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The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
Economic and social changes brought about by the industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
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The Industrial Revolution, without doubt, had numerous benefits, among them cheaper products, new products, and a superior assortment of jobs. However, hidden in this prosperous age are countless negative consequences. Behind the closed doors in gleaming factories, conditions were almost unbearable. Although many view the Industrial Revolution as a glorious awakening in science and engineering, these advancements wreaked havoc among a substantial majority of the population. Ultimately, the negatives of the Industrial Revolution, including rampant disease/physical deformation, poor working/living conditions, and child labor, triumphed over the positive aspects. During the Industrial Revolution, the world saw a new age of medicine as scientists
For example, Elizabeth Bentley, a former factory employee, testified saying that the cause of her deformities was due to her strenuous factory work as a child, in which she was required to “stop the frames, and take the bobbins off, and carry them to the roller, and then put empty ones on, and set the frame going again” (Document 7). Not only was this work repetitive and mundane, but it was also exceedingly dangerous, as Bentley also states that “there are so many frames, and they run so quick…” (Document 7). Furthermore, Bentley believes that her physical deformation was caused by this work, specifically by stopping the spindle. The Industrial Revolution may have been favorable for the few, but for countless people it was a period of pain and suffering, especially with the rampant disease, due in part to the horrible living conditions. During the Industrial Revolution masses of people moved to the large cities in search of work in the many factories and industries. However, even the largest cities could not support the multitude of people congregating in them. In effect, living conditions worsened. People often lived with their entire families in small apartments called tenements. As shown in a
Children had no choice but to face the harshness of being part of the work force as they needed to support their families. By and large, children did work equal to that of adults, but the work was much more dangerous to the incompetent children. For example, Mary Paul, a 16-year old textile factory worker writes “I am at work in a spinning room tending four sides of a warp which is one girl’s job” (Document 1). In addition, the vast majority of factories employed children in dangerous positions such as this, creating a hazardous environment. As well as this, the complex machines were often difficult for the children to operate due to their small size, yet they were still expected to do work equal to that of an adult. In fact, children were also severely injured because of their harsh working conditions, for example, Elizabeth Bentley, a former factory employee, testified before the court saying “Yes, it is very common indeed [to have crooked knees]” (Document 7). Children like Elizabeth Bentley were perfectly healthy before commencing work in factories, but were left crippled. In fact, business owners even favored employing children as they could pay them even less than women. As a result, children, to business owners, were the perfect employees, they were cheap, less resilient, and small enough to complete complicated tasks in small spaces. Additionally, Children often had to perform dangerous
For the first time in history children were an important factor of the economic system, but at a terrible price. The master of the factories employed children for two reasons. One, because of their small body which can get inside the machines to clean it and use their nimble fingers. Second, the masters use to pay low wages to the children who could be easily manipulated. The average age for the parents to send their children to work was ten. Although, Conventional wisdom dictates that the age at which children started work was connected to the poverty of the family. Griffith presents two autobiographies to put across her point. Autobiography of Edward Davis who lacked even the basic necessities of life because of his father’s heavy drinking habit and was forced to join work at a small age of six, whereas the memoir of Richard Boswell tells the opposite. He was raised up in an affluent family who studied in a boarding school. He was taken out of school at the age of thirteen to become a draper’s apprentice. The author goes further and places child employees into three groups, according to the kind of jobs that were available in their neighbourhood. First group composed of children living in rural areas with no domestic industry to work in. Therefore, the average of a child to work in rural area was ten. Before that, farmers use to assign small jobs to the children such as scaring birds, keeping sheep
Often, children were forced to work due to money-related issues, and the conditions they worked in were terrible. Children worked in coal mining, such as at Woodward Coal Mining in Kingston, Pennsylvania (Doc. 7). Children were used to make the process of producing products cheaper, and they were paid low wages; the capitalists hired children just to keep the process of making products going and to make profit. One cause of child labor in harsh conditions was the unfateful fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City in 1911. Teenaged immigrant girls that were employed there worked under sweatshop-like conditions. The building they worked in was inadequately equipped in case of a fire, for the doors were locked, leaving no exit for the girls, and the single fire escape collapsed with the rescue effort; as a result, when the fire started, they were unable to escape. 145 workers were killed, but the company owners were not penalized harshly for this tragedy. This further demonstrates that capitalists were able to get away with the harsh conditions that they put their laborers, especially child laborers, through for their own benefit, which is making more money and using any means to get it, even if those means are low wages and harsh working
The industrial revolution had mainly negative effects. The industrial revolution was a time in world history that has technically never ended. It is the time when society started to mass produce goods in order to provide enough goods for the booming population. People started to move from villages to cities where factories were looking for workers. New medical advances were made and people began to live longer. While some might argue that industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of the increased amount of new and cheaper products, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s negative effects were the dangerous and sometimes lethal work areas, poor living conditions and cramped housing,
Children as young as young as five or seven years old worked in dangerous factories. Many times if the children fell asleep while on the job, they would slip and get stuck in the machines, resulting in death. Child labor in the late 1800’s was very unsafe and put the lives of young children in danger. The children worked in very dangerous conditions, most of the time it was factories. The conditions were very poor, the factories were dirty and unsafe for children. The children would work for up to sixteen hours with little to no pay.
