Historians acknowledge the importance of the 18th century to Great Britain. Britain and some parts of Europe witnessed a dramatic shift in agricultural practices from traditional farming methods to mechanized farming. Land availability was a major contributing factor that led to the agricultural revolution. As a result, farmers embraced the open-field system. Lack of adequate tools to cultivate the land was a major challenge that was facing the farmers.
As a result, large portions of land were not cultivated. In order to counter this, inventions to improve agriculture were introduced. For instance, Jethro Tull introduced the horse-drawn seed drill that could plant seeds on a vast portion of land. The industrial revolution grew out of the interest to enhance the farming and manufacturing processes. Many manufacturing industries came up in London and other cities in Great Britain.
Industrialization in Great Britain had a significant social impact. First, there was rapid population growth in the entire nation. The population increased due to the availability of food brought about by effective farming methods. Secondly, people began to move from rural homes to urban centers. People were migrating in search of jobs in the growing industries. These migrations led to the rapid growth of cities and town centers. Massive migrations caused a compromise in living conditions in major cities. Poor living conditions became the norm in these cities. Some of the living conditions included lack of proper sanitation, inadequate housing, and insecurity.
Thirdly, social classes started to develop. For instance, there were the middle working class, the upper class, and the lower class. The majority of the people belonged to the lower class.