Just as it was in the 18th and 19th centuries when the industrial revolution began, today people fear that technology is destroying jobs. Prior to the industrial revolution manufacturing was often done in peoples homes, using hand tools or basic machines. Industrialization marked a shift to powered special purpose machinery, factories and mass production. Yet at this time people feared for their jobs because the machinery resulted in often-grim employment opportunities many people argue that the setting up of factories created jobs and while they did however, they tremendously cut down the availability of jobs for skilled artisans, not to mention the job conditions in the factories were unsafe, dismal, with very long hours for low wages. An example of this was in the textile industry before the mechanization and factories people would make items in their own schedules. However, in the 1700’s a series of innovations led to more productivity but requiring less human energy. Two examples of that resulted in increased innovations. Productivity and decreased manpower were the spinning jenny and the power loom. During this time there were also many new advancements in technology such as the assembly line and the telegraph and many people feared both. Today many people have the same fears of our advancements in technology. “The industrial revolution starting in Great Britain resulted in widespread panic and unemployment…”(). Many people who had previously been gainfully employed
In the workplaces were new machines like Spinning Jennies and other textile machines that would assist people such as Mary Paul in the Lowell Mill (Document 1), or child laborers in other factories. The Industrial Revolution produced many machines which would later evolve to become our modern day utilities. Without this period of time, we would not have the technology we use or the lives we live. Production became faster through these large workplaces, especially places “such as...textile factories that appeared” (Document 3) during the time. These factories would have long lasting effects, not only positive. It would leave behind much waste, and later cause pollution; yet it would also make nicer clothing. Because of the work it did, products could be made quicker by less people. Finally, Industrialization produced faster transportation that completely changed the world. “Railroad travel was fast. Going to San Francisco from New York City took only six days. Before the railroads, the trip took months.” (Document 5) Through the frequent use of railroads, more business opportunities were available and more businesses could output their goods to more places. The more places that could be reached, the more money could be made. People could “travel cheaply from place to place, and not only travel at less expense, but travel ten times quicker,” (Document 9). This key factor is only one reason why the effects of the Industrial Revolution were, overall,
The Industrial Revolution was a major turning point in history that took place between 1760 and the mid 1800’s. During this time frame, a variety of different machines were invented and put in factories to make workers and everyday people’s lives easier. These machines had to be run by people such as women and even children because the men were mostly in coal mines. Some of the many negative consequences about these new jobs and new machines being invented were; child labor, physical abuse on the job, and unsafe working conditions. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because more jobs became available, it was actually a negative thing.
The introduction of this new technology and knowledge did not simply effect those that created or possessed the knowledge. Instead, it caused problems and raised issues among the common people of Europe which lead to their subsequent disapproval of the overall revolutionary phase. When the industrial revolution began to emerge, most people typically worked for themselves on a subsistence farm or as an apprentice. Their main goal was truly to take care of themselves and their families. When the change came around though, everything changed. Factories appeared and cheap labor was needed. Thus, workers began to flock towards cities in hopes of making it big at a factory. Sadly though,
The Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain and America around the late 1700’s to 1900. This revolution improved the production of goods using new mechanisms and machines. Human labor was in high demand in order for the highest production rates. Factories employed low to middle-class people that were as young as three years old (Document 9). These workers were benefited with money, shelter, and clothes, but the working and living conditions were not satisfying. The average industrial worker experienced a variety of factors that can be classified as good or bad, including the positive effects of labor, like the shelter, money, and food they were given; and the negative effects of the factory,
The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in every sense of the word, as it altered almost every aspect of live in the nineteenth century including technology, government, communication, environment and eventually society as a whole.1 Although industrialisation created many positives for modern society, for people in Britain up to the end of the nineteenth century it had many significantly negative consequences. With the long term advances made for society came the then current development of overcrowding cities abundant with pollution, health problems and poor living conditions for the working class. These poor conditions continued into the work place with young children exploited as workers as young as the age of four or five.2 There were consequences of the Industrial Revolution for people outside of the core of Britain. India, being the periphery in the model were exploited for their raw materials which were exported to Britain.
Before the Industrial Revolution occurred in the late 18th century and 19th century, skilled workers were needed to produce finished goods. The production rates of items were slow due to the limited amount of trained craftsmen and complexity of creating products. This caused goods to be limited in quantity and highly priced. However, the advent of the Industrial Revolution increased production rates, reduced prices of items, and diminished the need for skilled workers. Although the Industrial Revolution positively impacted consumers and businessmen, it also negatively impacted the low skilled laborers used to manufacture goods.
