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The impact of the Industrial Revolution on British Society
Impacts of the industrial revolution on British society
The impact of the Industrial Revolution on British Society
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The evils of the Industrial Revolution in england were addressed in many ways in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Industrial revolution changed the lives of many people. Most people believe the Industrial Revolution was bad for both the people and environment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some believe that one of the worst parts of the Industrial Revolution was child labor. Children were very small and easy to order around without being stood up to. Children were also being paid very low wages. Most children worked 16 hour days with only a 40 minute break which most were unable to eat because they were so unwealthy. This all changed when the " Health and Morals Act" came into effect in 1802 which declared that "The minimum age of employment shall be 9 years." and "The working day for children under fourteen shall be limited to twelve hours. Another act which helped the work conditions of children was the "Factory Act of 1833" which declared "No person under 18 years of age shall be allowed to work in the night in or about any cotton, woolen, linen, or silk mill or factory where steam, water, or any other mechanical power is used to work the machinery."
Another way that the evils of the Industrial Revolution were addressed were Unions. Unions are an organization of workers who work to get advance of wages or lessen hours along with many other work related luxuries. One thing that hindered the growth of many unions was the "Combination act of 1800" this said that "Any workman who shall enter into any Union to obtain an advance of wages or to lessen or alter the hours or who shall, for the purpose of obtaining an advance in wages persuade,solicit,intimidate,or influence any workman to quit or lave his work shall be committed to jail.". This act made Unions illegal. Ralph Chaplin author of "Solidarity Forever" felt differently. In his book he wrote " When the union's inspiration through the workers blood shall run, there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun. Yet what force on earth is weaker the feeble strength of one? Bur the union makes us strong. This basically says that as a single laborer you are powerless but as a union you are strong.
As you can see the life of the working class was not very good in the 1700's and 1800's.
The Industrial Revolution began in England during the late 1700s, and by the end of its era, had created an enormous amount of both positive and negative effects on the world in social, economic, and even political ways. The revolution began to spread across the world, raising the standard of life for the populations in both Europe and North America throughout the 1800s. However, even with all of its obvious benefits, its downsides are nonnegotiable, forcing workers into horrendous living and working conditions, all inside of unkempt cities. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of the railroad system, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s
In the nineteenth century, various inventions like the steam engine stimulated demand for products, thus introducing factories and workshops to manufacture those commodities. The popularization of Manchester initiated assorted reactions towards the industrialization of the cities surrounding Great Britain. While the industrial revolution ensued, numerous concerns occurred which all contemplated the affects of factories and industries engaged by the working division of society. As industry began to evolve for the operational lower classes, the positive, negative, and mutual reactions are denoted by various speakers whom were among the diverse social classes of society.
The impact of the Industrial Revolution was a positive experience for some, but it was a great difficulty for others. Because of the demands for reform and protection for workers arose, government and unions began to take place. That was how the evils of the Industrial Revolution addressed in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Working conditions in the Industrial Revolution were very harsh. It was a time when people wanted mass amounts of production and were not concerned about how things got done as long as they got done. Chadwick and Sadler both took initiative to try to change and protect workers’ rights. As worker’s health became more public, people began to realize how bad they were suffering, the Parliament knew they had to make changes. The Parliament put in many acts and laws that would limit work hours and give workers more rights and better health.
Thesis Statement: The Industrial Revolution ensured that the production of goods moved from home crafts and settled in factory production by machine use, mass inflow of immigrants from all over the world escaping religious and political persecution took place and the government contributed by giving grants to entrepreneurs.
America was a time of rapid growth for people all across the country. The Industrial Revolution began a few years after the Civil War with the invention of steam powered machines. From there, America faced a time of massive expansion and modern industrialized cities popped up across the United States. While there was much success across the nation, such as manual labor becoming easier and a huge population growth, the negative effects of industrialization outweigh the positives. A few of the issues that made industrialization an atrocious time for many was the racism and segregation towards immigrants and unsafe and unfair working conditions/the deprivation of a regular childhood for kids across the nation.
Imagine waking up at five in the morning to walk over a mile to a factory where you work until noon where you get a half hour break for lunch, then it’s back to work until nine or ten at night, when you are finally allowed to go home and you are only eight years old. Today that seems unimaginable, but during the early 19th century it was the everyday life of thousands of children whose ages range from as young as five until you died. During the Industrial Revolution many children were required to work dangerous jobs to help their families.
