er of a craft worker's family and gave jobs to skilled workers who had no capital to start businesses for themselves. A few merchants who had enough capital had gone a step further. They brought workers together under one roof and supplied machines. These establishments were factories. After centuries of the craft guilds and the government having controlled commerce and industry, began the belief that it was better to let business be regulated by the free play of supply and demand rather than by laws The English government started to leave business free to adopt the new inventions and the methods of production which were best suited to them. The new methods increased the amount of goods produced and decreased the cost. British merchants no longer found it a problem to obtain enough goods to supply their markets and, at times, the markets were flooded with more goods than could be sold. As conditions in industry changed, social and political conditions changed with them. Cities grew rapidly, and the percentage of farmers in the total population declined. A person had to have a lot of capital to buy machines and open a factory. The men who controlled these enterprises formed a powerful new class in England called industrial capitalists. Due to the “laissez- faire, factory owners could arrange working conditions in whatever way they pleased. Grave difficulties arose for the workers. They had problems with working hours, wages, unemployment, accidents, employment of women and children, and housing conditions. The revolution began in England for various reasons. English merchants were leaders in developing a commerce. There also were new ideas in England which aided the movement, such as the growing interest in scientific investigation and invention. Another was the doctrine of “laissez-faire”, or letting business alone. It was especially popular after Adam Smith’s demanded it in “The Wealth of Nations” (1...
