The Industrial Revolution and the Birth of Modern Europe Unit 2 “Man no longer treated men as men, but as a commodity which could be bought and sold on the open market.”

Effects of Industrialization

 Shift from rural and self-employed to urban wage earners  Population explosion  1750 – 140 million to 1914 – 463 million (over 3X)  Ag. Rev. improved diets and health – people live longer, medical discoveries and sanitation reduce deaths from disease  No major wars fought by Europeans between 1815 and 1914  Industry provided goods and jobs for the growing population

Problems of Growing Cities  Cities often sprang up almost overnight and were wherever the factories and resources were located (no longer on rivers or major trade routes)

Case Study: Manchester  1750: – 1855: people  Became centre of British cotton industry when coal and iron discovered nearby  Rapid growth mean thousands of factory workers into poorly built houses with 6-10 people living in a single 8X8 room

 Little water or sanitation – sewage thrown in streets with pigs as garbage collectors  Slums became breeding grounds for disease  Not even a chartered city so could not raise taxes or pass laws to improve life  No longer able to rely on neighbors like in rural areas – destroyed sense of community

Working in a Factory  Conditions often as bad or worse than the conditions outside them  Wealth of unskilled labour = wages very low  Often whole families had to work to survive  Women and children in high demand because they could be paid less than men

 hour workdays, 6 days a week, no vacations, sick leave, or paid holidays  Conditions promoted illness or injury  Fumes from machines, poor ventilation, poor lighting, loud machines, and no safety equipment  If injured on the job there was no compensation, if it prevented you from doing the job they fired you  Worst of all – work was mindless and monotonous

The New Urban Viewpoint

Working in a Factory - Division of Labour

Working in a Factory

Textiles

Iron WorksMining

Child Labour

The End Result - WW I

South Korean Electronics Plant

Strip Mining Copper

The Shift in Employment

New Social Structure  Pre-industrial Revolution

 Post-industrial Revolution

 Upper-middle class attempted to adopt aristocratic customs and attitudes  Country estates, horse racing, sailing, etc  Most Middle Class tried to live quiet respectable lives  Industrial workers largely unskilled and very aware that they were part of the lowest class without political or economic power  Started to band together

Changing Roles for Women  Women used to help farm the land as servants or earn money through the domestic system  Went to work in the industrial revolution to support their family  Often worked with their children in the mines  Put in a hour workday and then still had to cook, clean, sew, and raise the children

 Better wages meant women could stay at home and their husband became the sole wage earners late in the Industrial Revolution  As the Middle Class grew so did demand for domestic servants  Often done by single women  1/3 of women working outside the home in late 1800s were domestic servants  Few Middle Class women worked outside the home and were encouraged to raise the children instead

Responses to the Industrial Revolution

 Many in the Middle Class had little sympathy for the workers and were only concerned with their investments and survival of their businesses  Demands for change in Britain

 Protests against conditions – sometimes even violently  workers sabotaged their machines (wooden shoes called sabo)  1819 demonstration in Manchester of workers  11 killed, 400 wounded by troops

 1831 Parliament began a series of investigations into factory and mine conditions  Liberals wanted government to stay out but conservatives sometimes attacked the conditions of workers  Everyone shocked by the conditions found – writers documented conditions (Oliver Twist, David Copperfield)

Reforms  1833 – Factory Act – limited work days for children  1842 – Mines Act – barred women and boys under 13 from working in mines  Ten Hours Act – women and boys under 18 can not work longer than 10 hours  Extended to all workers in 1874

The Rise of Labour Unions  Workers began to form associations that would eventually turn into labour unions  Governments feared labour unions because:  Shorter hours and increased wages = higher prices for goods and less profit

 Combination Acts (1799/1800) outlawed labour unions  Repealed in 1820s but still could not strike or picket  Trade unions allowed – based on craft (skilled labour) and able to bargain with employers because more valuable skill set  Struggled for the right to vote, 10-hour work day, and right to strike

 1868 – in trade unions in Britain alone  1870s – Trade unions won the right to strike and picket peacefully  Workers emboldened by success of trade unions and began to organize by industry in 1880s  1889 – London Dock Workers Union went on strike and shut down the world’s busiest port  Unions grew rapidly in W. Europe and USA

Gains for Workers  wages rose rapidly (2X in 1880s) and goods were cheaper than ever before (easier to buy)  employers gradually come to believe that happy and healthy workers meant better productivity  Better light and ventilation, safety devices  Those who did not change had laws passed to force them to improve (Britain, France, Germany especially)

 Insurance funds established for workers who were sick or injured on the job, old age pensions, unemployment insurance for those who lost their jobs because of business failure or economic slowdown  1914 – workers better off than 100 years earlier  Public Schools setup

Improving City Life  Implementation of building codes, better access to water, sewage systems installed  Parks est., police force, gas/electric lighting, electric street cars and subway systems