The Industrial Revolution restructured the employer-employee relationship into an impersonal association exhibited by indifference to the quality of life of the worker. Children were especially exploited because they could be hired for lower wages and were made to work equally long days (Miller). Around the 1830s, children constituted about one-third of the labor in New England (Illinois Labor History Society). The conditions of workers as a whole necessitated action on behalf of the rights of laborers.
Peter Stearns claims that the industrial revolution was an intensely human experience. What initially arose as scientific advancements in metallurgy and machine building, the industrial revolution period saw a redefinition of life as a whole. As industry changed, human life began to adapt. Work life was drastically changed which, in turn, resulted in family life being affected. As is human nature, major change was met with great resistant. Ultimately, the most successful people during the transition were those that adapted quickly.
As the lecture has so clearly laid out never has there been a period in time where women entirely had the leg up with every advancement came a few setbacks and the industrial revolution is no different. Women experienced emotional, physical, and psychological changes during the industrial revolution that shaped their history. “The industrial era conjures contrasting visions: on the one hand, glorious labor-saving devices that liberated humans from untold drudgery, and on the other the low and insecure wages, job losses among artisans, savagely long work days, and terrible pollution that accompanied the early period.” this quote from the textbook perfectly sums up the pros and cons of the industrial revolution for everyone especially women (McVay, p.108)
Going to work for a full day isn’t much fun after working fifteen hours the day before! 60-70 hour work days are never pleasant in anybody’s mind. How is it that so many people did this during the Industrial Revolution? Was it because they wanted the extra money? Or was it because they wanted the high political or economic status? For some people these were the reasons, but for most it was because of one concern. Survival! The Industrial Revolution greatly changed the workplace and the proletarians.
These advances making it much easier for newcomers to enter into markets due to the advantages previously mentioned it becomes at this point good to note that over the course of the time period roughly around the turn of the nineteenth century, the population in England grew by near one hundred percent (O’Rourke). This becomes very important when we consider the state of resources at the time in history was very cheap and very accessible due to new deposits of coal and new methods as previously mentioned of obtaining them; as well, labor was at hugely valuable despite that technological advances were replacing many. Therefore, because capital and resources were cheap and at the time the working class was one of the richest in the world it made
The Industrial Revolution was an important time period in American history. It greatly affected the economy, industry, and standard of living for people in the United States. It still has everlasting effects to this day. Most of the products we use today are made quickly by the process of mass production. Today, people work on assembly lines using power-driven machines. People of ancient and medieval times had no such products. They had to spend many hours of hand labor to create very simple objects. The energy came from their muscles. Eventually some advancement occurred when people began using animals to help with the work they used to do alone. The Industrial Revolution was the movement in which machinery changed the methods of manufacturing goods and ultimately changed everyday life for workers (Remini).
Think about your life for one second: you communicate with people, travel, make purchases, and utilize those commodities. But have you ever wondered what made those things possible? After all, you go to the store to buy things you need. You drive a car to work and to visit your friends. If you need to talk to someone, you simply pick up your phone or computer. However, none of this would be possible without a means of communication, factories to manufacture the products you need, places to work, and ways to travel and transport goods. And what made these possible? The answer is the Industrial Revolution, which started in Europe around the year 1730. A revolution is a major change or turning point in something. The Industrial Revolution was a major turning point in history and in the way people lived. Their careers, living situations, location, values, and daily routines all changed, and they needed it desperately. The ideas for new life changed and spread, much like a balloon. As the air—or ideas—grew, the balloon expanded. When one man betrayed his country, the figurative balloon exploded. Then, all the ideas that had been contained inside the balloon grew and spread.
The Industrial Revolution was a transformation from agrarian and handicraft-centered economies into economies distinguished by industry and machine manufacture (Bentley and Ziegler 652). It first began in Britain during the mid-eighteenth century and lasted through the nineteenth century (Bentley and Ziegler 652-653). Although the Industrial Revolution was a drastic and ongoing process, does not mean it was an unproblematic change. Many people during this time period experienced positive and negative effects throughout this development.