Life was drastically changed during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was a period of time where machinery was used for manufacturing massive production of goods that began in England in the middle 1700s. This revolution was significant because machinery now changed the way nations produced and distributed goods; therefore, it increased the availability and affordability of goods for all people. To understand the Industrialization Revolution, it is necessary to take a closer look at the Pre-Industrialization. During the Pre-Industrialization, most people belonged to either high or low-class not middle class, and many were farmers who lived in the countryside. Also, goods were made by hand thus the products were not readily affordable or available. However, agricultural revolution, population growth, natural resources, factors of production,inventions and transportation all contributed to the growth of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution resulted in positive and negative changes that paved the way for the working condition and wages, living condition and reform of social class.
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.
...not on governments, but on men of initiative, determination, ambition, vision, resourcefulness, single-mindedness, and (not infrequently) good, honest greed” (117). The Industrial Revolution, led by Great Britain, greatly changed the existing attitude of powerlessness towards nature to one of power because now people were able to produce enough goods and food to support the expanding population. The ability to produce a surplus that arose from the ongoing industrialization meant that people no longer had to worry over nature and its effects on the economy. The Industrial Revolution led by Great Britain radically changed Europe's social and economic ways of life and provided the impetus for the tremendous progress of the 19th century.
Industrialization is the process in which a society transforms itself from an agricultural society, farming, to a society based on manufacturing goods and services, using machinery. The Industrial Revolution acquired a colossal impact on societies, making forceful changes in the lives of individuals, and changing the social classes drastically, but not all classes benefited equally. Those who were lucky enough to be business owners or had the opportunity to obtain a better profession, were able to enjoy leisure time and comfort in many ways. Those who were uneducated and were limited to unskilled labor work, remained at the bottom of the economic ladder. Furthermore, the two classes that benefited from the Industrial Revolution were the “upper” and “middle” class, leaving the “lower” class to be the only one who suffers. In other words, the rich got richer, the middle class grew, and the poor remained poor. The deeper the Industrial Revolution grew, the more powerful the “upper” and “middle” class became. To remain at the top of the social ladder, the upper class had to continue being the wealthiest and most powerful.
The Industrial Revolution did a lot of harm on society and damage to the citizens of the working class. People’s lives were ruined and others were ended due to the fact that this was just generally hard on the people of this time. Citizens had it rough when this era was around and people who lived and survived in this time had a strong will to keep pushing and just work on. Not all jobs at this time were terrible, but speaking for the majority of the workers, it was a really hard time.
The increasing amount of people left destitute and helpless regarding the hasty fundamental changes of the Industrial Revolution; which occurred economically, socially, and on the conditions of the workplace, affected the living standards of all, but did not occur obscure. Reform actions begun to take place; for even industrialists like Robert Owen were sincerely concerned of the direction industrialization was headed in. Endorsing with legislation, politicians together were able to ultimately relieve the working classes predicament, as well as regulating laws for child labor. Regardless of this, the expense of suffering paid by the previous working generations for this advancement in addition to our present contented standards of living was undeniably an awful one.
An argument of why the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain before anywhere else, and why it took the form it did, needs to look at the advantages that Britain had over other European countries. Its good fortune of having large supplies of coal and the kind of institutions that were conducive to economic development and technological progress gave them the opportunities to lead the charge on industrialization. “The process was long and complicated, not sudden and violent as most revolutions are” (Lines 107). The term revolution is actually relatively misleading because the time period is more an evolution of technological growth ...
The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850 where agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and technology went through a period of significant change. These changes had a profound impact on the social and cultural conditions of the time, beginning in the Untied Kingdom and spreading throughout Western Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution, considered a major turning point in history, effected almost every aspect of daily life; through new discoveries in technology came new jobs; through new jobs came new working conditions; through new working conditions came new laws and new politics, the repercussions of which extend to today. As Crump emphasizes: ‘The world as we have come to know it in the twenty-first century is impossible to understand without looking at the foundations laid – mainly in the English-speaking world of the eighteenth century – in the course of what is now known, but not then, as the ‘Industrial Revolution’ .
The Industrial Revolution consisted of scientific innovations, a vast increase in industrial production, and a rapid growth of urban populations which consequently shaped a new social structure in the European continent. Initially in the late eighteenth century, the new industrialization period produced dominant bourgeoisie employers and a united men, women, and children workers. The continued increase of factories coupled with a need for employees made the Proletariats within a short period of time a large, underprivileged, hungry, and desperate for money. Meanwhile, their bourgeoisie employers grew authoritative and wealthy as production and profit soared. Despite the common ties between proletariat workers upon the outbreak of the revolution, by the later half of the nineteenth century, these once-unified workers had branched into distinctly different classes based on their skill level, while the working spheres of men and women grew increasingly isolated from one another.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century led to the rapid industrialization of many cities in England and the rest of the United Kingdom. This rapid industrialization led to many new machines that increased efficiency and created a lesser need for workers. The workers of Leeds, England feared the repercussions of such a lesser need for workers, so they petitioned to their factory owners and managers, pleading them to lessen the use of machines. The factory owners replied claiming that everyone would benefit from their machines. Even though both of the two groups backed up their position with good reasoning and facts, the factory workers’ arguments were more solid in their defense, both presenting numbers and very real truths in their evidence
The emerging of the first Industrial Revolution from 1820-1870 had played a crucial role in the economic, social, and political development of the United States. In fact, the name was given the instant in which machines changed the way of people’s lives as well as their methods of production. As industries and factories ascended, more people began to move from farms to big cities.The drastic change of this world couldn’t have been possible without the founders of these brilliant inventions. However, the process of the revolution might seem straightforward and easy but perhaps for the ones living at that time the change was devastating and fatal. Work had become more demanding and strenuous, so women and young children were hired to work for long hours for no more than five dollars. Not only that the workplace was extremely unsafe and risky especially for children. Sadly, many had lost their lives at very young ages while others were
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.
Today, we live in a world where everything is available to us at a drop of a hat. We live in a world of industry, manufactured goods, and a convenient lifestyle. We have amazing resources, and the ability to buy anything we want, whenever we want, when we want, but this was not always the case. In fact, before the Industrial Revolution, goods were mainly produced by manual labor in homes or farms, and the convenience of mass production was non-existent (Fitzgerald, page 376). From the years 1760-1850, Great Britain introduced the world to a period of evolution and change known as the Industrial Revolution (Richard Fitzgerald, “The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution”, page 376). The Industrial Revolution was a period where agriculture
Ever since the Industrial Revolution (1780s), the impact of technology has been subject to public debate over its effect on employment – does it cause unemployment or does it underlie the huge increases in standards of living (Jones 1996, p.11)? While it is difficult to ascertain the relationship between technology and employment, all that can be said with any certainty is that technological advancement has the capacity to create revolutionary economic and social changes (Jones 1996, p.21). In order to provide a clear analysis of the impact of technology on employment, we need to take into account the consequences of technological transitions and seek to relate these to social, economic, political, and cultural factors occurring at the time.