The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution

People Move to New Industrial Cities The Industrial Revolution brought rapid urbanization, or the movement of people to cities Many new cities developed due to the creation of factories and mines Some cities such as Manchester grew from 17,000 to 40,000 The Industrial Revolution made businesses more profitable by permitting manufacturers to make more products more efficiently.

Industrialization impacts the Environment

New Social Classes Emerge The Industrial Revolution created the middle class: The new middle class lived a comfortable lifestyle. They owned and operated the new factories, and mines. They experienced a improved standard of living, as families had more varied diets and dressed in less expensive mass- produced clothing. The working class also emerged. The working class were the people worked and labored inside the mines/factories and lived hard lives in terrible living/working conditions. The lived in tenements: multistory buildings divided into tiny apartments

Tenements

Another Example

Workers Stage Futile Protest Although labor unions, or worker’s organizations, were illegal at this time, secret unions did exist among frustrated workers. These labor unions were created for three reasons 1. Factory conditions affected people’s health. 2. Unskilled laborers received low wages. 3. Machinery replaced workers.

Life in Factories and Mines Many workers worked 12 to 16 hour shifts, six to seven days a week They could only take a break when the factory or mine owners gave them permission Exhausted workers suffered from terrible work place accidents

Children in Factories & Mines During the 1800s, children often worked in factories and mines because families needed income to survive They started work as young as five years old Child reform laws did not come about until the 1800’s which reduced a child’s workday to 12 hours and also removed children under the age of 12 from the cotton mills

The Children Who Built Victorian Britain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87eVOpbcoVo