Political Ideologies of the Industrial Revolution

What is an ideology???? It is an organized collection of thought or a comprehensive vision as a way of looking at things. It is an ideal way of life for society. It’s main purpose is to offer change to whatever is happening socially.

The Age of the “isms” Social Darwinism Romanticism Conservatism Communism Socialism Liberalism Industrial Revolution

Romanticism ( )  1815 Began to dominate  Believed in the celebration of individual freedom.  The age of “passion” and “emotion”  Imagination is superior to reason.  Meaning and purpose of life found in spirituality and nature.  Belief in the supernatural  Promoted the arts: poetry, music and novels.

Important Romantics: Victor Hugo ( )  French poet and novelist.  Champion of human rights  Famous for writing Les Miserable's and The Hunchback of Notre Dame  Writings criticize the social injustices of Industrial Revolution (i.e., poverty, human suffering, ostracism, alienation of poor, working class.)

Mary Shelley ( ) Wrote classic novel Frankenstein. Novel is a jab at the industrial revolution, capitalism and societies’ dependence on science and technology Frankenstein’s character mirrored societies’ disregard for human dignity in the pursuit of science, money and power. Giving a warning about the consequences of science when there is a lack of social responsibility.

Romantics Cont. Lord Byron ( ) Famous Poet National Hero-fought for Greek independence from Turks. Like, Shelly uncertain of mankind’s knowledge and obsession with capitalism Frederic Chopin ( ) Represented the idea of artistic freedom. Important composer and pianist. Music about exotic places and revolution. Note: read text book on other Romantics (George Sand, Hector Berlioz and Eugene Delacroix)

Women’s Issues Revolution in part fueled by economic necessity of many single and married women. Women found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, work shops and even coal mines. Some women found better standard of living. However, most worked in extremely poor working conditions. Very poor wages. Women treated unfairly and were not considered equal to men on any level.

Liberalism Dominant political theory in the 19 the century. Strong belief in individual liberty, private property and freedom from government interference. Favor parliamentary government. People can pursue their own self-interest. Society is a collection of individuals. The right to vote should be limited to property owners and those who could read during Industrial Revolution. Strong supporter of Capitalism.

Mary Wollstonecraft ( ) The mother of Mary Shelley Often referred to as “The Mother of Feminism” Famous Book: Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) Called for the equality of the sexes. Spoke out against the injustices and unequal treatment of women in society and the stereotypes of the day. Believed education was the key to gaining self-respect and a new image. Wanted women to be equal under the law as well.

John Stuart Mill ( ) Famous Book: On Liberty (1859) Most influential philosopher on liberal democracy in 19 th Century. Strongly promoted individual rights and freedoms. Believed liberalism could lead to human happiness. Promoted the use of economic theory in political decision making. Capitalism allowed people to pursue their own interests. Supported the “Principle of Utility”. Called for women being allowed to vote.

Jeremy Bentham ( ) Godfather of John Stuart Mill. Founder of the “Principle of Utility” or Utilitarianism, which is the: “Greatest happiness for the greatest number of people”. All humans want to maximize happiness. A law is good if it promotes happiness, bad if it decreases it.

Adam Smith ( ) The “Father of Capitalism” Famous Book: The Wealth of Nations (1776). Liberals during Industrial Revolution, used his writings in support of capitalism to support their views of freedom, liberty and economics. Called for laissez-faire” or “let alone” economics. No interference from the government. Market can decide on its’ own. Invisible Hand theory: those who seek wealth by pursuing their own interests are inadvertently helping the community and the poor.

