The Social Impact of the industrial revolution
What did British lawmakers do to ensure that factories and mines obeyed the "factory act" laws in the 1830s and 1840s?
British lawmakers formed teams of inspectors to ensure that factories and mines obeyed the laws in the 1830s and 1840s. More laws were then passed to shorten the workday for women and require that child workers be educated.
What did the "factory acts" attempt to do?
Child labor reform laws called "factory acts" were passed in the early 1800s. These laws were passed to reduce a child's workday to twelve hours and also to remove children under the age of eight or nine from the cotton mills.
List three reasons why factory owners hired women more than men?
Employers often preferred to hire women workers because they thought women could adapt more easily to machines because of their small fingers, women were paid half of what men were paid, and they were easier to manage and didn't cause fights.
Who was John Wesley, what did he stress and what did he encourage?
John Wesley had founded the Methodist movement in the mid-1700s. Wesley stressed the need for a personal sense of faith. He encouraged his followers to improve themselves by adopting sober, moral ways.
Urbanization
Movement of people from rural areas to cities
Explain how and why some workers resorted to violence
Sometimes their frustration because of their lack of political power led to violence. The first instances of industrial riots occurred in England from 1811 to 1813. Groups of textile workers known as the Luddites resisted the labor-saving machines that were costing them their jobs. Some of them smashed textile machines with sledgehammers and burned factories. They usually wore masks and operated at night. There was widespread support for these Luddite groups among the working class.
labor union
An organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members
Describe the positive effects of the Industrial Revolution.
As the demand for mass-produced goods grew, new factories opened, which in turn created more jobs. Wages rose so that workers had enough left after paying rent and buying food to buy a newspaper or visit a music hall. As the cost of railroad travel fell, people could visit family in other towns. Horizons widened and opportunities increased.
How old were children when they started to work in factories and mines?
Children often started working at age seven or eight, a few as young as five.
Eventually, what rights did labor unions win?
Labor unions won the right to bargain with employers for better wages, hours, and working conditions. Eventually, working-class men gained the right to vote, which gave them political power.
Why were labor unions "secret" during the early years of the Industrial Revolution?
They were illegal.
What were the children of the working class doing?
They were working in factories
Why couldn't labor unions affect reform of the workers' situation?
They wished to initiate worker reforms such as increases in pay but had no political power to effect change.
Compare the new middle class of the Industrial Revolution with that of the working class.
Those in the middle class owned and operated the new factories, mines, and railroads, among other industries. Their lifestyle was much more comfortable than that of the industrial working class. When farm families moved to the new industrial cities, they became workers in mines or factories. Many felt lost and bewildered. They faced tough working conditions in uncomfortable environments.
Who benefited the most from the Industrial Revolution?
Those who benefited most from the Industrial Revolution were the entrepreneurs who set it in motion. The Industrial Revolution created this new middle class, or bourgeoisie, whose members came from a variety of backgrounds.
What was at the heart of the new industrial city?
factories
Tenement
multistory building divided into crowded apartments
List some negative physical dangers of working in mines.
working conditions in the mines were even worse than in the factories. They worked in darkness, and the coal dust destroyed their lungs. There were always the dangers of explosions, flooding, and collapsing tunnels. Women and children carted heavy loads of coal, sometimes on all fours in low passages. They also climbed ladders carrying heavy baskets of coal several times a day.
What did the growth of industry and rapid population growth dramatically change?
This growth of industry and rapid population growth dramatically changed the location and distribution of two resources, labor and people.
In time, what can be accurately said about all levels in society as a result of industrialization?
In time, reforms would curb many of the worst abuses of the early industrial age in Europe and the Americas. As standards of living increased, people at all levels of society would benefit from industrialization. Until then, working people would suffer from dangerous working conditions; unsafe, unsanitary, and overcrowded housing; and unrelenting poverty.
In what religion did working-class people find comfort?
Many working-class people found comfort in a religious movement called Methodism. This movement was influenced by the Industrial Revolution as people moved to cities and lost connections with their old churches.
What effect did Methodists have on workers?
Methodist meetings featured hymns and sermons promising forgiveness of sin and a better life to come. Methodist preachers took this message of salvation into the slums. There, they tried to rekindle hope among the working poor. They set up Sunday schools where followers not only studied the Bible but also learned to read and write. Methodists helped channel workers' anger away from revolution and toward reform.
Describe how middle-class families lived during the Industrial Revolution.
Middle-class families lived in well-furnished, spacious homes on paved streets and had a ready supply of water. They wore fancy clothing and ate well. The new middle class took pride in their hard work and their determination to "get ahead." Only a few had sympathy for the poor.
Describe the negative effects of industrialization on the market town of Manchester during the 1700s.
The British market town of Manchester numbered 17,000 people in the 1750s. Within a few years, it exploded into a center of the textile industry. Its population soared to 40,000 by 1780 and 70,000 by 1801. Visitors described the "cloud of coal vapor" that polluted the air, the pounding noise of steam engines, and the filthy stench of its river.
Contrast the difference between the entrepreneurs and the millions of workers during the early years of the industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution brought great riches to most of the entrepreneurs who helped set it in motion. For the millions of workers who crowded into the new factories, however, the industrial age brought poverty and harsh living conditions.
Describe how the poor lived during the early years of the Industrial Revolution.
While the wealthy and the middle class lived in pleasant neighborhoods, vast numbers of poor struggled to survive in foul-smelling slums. They packed into tiny rooms in tenements, which had no running water, only community pumps. There was no sewage or sanitation system, so wastes and garbage rotted in the streets. Sewage was also dumped into rivers, which created an overwhelming stench and contaminated drinking water, which led to cholera.
Contrast how the women of the middle class and the women of the wealthy looked after their children.
Women of the middle class did not leave the home to work but instead focused their energy on raising their children. This contrasted with the wealthy, who had maidservants to look after their children, and the working class, whose children were a part of the workforce.
How long were the working hours in the early factories of the Industrial Revolution?
Working hours were long, with shifts lasting from 12 to 16 hours, six or seven days a week. Workers could only take breaks when the factory owners gave permission.