Final answer:
The Industrial Revolution shifted society from handcraft production by artisans to manufacturing with machines in factories, revolutionizing the nature of work and the economy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Industrial Revolution era involved a shift from handcraft production to manufacturing with machines. This transformative period took place between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, starkly changing daily life and the economic structures of society. Previously, most production happened on a small scale within communities, with artisans like shoemakers or farmers using simple tools and manual labor. The rise of industry introduced mechanized manufacturing, starting in New England with water-powered textile mills and spreading rapidly as technological innovations led to increased output and efficiency. Life before the Industrial Revolution centered around subsistence agriculture with limited trade goods. However, the advent of machine power, such as the steam engine, revolutionized transportation, manufacturing, and led to the development of engineering disciplines. The era saw a departure from artisans and the embrace of wage workers in factories, as manual tasks became specialized across different roles within centralized production systems.