It can be argued that a drifting away from the old artisan putting out system was not helping the economy, and a push for increased industry was a economically healthy path to choose. However the horrible working conditions in the relatively new and supposedly “revolutionary” factories cannot be denied. Yes, the common people were making more money than they ever had with stable jobs and increased production of goods, but at what cost? The first industrial cities in England such as Manchester and Sheffield were transformed into dystopian, dirty slums where the polluting factories loomed overhead. This idea is translated in Document #3 which depicts such an urban slum. One might even classify the image as that of the Middle Ages much less an age marked by invention and progress. The working conditions of the industrial age were not only unsanitary but also extremely dangerous with little safety precautions. Such safety features and skilled training with machinery would cost manufacturers money and money was the only thing separating the boss from the disgruntled employee. Unsafe working environment can be seen in Document #2 depicting a coal mine worker. In most cases, it was the youngest of the workers who were
The Industrial Revolution set people away from farms and small villages and moved them to cities and towns because of the job opportunities that arose in the cities. The Industrial Revolution not only helped people move along in the late 1700s and early 1800s but also it has made the people what they are today. During the Industrial Revolution, the movement from an agrarian society to an industrial one reshaped the roles of families, widen the gap between classes, and led to the developments in communication, transportation, and other scientific fields that completely changed humanity.
Would you like to work fourteen hours a day, six days a week, for little to no pay? While this might seem unreal to us now, this is what working Americans during the time of the Industrial Revolution endured. Not only was it adults working, it was also children as young as three. Now you look at it and think what could a three year old have done? When people running factories just saw it as smaller hands to do things an adult couldn’t. Looking back at the Industrial Revolution I have four main reasons on how the Industrial Revolution was more of a hindrance than a help to working Americans those reasons include working conditions, child labor, long term
The industrial revolution limited the amount of jobs available and created many unskilled labor jobs. Free labor economy made it possible for skilled workers to make money by independently selling their products. Industrial engineers found a way to build machines that were faster, more powerful, more efficient and more reliable than the human muscle. As seen in “The American System of Manufacturers,” Joseph Whitworth stated, “the laboring class are comparatively few in number, but this is counter balanced by, and indeed may be regarded as one of the chief causes of, the eagerness with which they call in the aid of machinery in almost every department of industry”(Whitworth 226) This machinery slowly
The Second Industrial Revolution, which reached its peak during 1870 to 1914, marked a significant turning point in American history. Before this era of progression and industrial excellence, America was on the verge of expansion like never before. From the vast amounts of land gained through the Annexation of Texas in 1845, the British retreating from Oregon in 1846, and the Mexican cession of Southwest territory guaranteed by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848, (Engelman) America was able to expand their territory and access new resources. Industrialization and factory growth in the North was just budding and beginning to create economic success, along with spurring a rise of urbanization and migration of foreign workers to America.
The Industrial Revolution was the main contributor of the development of factories and modern day machinery. The Industrial Revolution created hundreds of new jobs, influenced many new inventions, and created many new ways of creating and transporting goods. Many jobs including spinners, miners, factory workers, and farmers were beginning to rise in population, due to the new technology being created in the 18th and 19th centuries. The start of new inventions coming into view was beginning in Britain, with many agricultural tools creating new ways to plow and yield crops. Later on, it caused new forms of transportation to be developed, for example, railroads and canals. This essay will explain exactly how these causes began, and how they
In mid-eighteenth-century England the industrial revolution was in full swing. However, workers lived near the level of physical subsistence, and their condition worsened in latter half of the eighteenth century. Monotony and repetition characterized factory work; the tyranny of the factory clock and the pace of the assembly line were beyond the control of all workers. The division of labor, praised by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations as the means to productivity growth and rising living standards, made work so routine that women and children could perform jobs just as easily as men. Business owners logically preferred such workers because they could be hired for less.
Think about your life for one second: you communicate with people, travel, make purchases, and utilize those commodities. But have you ever wondered what made those things possible? After all, you go to the store to buy things you need. You drive a car to work and to visit your friends. If you need to talk to someone, you simply pick up your phone or computer. However, none of this would be possible without a means of communication, factories to manufacture the products you need, places to work, and ways to travel and transport goods. And what made these possible? The answer is the Industrial Revolution, which started in Europe around the year 1730. A revolution is a major change or turning point in something. The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution could possibly be the most important event in the history of our world. Before it, people worked mostly on farms or sold things through the market that were hand crafted. This revolution brought about great change in the ways that we produce goods and the economies of the world. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of the rough working and living conditions, it was actually a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were an increased standard of living, better means of travel, and more developed countries with better economies.