WesternHistory Eassy 2 - Essay Example

While there were several achievements made before this time, there were essentially four major technological advancements that enabled society to propel forward very quickly in England. In most of these cases, it seems clear that practicality and necessity is truly the mother of invention, just as the old adage claims. Leading into the Industrial Revolution, improvements in agricultural technology led to increased population growth and mobility, which also led to increased demand for textiles and other products leading to the need for more efficient production, transportation and power-generating techniques.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution was fueled by improvements in agriculture that created surplus consumables. One technological improvement introduced during this era was a more efficient system of crop rotation. “Farmers had discovered a crop rotation system that allowed them to forgo leaving up to half the land unused or fallow between each planting. Animal husbandry was becoming widely used” (Bond et al, 2009). By planting previously fallow fields with revitalizing plants that also served to feed the livestock, farmers were able to get much greater yield from their fields and livestock, increasing the available food supply for themselves and the greater populace.

At the same time, new innovations in metal-working were bringing this harder material to the farm, making it possible to complete work faster and with less effort. “During this time the seed drill was invented. This machine made sowing seed more effective, distributing the seeds evenly … New iron plows made plowing easier and less time consuming. Thus, less human labor was required as the output of the farms increased dramatically” (Nosotro, 2010). This meant more food could be produced with fewer workers.

More food meant more people were born and surviving. It also meant