Liberalism’s View Towards Industrial Revolution Government should allow capitalism and its free market economy so people can pursue their own interests and individual happiness. Support industrialism and technological change. All lead to liberty and freedom. Oppose Socialism and Communism

Conservatism Modern conservatism emerged in the late 18 th Century Society is hierarchical and therefore could never be equal. Believe in maintaining status quo’ Change should not be drastic, but evolve over time. Tradition should be preserved as they help to maintain social order. Less optimistic about human nature than liberalism

Edmund Burke ( ) Father of Conservatism Famous Book: Reflections of the Revolution of France (1790). Book criticized the French Revolution Revolution not democratic but chaotic, violent and murderous. Saw revolutionaries as radical and disrespectful of tradition institutions, such as Church and state and ignored their own constitution. Foresaw the implications of the revolution (i.e., execution of Louis XVI, Reign of Terror and Napoleon’s regime.)

Conservative View Towards Industrial Revolution: Saw freedom as the right to own property. Government should not limit this freedom. Those who owned property should be given the right to vote. Supported capitalism and industry. Belief in rewards based on merit. Oppose Socialism and Communism

The Birth of Communism By 1851, 50% of people in England were living in cities leading to bad living conditions such as: open sewers and pollution. sewage in drinking water (cholera outbreaks) unsanitary streets over crowding houses were built near factories- led to slums family members were living in one room apartments. child labor millions of poor working class people working long hours.

Karl Marx ( ) Father of Communism Saw Industrial Revolution and it’s emphasis on capitalism as evil. There are two classes of society: 1) Bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production or capital) and 2) proletariats (those who sold their labor for wages or working class poor). Bourgeoisies exploiting the proletariats. Capitalists becoming rich at the expense of the poor.

Written in 1848, became one of the most influential political pieces of writing of all time. Is the foundation of Communist ideology. Calls for the transformation from capitalist mode of production system through violent revolution to a dictatorship of the proletariat i.e., (Proletariat uprising against Bourgeoisie). Seeks to make society classless, stateless and with social organization.

Communist Views Towards Industrial Revolution: Capitalism is unjust and promotes inequality and alienation of working class. Elimination of private property is the best way to achieve freedom. Common ownership of the means of production. All should share in the wealth. Group decides what is produced based on what is needed by all. Society should be classless and stateless

Socialism Like Communism, wealth should be controlled by the people. Abolition of money, markets, capital and labor. Nationalization of the means of production. Call for equality of the working class.

New Harmony Robert Owen ( ) Welch born social reformer, who reacted to the excess poverty of the Industrial Revolution. Thought distress of workers and poor was because of competition of human labor with machines. To solve this problem, get rid of machines and people unite together. Poverty could be eliminated by creating smaller co- operative communities like New Harmony in Indiana (1825)

The Fabian Society British Socialist movement. Unlike Communism, believed that they could persuade people to adopt cause through intellectual argument and not revolution. Called for democratic socialism, wanted to educate those with political power and in government to lead reforms for change for the working class. Members wrote essays Change would come gradually overtime and did not need a violent revolution like Marx called for.

Other Socialists: Bernard Shaw ( ) Irish playwright Joined Fabian Society in Wrote essays for them and pamphlets for group. Argued for the needs of working class poor. Helped to form the British Labor Party (1906). Believed that no one could be allowed to be poor under socialism. You were fed, clothed, housed, employed whether you liked it or not!!!! Note: read your textbook on other socialists such as: Eduard Bernstein and Rosa Luxembourg

Socialist Views Towards Industrial Revolution Did not need violence to achieve social justice. Elimination of private property, competition, capitalism, and machinery. Only socialism could support true freedom. Collective ownership. Democratic socialism is best.

Social Darwinism Not to be confused with the socialism. Controversial, often criticized for being racist. Ruthless and ignorant way of seeing human existence. Applied Darwin’s theory of biology and evolution into the political and social realm. Emphasized competition between species/races rather than competition. “White man’s burden” or duty to colonize and civilize the “savages” or other nations. Charles Darwin ( ) The Origin of Species

Socialist Darwinist View Towards Industrial Revolution Governments should implement policies to ensure the advancement of technology. White race or Europeans should control the technology to ensure domination over the other races and countries (who they believed were inferior). European countries should seek to expand their markets globally to ensure dominance. They believed it was their DUTY as human beings.