New inventions made it possible to spin and weave cloth much more quickly.
Britain started to buy supplies and produce from abroad.
The factories needed supplies of coal and iron for their new machines.
Many of the new goods produced in Britain were sold abroad.
Britain became known as "The workshop of the world".
Large buildings called factories were needed for the new machines and the many workers who operated them.
Wealthier farmers bought strips of land from the poorer villagers.
Farmers like "Turnip Townsend" experimented with new types of crops.
Some villagers sold their land to farmers and headed off to find work in the towns.
Farmers experimented with the selective breeding of animals.
Specially bred animals could produce more milk or more meat.
The growing populations in the new towns needed food.
Farmers made more money by producing more food.
Food had to be transported to the new towns from the countryside.
Young children had to operate dangerous factory machines.
Some children worked for as long as 14 hours a day.
Workers in new towns lived in tiny houses with no running water and no sewage facilities.
Some politicians passed new laws to improve conditions in the towns.
Laws passed in the 19th Century stopped factories from employing very young children.
Some industrialists gained the vote in 1832 after a long campaign.
In 1750, only very rich people could vote for a member of Parliament.
By the 1800s, there were still few members of Parliament representing industrial towns.
In the second half of the 19th Century, more and more working men were given the vote.
