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The Industrial Revolution was an important time period that took place in Europe throughout the 1700s and 1800s. While this so called revolution was more of a gradual change, it could not have happened without certain political aspects, such as strong central governments; economic aspects, including a surplus of workers. The world had to be politically prepared with a strong and predictable government in order for the change to take place. This was the case in Great Britain, the area in which Industrialization is believed to have begun. The English government had existed since 1688, and people felt safe. During the 1600s, England gained 13 colonies in North America, but lost them in 1776. Though this may seem like a weakness for Britain, in the long run Britain had an equal trading partner in the future, instead of a weak and exploited trading partner. Around the mid 1700s, the English economy was doing very well. During this period in history, shipping goods by water was much cheaper than shipping goods by land. Beginning in the 1770s, the increase in canal building projects connected almost all parts of England to the sea. Between 1760 and 1780, canals connected almost all major areas of coal producing, metal producing, and