1. Aim: Examine growing tensions between the middle and working classes

2. Class Tensions Grow
Though poverty gripped Britain's working classes, most of new money belonged to factory owners, shippers, & merchants
These people became part of the middle class
Social class mad of skilled workers, professionals, businesspeople, & wealthy farmers 2

3. The Middle Class
Middle Class transformed the social structure of Britain’s society
Some factory owners, merchants, & bankers grew wealthier than landowners & aristocrats
Distinctions between 2 wealthy classes
Landowners looked down on those who made their fortunes
Middle Class not considered socially equal to wealthy until the late 1800’s
Gradually, upper middle class consisted of government employees, lawyers, doctors, & factory managers 3

4. The Working Class
: Laborers saw little improvement in their living & working conditions
Watched, their livelihoods disappear as machines replaced them
Out of frustration, some smashed the machines
Middle & Upper classes prospered immediately from the Industrial Revolution
For Workers, it took longer
Lives gradually improved during the 1800’s
Laborers eventually won higher wages, shorter hours, & better working conditions as they formed together to form labor unions 4