Question: What did the Industrial Revolution improve for Britain?
About the article "Industrial Revolution", section "Transportation".

Candidate passages:
What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us is a BBC documentary series produced in conjunction with the Open University that examines the impact of the Industrial Revolution on modern society.
It was originally broadcast on BBC Two in autumn 2003. 
  Industrial Revolution: Establishment of Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory near Birmingham to serve the "Birmingham toy industry", considered as the first factory for the production of metal goods in Britain.
Buckingham Palace, London, sold to George III; remodelling as a house for Queen Charlotte will begin the following year.
The village of Nuneham Courtenay in Oxfordshire is demolished and rebuilt on a new site by Simon, Earl Harcourt to improve the landscaping of Nuneham House.  
By comparison, the British economy at the time of the Industrial Revolution was much smaller and less efficient than China's.
Local shortages could not be readily alleviated by internal trade; besides being far smaller than China, Britain lacked an efficient internal water-based trade network, which prompted the development of the steam engine and railroads.
The early paucity of arable farmland in Britain encouraged technical refinements to improve crop yields at an early date, whereas the vast size of China permitted production to be increased simply by cultivating more land until late in the imperial period.
Although overseas colonies provided cheap slave labor for part of the Industrial Revolution period, local labor in Britain itself was more expensive than in China, providing the capitalist class an incentive to improve worker efficiency. 
This proposed Industrious Revolution does not aim to replace the Industrial Revolution in history; rather it is designed to supplement it.
By revamping the history of the period directly preceding the Industrial Revolution, some historians hope to ensure that people get a better understanding of a particular aspect of the Early Modern Period.
The basic picture painted of the pre-Industrial Revolution is that the Industrial Revolution was the result of a surplus of money and crops, which led to the development of new technology.
This new technology eventually developed into factories.
The Industrious Revolution addresses this belief, saying instead, that the overwhelming desire for more goods directly preceded the Industrial Revolution.
The theory states that during the Industrious Revolution there was an increase in demand for goods, but that supply did not rise as quickly.
Eventually some achievements of industry and agriculture, as well as the decisions made by households, helped to increase the supply, as well as the demand for goods.
These behaviours, when combined constitute an Industrious Revolution.
A quick summation of the differences between the Industrious Revolution and the Industrial Revolution is that the former is concerned with demand, and the latter is supply based.
The right mindset to a productional economy and world may have increased the supply of technology, but they would have had little impact on invention without a demand for new techniques.
The theory of an Industrious Revolution, as put forward by historian Jan de Vries, claims that there were two parts to the Industrious Revolution.
First, there was a reduction of leisure time as the utility of monetary income rose.
Second, the focus of labour shifted from goods and services to marketable goods.
Some within the field of cultural history have theorized that a further motive for an industrious revolution is a shift in the view on what it takes for an individual to be considered independent.
Independence was equated with land ownership prior to an industrious revolution.
Wage earners were granted a degraded and dependent status.
Typically, as in the case of pre-industrial Great Britain and America, these dependent sorts were deemed unworthy of full citizenship rights.
Industrious revolutions shift the meaning of independence from land-holding to earning a competency.
A wage earner could now be considered independent if he/she earned enough money to support a household.
Hard work was viewed as essential for reaching this goal. 
Historical studies.
Between 1750 and 1975 England experienced the transition from high levels of both mortality and fertility, to low levels.
A major factor was the sharp decline in the death rate for infectious diseases, which has fallen from about 11 per 1,000 to less than 1 per 1,000.
By contrast, the death rate from other causes was 12 per 1,000 in 1850 and has not declined markedly.
The agricultural revolution and the development of transport, initiated by the construction of canals, led to greater availability of food and coal, and enabled the Industrial Revolution to improve the standard of living.
Scientific discoveries and medical breakthroughs did not, in general, contribute importantly to the early major decline in infectious disease mortality, and the decline in fertility occurred before efficient contraception became available.