THE INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION
Britain in the 18th and 19th
centuries

RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION
BEFORE
Most people were
farmers.
They lived in small
villages in the
countryside.
Especially in the South
and East of Britain were
the land was more fertile.

AFTER
Less labourers needed
because of improved
methods of farming and
new machinery.
Many farmers were
unemployed.
They moved to the cities
to work in the factories.

Migration and the growth of cities

Railroads also made cities possible,
providing them with the food they needed,
raw materials, and new markets.
Because of massive migration, now cities
had a much bigger demand for food and
services.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

FACTORY SYSTEM

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

 Industrialization depends, among other things,

on the growth of a labor force not engaged in
primary food production: in pre-industrial
societies, typically 75-95% of labor force is food
producing; in advanced industrial societies, like
the U.S. today for example, only ~3%.
The population increase due largely to the
Agricultural Revolution (but also to new urban
hygiene reforms of the 19th century) thus
stimulated the Industrial Revolution.