The Talmud lists ten or so blessings, each tied to a specific physical moment of the morning. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (~3rd c. CE) reportedly said each blessing in real time, actually waiting until he heard the rooster before saying the rooster blessing, actually opening his eyes before saying the sight blessing, etc. The custom of saying them all together at synagogue (rather than at home, throughout the morning) developed in the Geonic period. Today most observant Jews say them at synagogue at the start of Shacharit, but some say them at home as part of the early-morning routine.
Several of the blessings quote or paraphrase Psalm 146:7-8:
פֹּקֵחַ עִוְרִים, יְהוָה זֹקֵף כְּפוּפִים, יְהוָה מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים
"The LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD raises up those who are bowed down, the LORD frees the bound."
Each line of the Psalm became a blessing in Birkot HaShachar. By saying them in sequence each morning, the worshiper enacts the Psalm: I was bound by sleep, God released me. I was lying flat, God stood me up. I was blind in darkness, God gave me back my sight. Each morning is a small redemption.
The rabbis could have combined the gratitudes into a single blessing: "Blessed are You, who gives sight, clothing, strength, freedom, etc." Instead they separated them. Each gift is a separate occasion for attention. The cumulative effect is different from a summary, by the end of Birkot HaShachar, the worshiper has paused 15 times. Each pause is an explicit act of recognition. The day starts with one's attention having been trained, blessing by blessing, on what could so easily go wrong but did not.
These have generated significant theological debate in the modern period; many contemporary siddurim use revised wording. The older formulae predate modern egalitarian sensibilities.