Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Chapter 1

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the origins of the Industrial Revolution

• Understand the unsafe, oppressive working conditions in mines and mills

• Understand the role of women and children as laborers

Chapter 1 Vocabulary

• Loom (n): a machine used to weave threads into cloth

• Industrial Revolution (n): a period of history during which the use of machines to produce goods changed society and the economy

• Industrialization (n): a shift to the widespread use of machines and factories to produce goods

• Poorhouse (n): a place where poor people were sent to live if they were unable to pay their bills

Chapter 11 Vocabulary

• Union (n): an organization formed by workers to win and protect workers' rights

• Economy (n): the way a country manages its money and resources to produce, buy, and sell goods and services

• Free Market (n): an economic system based on competition between private businesses, where the government does not control prices

The World Transformed

• Some of the most important changes in all human history began in Great Britain in the 1700s and early 1800s

• Steam-powered engines and pumps began to replace animals and human muscle power

• Steam Power - helped pump water out of coal mines

• Helped grind grain into flour

• Ran machines in factories that powered looms to weave cloth

Multiple Choice

The Industrial Revolution happening during the _____ and the ____.

• 1700s, 1800s

• 1800s, 1900s

• 1900s, 2000s

• 1500s, 1600s

Effects of Industrial Revolution

• More and more factories built in cities

• Drew workers from the countryside to the cities

• By late 1800s - Spread beyond Great Britain to Europe and to North America

• Great Britain is the major country of focus during the first Industrial Revolution

• United States is the focus of the second Industrial Revolution

Multiple Choice

Why did people move to the cities during the Industrial Revolution?

• Jobs in factories

• Jobs on the farm

• Family

• Friends

Industrial Revolution

• Brought both positive and negative changes

• Pro - Improved the overall lives of millions by making a greater variety of goods more available and more affordable

• Pro - Provided new kinds of employment opportunities

• Con - Greater inequalities of wealth; Factory owners and businessmen became very wealthy while workers remained poor

• Con - Workers, especially at the start, had a very rough time; long hours in dangerous conditions; low wages; little or no legal protection

• Con - large impact on the environment

Patience Kershaw Speaks Out

Let's read an excerpt of Patience Kershaw's testimony before the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (Pages 5-6)

- 17-year-old girl

- Lived near Manchester, England in the 1840s

- Worked in the coal mines

Child Labor During Industrial Revolution

• Thousands of children (many younger than a 6th grader) worked in mines and factories

• Some were orphans - Children would be loaned out and the orphanages would bring in a profit

• Others worked because their parents needed every penny of income to take care of their large families, especially if they could not find work themselves

Reasons Child Labor was Preferred

• Could work in small, cramped quarters

• Could and would be beaten if they disobeyed

• Did dangerous tasks that adults would refuse to do

• Easily replaced

Child Labor

• Families that could not pay rent or other bills were sent to the poorhouse

• Had no choice but to send their children to work

• If the father lost his job, was injured, or died, the mother and her children were desperate

Multiple Choice

Why did early factories hire children?

• They could be paid less than adults

• They were easy to replace

• They did dangerous work that adults would refuse to do

• All are correct

Changes for Everyone

• Reformers (people who wanted to change things for the better during this time) passed laws to protect women and children from harsh and unsafe working conditions

• Inspectors traveled to factories and mines

• Small children were required to attend school at least 2 hours/day

• When these were enforced, helped

• These reforms did not help working men

Changes

• Becoming ill = no work

• Could get fired at any time

• Horrible poverty and suffering could befall whole towns and country areas if prices fell

• Workers kept working because of the promise of a better life

• Many looked towards America - land of opportunity "streets paved with gold," etc.; many people left for America

Changes

• Many wanted to stay in Great Britain and Europe to make sweeping reforms

• Some even wanted a revolution that would free them from an economic system that seemed merciless

• Reformers would form unions and refuse to work in bad conditions

• Led to many people being arrested and sent to jail. They would often never work again

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was NOT associated with early factory working conditions?

• Low wages
• Safe working conditions
• Dangerous working conditions
• Widespread pollution

Industrialists

• Many factory and mine owners were unhappy, too

• Believed that many of the laws introduced to protect workers were unfair and that working conditions weren't really that bad

• Argued that the government had no right to interfere in the free exchange of goods and labor

• Argued that while the pay might be low, and the work occasionally dangerous, no one was forcing people to do the work

Industrialists

• Believed the economy would balance (take care of itself naturally) if left alone

• No one would supply or produce more goods than could be sold at a fair price; No one would want goods that were too expensive

• Believed that if the government interfered too much, it would upset this balance

• For example, if the government stepped in and protected workers' safety, it would cost the factory money, which would impact the employer's profits, which would then increase the price of the goods being produced and the wages the workers earned