SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

DO NOW: 2/7/13 How has life changed since the 1750s? What will life be like for the farmers/peasants who move to the cities?

NEW LIFE IN THE BRITISH CITIES New cities = poverty & harsh living conditions Move from farms to cities was too quick – cities were not built to sustain Working people – suffered dangerous working conditions Unsafe, unsanitary & overcrowded housing Urbanization

NEW SOCIAL CLASSES EMERGE IR created new middle class & new working class Middle Class: aka Bourgeoisie Owned & operated new factories, mines & railroads Comfortable lifestyle  $$$ Working Class: Previous farm families Workers in mines & factories Tough working conditions & poor housing options Tenements

LIFE IN TENEMENTS No running water – common pump No sewage or sanitation system Waste & garbage rotted in streets Dumped into rivers = STENCH & CONTAMINATION Spread of disease

WORKERS PROTEST Labor unions (worker’s organizations) = ILLEGAL Secret unions existed Wanted reforms Increase in pay But had no political power SOMETIMES – led to violence First industrial riots – Luddites Textile workers resisted machines replacing their jobs Smashed machines, burned buildings  wore night Wide spread support for Luddites

LIFE IN FACTORIES Rigid schedule set by factory whistle Long hours  hours Could only take breaks when allowed by owners Suffered from accidents  exhaustion No safety devices Loss of fingers, limbs & even lives Textile mills – breathed air filled with lint  damaged lungs Sick or injured? LOST THEIR JOBS Early factory workers were women not men – half $$ Double burden 14 hour shifts & came home to chores

LIFE IN MINES IR increased demand for IRON & COAL Miners were paid more Conditions were worse than factories Worked in darkness & coal dust destroyed their lungs DANGER – explosions, flooding & collapsing tunnels Women & children carted heavy loads of coal & navigated tunnels on all fours

CHILDREN’S DANGEROUS JOBS Started working 7 or 8 (sometimes younger!) Small hands & quick moving Changed spools in the hot & humid textile mills Could not see – dust Crawled under machinery to repair broken threads WORSE for children in mines Worked all day in the dark Child labor reforms “factory acts” passed in early 1800s Reduce work day to 12 hours & remove young children from cotton mills Laws NOT enforced  inspectors hired in 1830s & 40s Eventually required children to be educated

RESULTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION Debate – was the IR a blessing or a curse? Brought terrible hardships Took time to improve conditions Labor unions won rights to bargain with employers Eventually working class men gained suffrage Positive demand for goods created more jobs Wages increased - $$ left over for entertainment Opportunities increased

Social Reforms

EXIT TICKET How did the factories & mines change the way people lived and worked in the 1800s?