Effects and Responses to the Industrial Revolution Progress vs. conflict

Population Growth Increased agricultural production = increased population. Lower death rates (less famine and epidemic disease-especially early in life) Overpopulation a problem Massive wage deflation Europe--140 million in 1750; 187 million in 1800. Congested cities

Great Hunger Ireland--1845-1851 1 million died; 2 million emigrated to US and England Only country to have a declining pop. Caused by…?

The British government has been accused of using the famine as a form of genocide. In the very least, it purposely slowed its process of assisting famine victims--a case of neglect. Emerging “Social Darwinism”

The Industrial Working Class New patterns of work Order Discipline Schedule Much different than previous work--family, natural rhythm

Working Class Living Conditions Miserable living conditions Working class live in squalid tenement houses -- Five to a bed 1 toilet for 10 families Open sewers Coal smoke filled skies Stench of rotting garbage and sewers Food fraud Toxic chemicals used in production Watered down Lead pepper?

Working Conditions 12-16 hour days Six days a week No minimum wage Cotton mills: unbearably hot Dirty Dusty

Average weight of males in factories Average weight of males not in factories Average weight of females in factories Average weight of females not in factories 9 51.76 53.26 51.13 52.40 10 57.00 60.28 54.80 54.44 11 61.84 58.36 59.69 61.13 12 65.97 67.25 66.08 66.07 13 72.11 75.36 73.25 72.72 14 77.09 78.68 83.41 83.43 15 88.35 88.83 87.86 93.61

Coal mines Dangers of--cave-ins, gas fumes, explosions. Cramped, dark, dusty, damp Deformities and lung disease

Pauper apprentices--especially egregious Women and children=2/3 of cotton industry’s labor. Most women did NOT work on factories—only 20% in Great Britain Domestic labor-think North and South “The oldest profession” Some reform with Factory Acts Poor Laws + Middle Class values Assumption that the poor were responsible for their conditions Punished for poverty

Emergence of Middle-class Move beyond the Dutch Netherlands Common cultural values Distinct childhood The ideal of social mobility Achieved status vs. inherited status

“My workers should be constantly harassed by need, for then he will not set his children a bad example and his poverty will be the guarantee of good behavior.“ 1830

Child Labor Children more easy broken (manipulated) Could do tasks that adults could not Cheap Abundant supply Desperate parents Children often worked 15 hours a day, six days a week

Labor Unions Emerge in spite of Combination Acts Better wages Conditions Hours Tool=strike

Robert Owen Social reformer Believed in voluntary associations that showed the benefits of cooperation instead of competition. Eight hour work day No real success at large unionization at this point (Grand National Consolidated Trades Union)

Luddites (1811-1816) Violent actions Attacked machines that put skilled craftsmen out of work Didn’t stop progress, but did show that people would resort to violence

Chartists British workers who aimed to achieve political democracy (used the language of the Enlightenment) Universal male suffrage Payment for members of Parliament No property requirement for Parliament Got 3 million signatures Did not achieve goals, but did show new consciousness of the working class

Reform Factory Acts 1802--limited child labor Sadler Commission 1832 9-16 year olds only 12 hours a day No one under 9 Some education Sadler Commission 1832 Public outcry but little immediate legislation Factory Act 1833 9-13 only 8 hours a day 13-16 12 hours Two hours of education 1842 Coal Mines Act No women at all and no boys under 10

Did the Industrial Revolution Improve the Standard of Living? Debatable (That’s why we’re having a debate!). The first generation paid the price Profits and investments “required” cheap labor (some argue) Working class gains would come later

Widening gap between rich and poor 1% of population controlled 25% of wealth in 1801. 1% of population controlled 35% in 1848. What is it in the US today? Real gains made by middle class

Middle Class Industrial middle class (bankers, factory and mine owners). Constructed factories Bought machines Found markets Had: initiative, vision, resourcefulness, ambition--entrepreneurs

Lived in suburbs (away from the working class). Amassed great wealth Gained political power along side the old aristocracy