How Did The Middle Class Change From The Industrial Revolution

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.

Economic changes brought about the Industrial Revolution which directly affected the social structure and social values of most Americans.(pg. 248 Patch) This changed American life and what it means to be America. It also created a massive gap between rich and poor threatened American freedom. Consequently the revolution made the industrialist the middle class and the business man the high class was. As a result during the early Republic period the workers went through hell to earn a living but came out on top in the end.

The Industrial Revolution was a period of great change for the country of England. Products went from being produced in households and by small businesses to being mass-produced by large industries. Products became cheaper and living conditions improved, but not at first for the working class. Terrible working conditions and hard lives sums up the status of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. The working class put in long hours and hard work for little pay and horrific living conditions. They moved from the farmlands and rural areas into cities that were thriving with industry and business. Populations all over England began to shoot up and cities became increasingly crowded until whole families lived in one-room apartments. Each able bodied member of the family worked to make some sort of income in order to survive. Life was tough for the working class in England. The country struggled with understanding how to balance their newfound technologies with nature and therefore the working class became in conflict with nature and horrible living conditions, while undergoing improvements brought along by the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.

The Revolution led people away from the rural farm life to the mass production of the urban scene. Workers were needed in booming industries such as cotton, iron production, and coal mining. As a result, people flocked to the cities to meet the need. These industries were controlled by the bourgeoisie, the wealthy upper class. They wanted to take advantage of the new technology and the intense demand for new products, which translated into money. These owners sent the poor farmers straight to work, and exploited them from the start. The workers received low pay and worked long hours in extremely unfavorable, and even dangerous, conditions.[4] This continued and the bourgeoisie prospered at the expense of the oppressed proletariat. Once the Industrial Revolution started it became rather efficient.

The birth of the industrial revolution brought upon enormous economic change. With the implementation of machinery the laborers, referred to here as the Proletarians, were able to produce more goods in a shorter period of time. In a capitalist society the owners of the land, machines, and factories, known at the time as the Bourgeois, would reap all the benefits from this increase in production. Within this complex economic model the rich would get richer while the poor would continue to face a life of poverty.

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain truly effected Europe in different ways. The peasants worked long hours and lived in poor conditions. The middle class lived modest lives and sometimes were promoted to the upper class. The upper class greatly benefited with the new advancements in technology. The Industrial Revolution helped make Europe a more advanced place, even though it did have some flaws.

The Industrial Revolution was what made the middle class a recognizable group. The people in the middle class had their goals and shaped their values around them. The major goal of the middle class was to be like the higher or "old money" class. The shaped their values so that they could achieve this desired position. They strictly enforced manners and rigidity, making sure that all members always acted in the utmost respectful way. Also they tried to make their lives as controllable as possible and because children were the most unpredictable thing they believed strongly in the principle that children should be seen and not heard. The urbanization of cities also had an affect on the values of people.

To begin, the birth of the Industrial Revolution brought an enormous economic change. The working class is known as the

Growing of the middle class • A benefit of the industrial revolution is that a middle class was made • There was a growth of businesses and factories which then created many more jobs. • The growth of the middle class allowed the working class also known as the poor to have a higher social status which allowed for a higher income. • As the poorer class began to have more money they were able to buy furniture and more expensive clothing. • They were able to educate their children.

The Industrial Revolution created a unique new category of people who were dependent on their job alone for income, a job from which they might be laid off without any reason. The factory worker had no land, no home, and no source of income but his job. Working in the factory meant more self-discipline and less personal freedom for workers. The system tended to depersonalize society and reduced workers to an impersonal status. This Economy powered by machines, turned people into machines as well.