Praxis II Citizenship

Answer: B - The development of steam engines was seminal in the First Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain and soon spread to the United States and mainland Europe. After early developments of industrial steam engines (by Thomas Savery then Thomas Newcomen, separately), Scottish inventor James Watt revolutionized the technology in 1778. Watt’s design improved the mechanical efficiency and cost efficiency of the steam engine. The improved concept made large-scale mass production easily achievable and sustainable. It was, simply, the technology that allowed the Industrial Revolution to become the monumental turning point in human history that it was. Many historians consider it to be the most significant development in economic/labor history since the domestication of animals and plants.