Question

The era of the "cottage industry" was rendered mostly obsolete by

Answer 1

The cottage industry ended due to the Industrial Revolution, which shifted production from skilled artisans to mechanized factories and introduced technological advancements like the steam engine. This increased the scale and efficiency of production and led to the evolution of an information economy characterized by digital goods and computerization.

Step-by-step explanation:

The era of the "cottage industry" was largely brought to an end by the Industrial Revolution, a period of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural change that occurred between 1750 and 1850. The automation of the manufacturing process through the advent of factories and the introduction of the steam engine dramatically increased the production of goods. This led to an unprecedented availability of products such as textiles and agricultural machinery, rendering the small-scale, home-based production of goods mostly obsolete.

During the Industrial Revolution, the production of goods shifted from the hands of skilled middle-class artisans to mechanized production handled by lower-paid, unskilled laborers in factory settings. The concentration of production in factories, powered by improvements such as water mills and steam engines, made it feasible to produce goods on a much larger scale. This was exemplified by the difference in the amount of cloth produced by women at home compared to that produced in the Lowell's mechanized mills, with the latter producing significantly more in a shorter amount of time.

Furthermore, this shift was not just constrained to manufacturing, as the combination of mass-produced goods, running water, and the advent of gas and electricity improved living standards for many. However, it also created a change in the workforce dynamic, taking away the control that farmers and artisans once had over their working conditions and transferring it to factory owners. The emergence of an information economy, fueled by the rapid increase in computer use and the transformation of industries such as music and film from physical products to digital formats, represents a further evolution from the industrial practices established during the Industrial Revolution.

Answer 2

Industrial Revolution

Step-by-step explanation:

The cottage industry term used to describe the manufacturing of goods at home in small scale. The era of the cottage industry existed before the coming of the Industrialization. Artisans produced wool, sewing cloth, and lace-making in their homes from the raw materials which they received from merchants for markets. The method of manufacturing materials was slow because it created by hand. Workers struggle to keep pace with the growing demand.