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 in America began to develop in the mid-eighteen hundreds after the Civil War. Prior to this industrial growth the work force was mainly based in agriculture, especially in the South (“Industrial Revolution”). The advancement in machinery and manufacturing on a large scale changed the structure of the work force. Families began to leave the farm and relocate to larger settings to work in the ever-growing industries. One area that saw a major change in the work force was textile manufacturing. Towns in the early nineteen hundreds were established around mills, and workers were subjected to strenuous working conditions. It would take decades before these issues were addressed. Until then, people worked and struggled for a life for themselves and their families. While conditions were harsh in the textile industry, it was the sense of community that sustained life in the mill villages.
Many businesses and factories hired children because they were easier to exploit; they could be paid less for more work in dangerous conditions. Plus, their small size made many children idea for working with small parts or fitting into small spaces. Children as young as four could be found working in factories, though most were between eight and twelve. Despite the economic gains made by the business that employed them, many children suffered in the workplace. The industrial setting caused many health problems for the children that, if they lived long enough, they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. Children were also more likely to face accidents in the workplace, often caused by fatigue, and many were seriously injured or killed. Despite efforts by reformers to regulate child labor, it wasn’t until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that children under 14 were prohibited from
Young girls were not allowed to open the windows and had to breathe in the dust, deal with the nerve-racking noises of the machines all day, and were expected to continue work even if they 're suffering from a violent headache or toothache (Doc 2). The author of this report is in favor of employing young women since he claimed they seemed happy and they loved their machines so they polished them and tied ribbons on them, but he didn 't consider that they were implemented to make their awful situations more bearable. A woman who worked in both factory and field also stated she preferred working in the field rather than the factory because it was hard work but it never hurt her health (Doc 1), showing how dangerous it was to work in a factory with poor living conditions. Poor living conditions were common for nearly all workers, and similar to what the journalist saw, may have been overlooked due to everyone seeming
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
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)
Sadly, the children had no choice but to work for very little pay. Their mothers and fathers made so little money in the factory system that they couldn’t afford to let their children enjoy their childhood: “Other working children were indentured—their parents sold their labor to the mill owner for a period of years. Others lived with their families and worked for wages as adults did, for long hours and under hard conditions” (Cleland). The child had no other choice, but to work for these big businesses.
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.
The Industrial Revolutions, spurred by technological innovation and the discoveries of new materials, created new industries. One of the first to be mechanized is the textile industry. From James Hargreaves’ creation of the spinning jenny, workers, mainly women, were able to mass produce goods from home. Thus, the cottage industry was born. However, with the development of Richard Arkwright’s water frame, John Kay’s flying shuttle, and Edmund Cartwright’s power loom, factories soon replaced the domestic system and the women who lost their jobs now moved to the factories. Nevertheless, the factories were very successful due to high demand and cheap cotton sources in the Americas and in India. Ironically, American cotton was the product of slavery, which the British had banned in 1838.
Industrial Revolution, which took place over much of the nineteenth century, had many advantages. It provided people with tools for a better life; people were no longer dependent on the land for all of their goods. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for people to control nature more than they ever had before. However, now people were dependent on the new machines of the Industrial Age (1). The Revolution brought with it radical changes in the textile and engine worlds; it was a time of reason and innovations. Although it was a time of progress, there were drawbacks to the headway made in the Industrial Revolution. Granted, it provided solutions to the problems of a world without industry. However, it also created problems with its mechanized inventions that provided new ways of killing. Ironically, there was much public faith in these innovations; however, these were the same inventions that killed so many and contributed to a massive loss of faith. These new inventions made their debut in the first world war (2) ).
...hildren becoming deformed. Stand for hours on end as caused the still growing legs, and spine to grow crooked causing lifelong pain. Working in the mills also led to missing fingers and limbs that could be caught in the constantly moving machines.