How Industrial Revolution Altered the Political Systems, Social Institutions, and Society

Introduction
The Industrial Revolution is certainly the greatest thing that happened to our history as it changed the landscape of the world from farms and castles into bustling modern cities. It brought sweeping changes to our society in the economic, political and cultural sense as all social institutions of reshaped themselves to the baton of modernization and industrialization.
Origins
Coinciding with the time of colonization, the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment began. Rene Descartes together with Francis Bacon propounded the scientific method which is the greatest discovery in the last ten thousand years. The scientific method spurred a series of discoveries and inventions that would eventually change the face of the earth. As the natural philosophers (these were the scientists of that time) such as Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Carolous Linnaeus and many others continued on with their plan to understand the universe in precise mathematical terms, the social philosophers (these were the social scientists of that time) John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau and many others devised ways to circumvent the aristocracy and laid the groundwork for the intellectual alternative to the monarchy.
Meanwhile, Adam Smith wrote the classic work of economics “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the Nations”. This provided the general alternative for farmers and common people to escape the shackles of feudalism and engage in business. The political revolutions of the American Independence and the French Revolution eventually freed the peasants from the bondage of land and with it earn extra income to engage in business. Thus, giving further impetus to the industrial revolution. Starting with the discovery of the power of steam, and eventually internal combustion through the use of oil, the Industrial Revolution eventually spread like wildfire throughout the world.
The Scientific Revolution
The scientific revolution paved the way for revolutionary discoveries and inventions that led to large scale commodity production, trading, and market economy. The flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, and eventually the water powered loom led to mass production in the textile/clothing industry CITATION Mar89 \l 1033 (Perry, 1989). The advancement in chemistry led to the agricultural revolution with fertilizers, pesticides and new farming technologies; gunpowder and further advance in weaponry and war (colonies), and the creation of new material such as petrochemicals; and the progress in the mining industry. The invention of the microscope led to the discovery of cells and eventually nuclear power. The invention of the telescope led to advances in navigation and space exploration.
The invention of steam ships and eventually to oil powered ships further intensified colonization and the age of exploration and eventually war. The discovery of electricity led to the invention of the light bulb which literally changed the night into day (more working hours) and to battery powered machines such as cars that multiplied human labor a thousand times over. The steam engine revolutionized transportation (train) and eventually internal combustion created the power to operate the industries/factories of the mod...