new economic theories assignment
Every great city has one or more slums, where the working-class is crowded together. . . . The streets are generally unpaved, rough, dirty, filled with vegetable and animal refuse [trash], without sewers or gutters, but supplied with foul, stagnant pools instead. . . .The modern art of manufacture has reached its perfection [highest level] in Manchester [in England]. . . . The degradation [disrespect] to which the application of steam-power, machinery and the division of labor reduce the working-man, and the attempts of the proletariat to rise above this abasement [low condition], must likewise be carried to the highest point and with the fullest consciousness. Background information: Friedrich Engels was a German socialist whose family was wealthy cotton manufacturers. When he was twenty-two, he was sent to work at the family factory in Manchester, England. This excerpt is from his book, The Condition of the Working Class in England, which was published in 1844. Which of these lines from the text provides a clue that Engels is a socialist and therefore opposed to capitalism? "Every great city has one or more slums" "The streets are generally unpaved" "The modern art of manufacture has reached its perfection" "the attempts of the proletariat to rise above this abasement"
"the attempts of the proletariat to rise above this abasement"
Every great city has one or more slums, where the working-class is crowded together. . . . The streets are generally unpaved, rough, dirty, filled with vegetable and animal refuse [trash], without sewers or gutters, but supplied with foul, stagnant pools instead. . . .The modern art of manufacture has reached its perfection [highest level] in Manchester [in England]. . . . The degradation [disrespect] to which the application of steam-power, machinery and the division of labor reduce the working-man, and the attempts of the proletariat to rise above this abasement [low condition], must likewise be carried to the highest point and with the fullest consciousness. Background information: Friedrich Engels was a German socialist whose family was wealthy cotton manufacturers. When he was twenty-two, he was sent to work at the family factory in Manchester, England. This excerpt is from his book,The Condition of the Working Class in England, which was published in 1844. What is the main idea of this passage? Industrialization has created poor working and living conditions for the people. Mass production has created perfection in Manchester. Steam-power machinery has led to the degradation of the environment. The working classes of Manchester have developed most freely and perfectly.
Industrialization has created poor working and living conditions for the people.
Background information: This passage, about self-interest, is from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which was published in 1776. Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society which he has in view. But the study of his own advantage naturally leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to the society. According to the passage, how do people pursuing their own self-interests benefit society? People will naturally take jobs where they can reform society. The highest-paying jobs are also those that benefit the society the most. People pursuing capital will always start new businesses. Only good workers will find employment.
The highest-paying jobs are also those that benefit the society the most.
Explain in a few sentences whether this document could be used to support Engels's claims about the working class in England. Document: A diary entry from 1844, written by a worker living in Manchester. It describes crowded and filthy conditions in that city.
student answer: This document could be used to support Engel's claims because its a direct account of a worker. This is more accurate because there would be no reason to over exaggerate one's conditions. It's also from someone who worked multiple hours everyday who would endure all forms of treatment where Engel could have came in during a time where workers were being degraded. teacher/sample answer: Yes, this diary entry could be used to support Engels's claims. The time, place, and descriptions in the diary match Engels's descriptions of the working class in Manchester.
Explain in a few sentences why a historian might not think that Engels's description reflects a completely accurate picture of what life was like in England during 1844.
student answer: Engels was a supporter of communism and Karl Marx's ideas who wanted to exhibit the working classes poor living and working conditions. As a communist, he wanted the workers to revolt against upper classes and hoped this would inspire them. This explains the possibility that Engels could have exaggerated the conditions of the workers in efforts for a spread of communism. teacher/sample answer: Engels was a communist who wanted to inspire workers to revolt against the upper classes. Therefore, he might have written descriptions of workers' lives that made them seem worse than they actually were.
Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society which he has in view. But the study of his own advantage naturally leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to the society. Background information: Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776. In this passage, he discusses the principle of self-interest in a capitalist system. According to Smith, what is the primary economic motivation for most people? to find employment where they can improve society to find employment where they can make the most money to find a line of work where they can own their own business to find work only out of necessity
to find employment where they can make the most money
