Yes, the Industrial Revolution was a big deal in history. Not merely because steam, coal, and iron changed the way, and the quantity, in which goods were manufactured, but also because it changed the way in which people lived. The focus for the ordinary person changed from rural to urban, from self-sustaining semi-independence to economically integrated inter-dependence, from the gentle rythms of sunrise/sunset and the four seasons of the year to the demanding harshness of the factory's whistle which marked the exact beginning and end of one's exhausting shift.
These large and dramatic changes in ordinary life for millions of people triggered various reactions. Much of the intellectual, artistic, and political life of the 19th century can be seen as various reactions to the Industrial Revolution.
The Romantic poets reacted by escaping: writing verses about knights riding across countrysides with blue skies and green grass, while living in a grey and smoke-filled urban landscape.
John Stuart Mill, and the modern political liberalism associated with his name, called for reform programs in order to make the lives of the working millions more humane.
Marx and the various socialist and communist movements of the era called for revolution, not reform; only a complete overthrow of the economic structure would satisfy them.
William Blake, in a category of his own, wrote verse, not in order to escape the misery, but to record it accurately, unflinchingly capturing the images and misery.
Kropotkin and Bakunin, reacting less to the Industrial Revolution and more to the political harshness of their own government, called for anarchy, setting off a wave of terrorism which included bombs (which exploded unexpectedly in ordinary peaceful cities, killing people who were going about their daily lives) and assassinations at the end of 19th century and into the first few years of the 20th century.
