One of the main industries that benefitted from the Industrial Revolution was the textile industry. The textile industry was based on the development of cloth and clothing. Before the start of the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 1700s, the production of goods was done on a very small scale. Historians refer to this method of production as the ‘cottage industry’. Simply put, the cottage industry refers to a period of time in which goods for sale were produced on a very small scale, usually in a home. In this system, people produced goods, such as wool, in their homes or on their own farms and then sold it to local communities since long distance transportation was uncommon. This method of production was slow and inefficient and struggled to keep pace with the growing demand caused by the increased population. In contrast, industrialization allowed goods to be produced in a central location and on a mass scale. It also led to the creation of inventions that helped speed up the production method of many goods, but most noticeably in the textile industry.
