What were the changes in britains empire from 1750 to 1900

Essay by informer July 2008

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And were they all for the better?There were many changes during 1750 to 1900, the majority of which were industrial and economic and not always for the better of then or the better of now.

In this essay I will list two changes that I thought significant then I will list the negative short term effects, the negative long term effects, the positive short term effects and the positive long term effects. At the end of each change I will decide whether it was an overall positive or negative change.

My first change will be the development of factories as it led to nearly every other significant change from 1750 to 1900, and the cause of this particular change was one Richard Arkwright who is thought to have started the first proper factory; the Cromford mill in 1771 (ref 1)As previous factories had only been gatherings of workers (this had largely been for the textiles industry), and Arkwright's factory was built specifically for housing machinery, as the spinning frame was too large and fast for human hands, Arkwright did first of all try having it powered by horses but then he thought about using water and so invented the water frame, and with it the first factory.

Now even though Arkwright upheld a few rules of decency, his successors did not. The future factory owners exploited workers shamelessly while Arkwright would give housing for all the family, a week's holiday a year and would not allow any one under 6 to work in his factories.

This is one of the short term negative impacts of the development of factories as it led to the exploitation of workers. Another short term negative effect is that coal was needed to power the new machines which first led to worse conditions in the...