Primary Sources and Social Change of the Industrial Revolution
The impact of the Industrial Revolution on the standard of living of
working class people is, and has been frequently debated. There is a
mass of primary and secondary sources of evidence from the time of the
Industrial Revolution available to support differing views of the
debate, and there are also many novels available that were written at
the time which criticise industrial society, but the difficulty of
assessing the total impact of industrialisation upon a population, is
how to measure the changes in standard of living. We can look at
changes in wages, the changing cost of food, rent and clothing, the
impact of the factory systems, or the demographic changes to the
society, but it is extremely difficult to weigh up one change against
another. If we look at wage data to assess the standard of living, the
problem is that payment in kind is not recorded. Agricultural workers
for example, would be compensated for their low wages with farm
produce, free fuel or subsidised rents, and wages only reflect the
living standards of the employed. A wider variety of sources need to
be employed in looking at the standard of living debate, for example
whilst working class in urban districts seem to have enjoyed higher
wages, they also suffered higher rates of disease and mortality.
The roles of women and children drastically changed from working in
cottage industries and agriculture to being employed in the factory
system. This problem was also added to by the age structure of the
population with high birth rates, Peter Mathias, a secondary source
writes, "The conclusion (when loo...
... middle of paper ...
...living debate and the
extensive resources that are available when looking at such a complex
debate.
Bibliography
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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.
In Britain, industrialization changed the lives of workers in many ways. One way workers lives changed is being able to earn higher wages. They could make more money in factories than on farms. Wi...
Bibliography = == == == ==
Nardinelli, C. (1993). Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/IndustrialRevolutionandtheStandardofLiving.html
Prior to the industrial revolution people rarely experienced change. It was an extremely different place than it is now. During the industrial revolution there was a radical change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions. People in majority were farmers since they didn’t have any technology everybody had to grow their own food. They were interdependent in maintaining all their necessities, mainly in their local communities because of the difficulty in distant transportation because they had no motorized vehicles.
happening in the world, with more and more people just accepting the new social classes and not protesting their unfairness. This source not only helps us understand the living conditions of the time but also the change in society that occurred during the Industrial
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.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history, because before this revolution, life for the average person was difficult, as incomes were very little, and malnourishment and disease were common. People produce the most of their own food, clothing, furniture and tools. Robert E. Lucas, Jr., winner of Nobel Prize, said: ‘’For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior is mentioned by the classical economists, even as a theoretical possibility.’’1.
The industrial revolution was the most important, which started around the eighteenth century towards the nineteenth century in Europe. This great event was the fastest spreading event in human history. The capacity of economy and population growth was unexpected especially at the areas in which it flourished. The industrial revolution benefited almost everyone around the world and brought about new social classes, large cities and many new innovations including medical discoveries especially in Britain as it based it is scientific innovations on experiments and practical work rather than theories and logic.
The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change and increased efficiency. No more would be goods be produced by sole means of farming and agriculture, but now by the use of machinery and factories. Technology was beginning to increase along with the food supply as well as the population. However, this increase in population would greatly impact the social aspect of that time. Urbanization was becoming much more widespread. Cities were becoming overwhelmingly crowded and there was an increase in disease as well as harsh child labor. Although child labor would be reduced somewhat due to unions, the Industrial Revolution still contained both it’s positive and negative results.
O'Brien, Patrick, and Roland Quinault, eds. The Industrial Revolution and British Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.
The Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century England brought about many changes in British society. It was the advent of faster means of production, growing wealth for the Nation and a surplus of new jobs for thousands of people living in poverty. Cities were growing too fast to adequately house the numerous people pouring in, thus leading to squalid living conditions, increased filth and disease, and the families reliance upon their children to survive. The exploitation of children hit an all time peak in Britain when generations of its youth were sacrificed to child labor and the “Coffers” of England.
The industrial Revolution began in England in the 1700’s. The First Industrial Revolution contributed to the rise of capitalism in that it led to investing in factories, increased production and higher demands for raw materials, led to worldwide trade, new innovations and inventions. Changes in transportation, agriculture, and communication were considered the largest contributions to capitalism (Arellano, n.d). The new inventions led to building more factories for people to work. The wealthy people brought and managed the factories. The workers received a wage for their work. The addition of the machines used in the factories helped create the Capitalism economic system by creating the wage format for the people that worked in the factories (Walker,
...-1820 : Parish Apprentices and the Making of the Early Industrial Labour Force. Studies in Labour History. Aldershot, England ; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007.