Name:
Due date:
Reactions to the 19th century industrialization
This is a period of transition from 1760 to around 1820 and 1840, of new manufacturing processes. People moved from hand work to using machines, utilization of the power of water, chemical industries were developed. Steam power was invented and use of machine tools, iron making also began in this era. The revolution started in Europe and with time slowly spread to Western Europe and the United States. Major technological developments were the textile industry, steam power and iron making. But for every action there is a reaction, the reaction can be both positive and negative and as we will see the industrial revolution had both supports and opposition.
The history of the change in the way of living became a heated controversial debate in the 1950s to the 1980s. The larger part of the population that was living at the bottom of the social ladder, had poor living standards. Hunger and malnutrition increased, level of food prices rose since the rich agricultural sector slowly faded as most of the people embraced the new modernization. Increase in population also lead to food constraints. There was great disparity in the employers’ splendid premises and the shanties and shucks the labourers lived in (Krueger 2003,69). In The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 Friedrich Engels, described the backstreets of Manchester and other mill towns that lived in the conditions of poor housing and sanitization make matters worse they were slums. Hygiene became an issue due to the poor sanitary conditions, diseases like cholera and typhoid spread through the region, life expectancy decreased and small children died out this.
In terms of social structure, the revolution witnessed the coming up of the middle class people especially business men and merchants. Ordinary working people found employment in the new mills and factories. But these were often under strict working conditions with long hours of labour dominated by a pace set by machines. However both pre and post revolution child labour was still carried out in the British nations. Even with the increase in population, child labour was still evident during this period. A child was paid less than an adult even though the output quantity was the same. This made them a vulnerable choice for cheap labour. Children as young as four were employed; Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurries.
Even with the coming up of more industries cases of unemployment still prevailed. This happened when machines were invented. Most of the human force was replaced by machines. For example many weavers found themselves jobless since they could no longer compete with the machines. Many such unemployed workers, weavers and others, turned their animosity towards the machines that had taken their jobs and began destroying factories and machinery. These attackers became known as Luddites. Those who were caught looting were captured convicted and in found guilty they were hanged or exiled .Agricultural sector too became violent since most part of the land was taken to expand the industries. Most of the water became polluted and was not suitable for farming.
Reaction to the industrialization revolution was not all negative. People embraced the development of better transport and roads. Steam power lead to the development of steam engines that provide transport both faster and efficiently. The invention of electricity that provided light and was used to run some of the machinery in the factories. Production of wide variety of goods provided consumers with quality goods since there was competition, business men and traders got job opportunities through the selling of goods. Goods were sold at cheaper prices since production was high and also due to the competition for trade.
It lead to the development of levels of social class that made a disparity between the poor and the rich. This lead to the discrimination of the poor by the high social classes. They were forced to pay taxes even though they could not afford their own basic needs. Monarchical governments were developed where the rich ruled over everyone else. They controlled financials of the nation and they made rules to be followed. They passed judgment to almost everything and imposed taxes on the common civilians (Marx 1983,79).
People changed and embraced urbanization began. Cities came up small towns cropped ip, some of the towns were born out of what purpose they served. There were business towns’ industrial towns mostly where manufacturing and trading took place respectively. But migration from rural areas to town areas lead to the undistributed development of regions. People tended to move into the cities searching for employment and left the rural areas undeveloped (Bilsborrow 1998, 84).
Revolution in the industry in19th century lead to many reactions by the people but it lead to the great and significant change we see today. It lead to the birth of the technology that has so much developed today which has made life more comfortable and manageable to live( Stearns 1972, 4).
Krueger, Christine L.. Encyclopedia of British writers, 19th and 20th centuries. New York: Facts On File, 2003
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Manifesto of the Communist party,. Chicago: C.H. Kerr & Co., 191.
Bilsborrow, Richard E.. Migration, urbanization, and development: new directions and issues. New York: United Nations Population Fund ;, 1998.
Stearns, Peter N.. The impact of the industrial revolution; protest and alienation.. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.
