The first element which is remarkable of this period is that after 1740 there is a decrease of infant mortality, probably due to improved midwifery and medical skill. The growth of population had a tonic effect on economy. It increased the home market and provided more labour. Children of the lower and middle classes survived more than before. With some education, a little capital and an occasional influential relative there were endless opportunities of advancement.

The most revolutionary developments were in technology, transport and methods of industrial organization. Where in the early part of the XVIII century there had been one profoundly important invention, now in the period from 1742 to 1784 there were dozens, and their diffusion was faster. In textiles Arkwright’s water frame (1769), Hargreave’s jenny (1770), and Crompton’s mule (1779) revolutionized the production of yarn.

The progress in mining was still more important. New methods for smelting iron were invented. Wilkinson is the man who understands the technological possibilities of iron and steel. In 1781 Boulton and Watt produced the new engine with rotary motion. With the perfection and adoption of a power engine made of iron and steel and using coal, England had completed the first stage of a profound revolutionary process. Man was no longer dependent on the natural sources of power.

Transport were bettered digging canals, in fact river navigation proved not sufficient. Every canal cut cheapened goods, brought them within the reach of humbler classes, and raised their standard of life.

In agriculture the changes which took place in this period can be expressed through the figures showing the increase of the number of enclosure acts:

These figures express a revolution, and one which was not imposed: the acts are not general laws, individual or group decision to enclose lands authorized by the Parliament.

The enclosure made each farmer independent form his neighbour, free to introduce new methods to try to improve productivity without fear that his efforts would be wasted. Before, with land held in common and with herds mixing on the common pastures, any improvement had been practically impossible.

Anyway old traditions and old techniques lingered on. Obstinacy, stupidity, and ignorance are common human failings, and so is aversion to change.