The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Industrial Revolution
in America

For thousands of years, goods were made by hand. But around 250 years ago, a new machine was invented in England. It was called the Spinning Jenny. The Jenny was created to speed up the way yarn was made. One machine, the Spinning Jenny, could spin as fast as 8 workers. There were soon machines for weaving as well. These machines ran on running water. They had to be located near a stream to use them.

Then the steam engine was invented. And everything changed. The steam engine could run other machines anywhere. Suddenly, there were so many new inventions! The use of machines spread to other industries besides spinning and weaving. The use of machines spread to other countries as well. There was an explosion of new machines and new ways of doing things. This time period in history is called the Industrial Revolution. There were many good things and many bad things about the Industrial Revolution.

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