Life in the Industrial Age

The New Order  The Old Ways – Kings/Nobles/Peasants Conservatives  The New Order Upper Class – Rich families controlling businesses Middle Class – Business professionals ○ Doctors, lawyers – comfortable incomes Lower Middle Class ○ Office workers, teachers, shop owners Working Class – factory workers, farm peasants ○ Working class = the largest group

Middle Class Values  Strict rules of behavior Clothing, manners – respect and luxury Strict rules for kids – “seen not heard” ○ Misbehaving children reflects poorly your family  Men “ruled” the family – worked all day Women stayed home – domesticity ○ Take care of children/housework Working class women – expected to work ○ Labor in factory, take care of house/kids

Women’s Rights  Women begin protesting these ideas Fairness in home life/marriage/property law ○ Fathers or husbands controlled property Support temperance – limiting alcohol Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Canton Smith were leaders for women’s rights ○ Liberal and socialist men sided with women ○ Still intense opposition from men Women want suffrage ○ Not until after WWI in 1920

Education  By late 1800s, governments set up public education systems for all children. Basic education: ○ Taught the Three R’s: Reading, writing, arithmetic ○ First only primary school – later secondary Smarter children = better workers, citizens Mostly upper/middle-class kids went to secondary schools ○ Girls went to school – but only to find a smart guy and “learn” to be a “better wife” Soon universities were also founded

Science Rules  Challenging long held beliefs – religion Most about the natural world – how it works  Atomic Theory – John Dalton (British) Showed that atoms combined to create substances Dmitri Mendeleyev – Periodic Table Archaeology and Geology ○ Age of the Earth – Charles Lyell ○ Fossils – Dinosaurs/Neanderthals

Darwin challenges Religion  Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution All life evolved and advanced over millions of years Uses natural selection to support his idea ○ All species compete to survive, and only those who have the best traits will survive. ○ Survival of the Fittest Applies this theory to people, igniting controversy ○ Goes against religion, outrage Religion was still a huge influence in life

Social Darwinism  Applying evolutionary theory to business/society Economic competition for resources Successful business tycoons ○ More “fit” to run society, were better ○ War brought progress, eliminating the weak  Success of the Western civilizations to industrialize led them to think they were better = Racism