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James Watt
He greatly enhanced the design of the steam engine, giving dramatically better efficiency, power, and cost-effectiveness. -
Corporations
During the 1790s, the first corporations, which are companies that are owned by multiple shareholders, were popping up in the US. The first important industrial corporation generally accepted is the Boston Manufacturing Co., established in 1813, which helped to spark the industrial revolution. -
Cotton Gin
The cotton gin is a machine that quickly separates cotton fibers from seeds, enabling much greater productivity. It came about in the United States with Eli Whitney's patent in 1793. -
Assembly Line
The assembly line is a manufacturing process where parts are added, and the semi-finished assembly moves from station to station with parts being added until the finished product is produced. -
Charles Darwin
He worked on learning about concepts such as natural selection, and published his theory of evolution. -
Karl Marx
Marx was a German philosopher who was a critic of political economy and was a socialist revolutionary. He published The Communist Manifesto, and Das Kapital. -
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was a chemist, engineer, inventor, and so on. He established the Nobel Prize, held 355 patents, and invented dynamite. -
Thomas Edison
He invented the phonograph, the video camera, early versions of the electric light bulb, and other inventions in the fields of electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. -
Social Darwinism
A political theory that people and groups are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection. This was originally used to justify political conservationism, imperialism, and racism in the Industrial Revolution to discourage intervention and reform. In 1889, social darwinism was taken a step further by Andrew Carnegie in his 1889 article Gospel of Wealth. -
Mutual-Aid Societies
A mutual-aid society is an organization or voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid and benefit for insurances. Many major financial institutions existing today trace their origins back to benefit societies. The ideas were spread by Jacob Riis writings in the Industrial Revolution. -
Airplane
The airplane, a fixed wing aircraft for traveling, was initially being made by the Wright brothers in 1903. They spent a great deal of time observing birds, and used the techniques they learned from observing to create airplanes. -
Socialism
Socialism is a political philosophy which advocates for production, distribution, and exchange to be owned or regulated by a community, not by individuals. Socialism arose due to the economic and social consequences of the industrial revolution. -
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a family of ideas that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected. Being a version of consequentialism, utilitarianism is the idea that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. It was developed in the Industrial Revolution as a response to the injustices done to workers. The description of the idea was first used by Hastings Rashdall in The Theory of Good and Evil. -
Automobile
Although cars had somewhat been around before the industrial revolution, it wasn't until Henry Ford made it available to a mass audience in 1908. He mass produced the Model T during the industrial revolution, and made cars accessible to everyone for relatively low prices. -
Communism
Communism is a political ideology derived from Karl Marx which goal is to establish a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of production, distribution, and exchange. What causes this to differ from socialism is the absence of private property, social classes, money, and the state. Communism originated as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, and was the extreme end of Karl Marx's theories.