Test: The Industrial Revolution - UPSC MCQ

The first Abraham Darby invented the blast furnace in 1709. Coke was used in blast furnace to generate high temperatures. It was derived from coal by removing the sulphur and impurities. It replaced charcoal.

In 18th century England, big landlords bought small farms near their own properties and enclosed the village common lands, thus creating very large estates and increasing food production. This led to landlessness of several farmers, who had to search for jobs, which they found in factories, in nearby towns.

Under the process known as ‘enclosure’, from the 1770s, hundreds of small farms were merged into larger ones of powerful landlords. It was the legal process in England, during the 18th century, of enclosing a number of small landholdings to create one larger farm. Once enclosed, use of the land became restricted to the owner, and it ceased to be common land for communal use.

During the railway mania in Britain, vast amounts of coal and iron were used. Large numbers of workers were employed. It boosted activity in the construction and public works industries. Most of England had been connected by railway by 1850.

The invention of railways took the entire process of industrialisation to a second stage. Railroads called for the production of more goods. They put factory-made products within the reach of many more people at prices that they could afford to pay.

Canals were built in Britain to transport coal to cities. Transport of coal from road was much slower and more expensive than by barges on canals.

Thomas Savery (1650–1715), an English inventor and engineer, is famous for his invention of the first commercially used steam powered engine. He built a model steam engine, called the Miner’s Friend, in 1698, to drain mines.

On 2nd July 1698, Savery patented an early steam engine. In 1702, Savery described the machine in his book 'The Miner's Friend; or, An Engine to Raise Water by Fire', in which he claimed that it could pump water out of mines. However, Savery's engines worked slowly, in shallow depths, and the boiler burst under too much pressure.

‘The Blutcher’, invented in 1814 by George Stephenson, could pull a weight of 30 tons up a hill at 4 mph. The Blutcher was the name of a general in the Prussian Army, who had just helped Britain to defeat Napoleon.

The First industrial Revolution had far-reaching effects in Britain. Later, similar changes occurred in European countries and in the USA. These were to have a major impact on the society and economy of those countries and also on the rest of the world.