Industrial Revolution
A Roberts loom in a weaving shed in 1835. Textiles were the leading industry of the Industrial Revolution, and mechanized factories, powered by a central water wheel or steam engine , were the new workplace. The Industrial Revolution , now also known as the First Industrial Revolution , was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines , new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power and water power , the development of machine tools and the rise of the mechanized factory system . The Industrial Revolution also led to an unprecedented rise in the rate of population growth. Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and capital invested. The textile industry was also the first to use