavery rose to the challenge set forth by the Abolitionists. The defenders of slavery included economics, history, religion, legality, social good, and even humanitarianism, to further their arguments.
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