Chapter 9-4 Reforming the Industrial World ▫The Philosophers of Industrialization ▫Rise of Socialism ▫Labor Unions and Reform Laws ▫The Reform Movement Spreads

I) The Philosophers of Industrialization While industrialization opened a gap between rich and poor, business leaders warned the government to stay out of economic affairs while reformers felt the government should play an active role in bettering conditions for the poor. The term laissez faire comes from the French word “let do” and refers to the economic policy of letting owners of business set working conditions without interference (AKA Hands OFF Policy). Adam Smith, a professor at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, defended the idea of a free market economy in his 1776 book “The Wealth of Nations” and claimed economic liberty guaranteed economic progress.

I) The Philosophers of Industrialization Economists Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo supported Smith’s basic ideas and believed that natural laws govern economic life. This ideas formed the foundation for Capitalism in which money is invested in business ventures with the goal of making a profit. Laissez-faire thinkers such as Smith, Malthus, and Ricardo opposed government efforts to help workers with such things as minimum wage laws or better working conditions, which they thought would upset the free market system.

II) Rise of Socialism In contrast to the laissez faire philosophy to leave business alone, others felt that the government should intervene. An English philosopher came up with philosophy of utilitarianism, that people should judge ideas, institutions and actions on the basis of their utility or usefulness. John Stuart Mills led the utilitarian movement in the 1800’s, calling into question unregulated capitalism.

II) Rise of Socialism Other reformers took an even more active approach, like Robert Owen who founded a cooperative community in New Harmony, Indiana in 1825 in which people would live in perfect harmony or utopia. Still other reformers sought to offset the effects of capitalism with a new kind of economic system called socialism, where the factors of production are controlled by the public for the welfare of all. Socialists argued that the government should actively plan the economy, which would help the workers who were at the mercy of greedy employers.

II) Rise of Socialism The writings of a German journalist named Karl Marx introduced the world to a radical type of socialism called Marxism. Marx and Fredrich Engels outlined their ideas in a 23 page pamphlet called the Communist Manifesto where they argued that human societies had been divided into warring classes, the middle class “haves” (bourgeoisie) and the working class “have nots” (proletariat) They predicted the workers would overthrow the owners because they have nothing to lose except their “chains”.

II) Rise of Socialism Marx believed that the capitalist system would eventually destroy itself, when the large proletariat revolts and seizes the factories and mills. Eventually there would be a period of cooperative living and education where workers would share the profits called communism, where private property would cease to exist and all goods and services would be shared equally. While Marxism did inspire communist revolutionaries such as Lenin, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Min, and Fidel Castro, many of the predictions have since proved wrong because of new types of reforms.

III) Unionization and Legislative Reform Faced with long hours and dangerous working conditions, working people became more active in politics by putting together associations called unions. Unions engaged in collective bargaining, where they spoke for all the workings in a particular trade and negotiated with their employers. If factory owners refused their demands they could strike, or refuse to work.

III) Unionization and Legislative Reform The union movement underwent slow, painful growth in both the United states and Britain, where for years the government denied workers the right to form unions. New reform laws corrected some of the worst abuses of industrialization, for example Parliament passed the factory Act of 1833 which outlawed child labor for those under 10 years old and restricted the hours for older children. The Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited the workday for both children and women.

IV) Other Reform Movements The same impulse toward reform spread beyond industrialism, helping to end slavery and promote rights for women. William Wilberforce led the fight for abolition in Britain, which finally abolished slavery in the empire in 1833 for both moral and economic reasons. The movement to end slavery took longer in the new world, America did not abolish it until after the Civil War in 1865, and not until 1888 did Brazil’s huge enslaved population win freedom.

IV) Other Reform Movements The Industrial revolution was a mixed bag for women; on one hand factory worked offered higher wages than work done at home, but women factory workers only made one-third the amount of men. The Women’s rights movement began in the United States as early as 1848, and women around the world formed an International Council for Women in Public education and prison reform ranked high on the reformers lists, and by 1850 many states in America and nations of western Europe offered free public schooling, and reformers took on the challenge of emphasizing the goal of restoring prisoners to useful lives rather than just punishment.