What happened during the early nineteenth century that greatly changed the manner of peoples lives?
The Industrial Revolution caused people to leave the farms and villages and to move near the factories in the big cities. This brought many changes in family life, as its members were not so closely united, no longer living and working together on farms. Members of all ages went off to the factories to work, and even children worked long hours away from home. The Industrial Revolution began around 1769, when James Watt (in England) invented the steam engine. This aided rapid transportation, and large quantities of factory-made goods became available. While this had benefits, it also created social problems: individual, hand-made items became less important while men became almost parts of machines, working in drab factories for long hours. It was mostly in England and America that the inventions that spurred the Industrial Revolution occurred. Inventions like the spinning jenny, steamboat, railroad engine, electric motors and generators, telegraph, reaper all had a profound effect on t
