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Unit 14: The Eighteenth Century-Approach/Transition Towards Romanticism (Decline of Novel, Agricultural ...........

During this time there was also much new technological advancement, socioeconomic and cultural Notes
problems that arised.
On the technology front, the biggest advancements were in steam power. New fuels such as coal
and petroleum were incorporated into new steam engines. This revolutionized many industries
including textiles and manufacturing. Also, a new communication medium was invented called
the telegraph. This made communicating across the ocean much faster.
But, along with this great leap in technology, there was an overall downfall in the socioeconomic
and cultural situation of the people. Growth of cities was one of the major consequences of the
Industrial Revolution. Many people were driven to the cities to look for work, in turn the ended
living in the cities that could not support them. With the new industrial age, a new quantitative
and materialistic view of the world took place. This caused the need for people to consume as
much as they could. This still happens today, living small wages that required small children to
work in factories for long days.
Also, during this time much international strife was occurring at this time. The American Revolution
was occurring in the beginning part of the Industrial Revolution. The French Revolution was in
the process at the turn of the 19th century. This was a great time, but resulted in newly found
democratic rights that spread through Europe and North America.
The Industrial Revolution was not a good revolution for the planet. From the time of its start, the
factories and industry has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by two-folds.
Also in our drive for consumerism, our planets natural resources are being depleted at an alarming
rate.

Did u know? Pollution by nuclear waste, pesticides and other chemicals are the result of the
Industrial Revolution.

14.4 Summary
By definition a plow (also spelled plough) is a farm tool with one or more heavy blades
that breaks the soil and cut a furrow (small ditch) for sowing seeds.
This spirit of emancipation is nowhere seen to better advantage than in the freedom which
women gradually acquired.
This break-up of Victorian ‘compromise’, traditions and conventions was accelerated by the
rapid advance of science.
Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Carlyle, Ruskin, Matthew Arnold were affected by the
condition of man in contemporary society.
In 1764, James Hargreaves invented the “spinning jenny,” a device which allowed one
person to spin many threads at once, further increasing the amount of finished cotton that a
worker could produce.
In 1807, Robert Fulton used steam power to create the first steamboat, an invention that
would change the way and the speed in which materials could be moved between the
colonies of Britain.
The industrial revolution first got its start in Great Britain, during the 18th century, which
at the time was the most powerful empire on the planet.

14.5 Keywords
Karl Calls : The moral urgency of a Conrad, the verbal gifts and wit of a
Joyce, the vitality and all-consuming obsession of a Lawrence.
The Agricultural Revolution : It was a period of agricultural development between the 18th
century and the end of the 19th century, which saw a massive and
rapid increase in agricultural productivity and vast improvements
in farm technology.
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