Social, Educational, And Religious State Of The Manufacturing Areas, By Edward Baines

The topic I have chosen to discuss related to the last 400 years in Western Civilization is the industrial revolution in Britain. The industrial revolution was what created the modern capitalist system. Britain was the first to lead the way in this huge transformation. Technology changed, businesses, manufactured goods, and wage laborers skyrocketed. There was not only an economic transformation, but also a social transformation. The industrial revolution is such an interesting subject to further explore, because it truly made a difference in Britain in the late 1700s. The industrial revolution brought an increased quantity and variety of manufactured goods and even improved the standard of living for some individuals, however, it resulted in grim employment and living conditions that were for the poor and working classes. The industrial revolution had a bright and dark side to it. It was dark due to all the horrible working conditions, crowded cities, unsanitary facilities, diseases, and unsafe work environment, but the bright side is that it was a period of enormous social progress.

The Industrial Revolution was of great importance to the economic development of the United States. The new era of mass production kindled in the United States because of technological innovations, a patent system, new forms of factory corporations, a huge supply of natural resources, and foreign investment. The growth of large-scale industry in America had countless positive results, but also negative results as well. Industrialization after the Civil War affected the United States in several ways including poverty, poor labor laws, and the condition of the people.

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the late 1700’s. The Industrial Revolution was a time of new inventions, products, and methods of work. The results of the Industrial Revolution led to many short and long-term positive and negative effects. These results have been assessed from many viewpoints such as the factory workers, the factory owners, the government, and other people who observed the conditions in industrial cities.

From around 1750 to 1900 Britain went through major changes or transformation in industry, agriculture and transportation that affected everybody’s lives. For some it generally improved their lives, however not all were so lucky. The industrial revolution brought with it many changes good for some and bad for others.

Textile factories are not safe for working class families. Working condition in the factories were not safe or healthy for the children working. A doctor named Dr.Ward says “. . . We could not remain ten minutes in the factories without gasping for breath.” He also says “ There were forty-seven injured . . .” (House of Lords Committee interview Dr.Ward). Joseph Herbergam was once working in the factories as a kid. Herbergam says “ My leg muscles do not function properly . . .”. He also talks about how he may die in a year because all the fumes he inhaled as a child. (Testimony of Joseph Herbergam to the Sadler committee). Dr.ward is a doctor so he is aware of what is harmful to breath in. It was unhealthy for many reasons but one reason

Before the Industrial revolution people knew very little about the world and were used to making whatever they needed with their hands. Life was quiet because there was no machinery to make any noise. No one traveled very far on a regular basis because there was no way for rapid transportation and there were no clocks, people just used the rise and setting of the sun. When the Industrial revolution started, the nine to five job life style emerged as well and life changed for everyone.

Three groups that were affected by the Industrialization were middle and lower class, African Americans, and women rights. Middle and lower class workers were affected by Industrialization because the growth of the middle class had expanded, and professional employment had increased, but the lower class was the victims of the industrialization because the assembly line took a lot of the jobs of a lot of workers (Gilder Lehrman Institute, 2009). Another example of the middle and lower class is Union labor groups defend workers because employers just viewed workers as cost of production then regular individuals. That’s when the

Those who opposed the industrialization of Manchester were more concerned with the well-being of those affected by it. These were poets, women, socialists, and health reformers who were disturbed by the living and working conditions of the middle class and the peasantry. One protester was Robert Southey, an English Romantic poet and author of Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society in 1829. Being a Romantic poet, Southey laments on the industrialization of the city and describes it as a miserable place where the buildings which are “without their antiquity, without their beauty, without their holiness,” and where, “when the bell rings, it is to call the wretches to their work instead of their prayers.” Another protester is Frances Anne Kemble, an actress, poet, and dramatist, who, in her account of a journey of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, depicts a protest by the disgruntled working class over Corn Laws, which were tariffs on imported grain. In her depiction, the protesters scorn the “triumphs of machinery” and the “gain and glory which wealthy Manchester men were likely to derive from it.” This is a very Romantic depiction, as the protesters are breaking free from their bonds to choose liberty over wealth. A final protester was Edwin Chadwick a public health reformer, who, in his Report of the Sanitary Conditions of the Laboring Population of Great Britain, argued that the cramped conditions,

Wheelan and Co., a preface to a business directory, says, “It is to the population that Manchester is mainly indebted to its elevation as a seat of commerce and manufacture…for which it is distinguished beyond any other town in the world” (Document 9). This also shows how the growth of the city and its population resulted in this issue of manufacturing and commercial growth. Wheelan and Co. reacts to this elevation of the city saying, “Perhaps no part of England, not even London, presents such remarkable and attractive features as Manchester, the Workshop of the World” (Document 9). This reaction is positive toward the manufacturing growth of the city, describing it as “remarkable” and “attractive.” Another positive opinion on the growth of manufacturing is seen when Thomas B. Macaulay, a liberal Member of Parliament, says that “improvements are owing to the increase in national wealth which the manufacturing system has produced” (Document 3). This reaction shows how he thinks that the growth of manufacturing in Manchester is the basis for the improvement and the wealth of the whole country of England. Because he is a member of English Parliament, he may have a positive bias towards Manchester because it is an English city. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French visitor to Manchester, reacts in a similar way to the issue of the growth of manufacturing that resulted from the growth of the city saying, “from this [city] the greatest

The spread of industrialization rapidly altered and changed the city of Manchester during the nineteenth century. Of course there were positive effects that stemmed from this, but negative effects due to the growth of industrialization outnumbered the positive outcomes and are often overshadowed. The environmental hazards and the working conditions of the factory were enough to harm laborers and the gentry (documents 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 11), dulling the positive

In Maury Klein's. “The Lords and the Mill Girls,” industrialization is attempting to rid itself of the horrible standards adhered to at most European and other New England factories through the endeavor of the Lowell Mills. The Associates, who open the Lowell mills, attempt to create an atmosphere which is the best of both worlds. They want to create profit, but don't want to abandon their virtues and principles by creating an industrial district which, “degraded workers and blighted the landscape”(Klein). The key to their success is their working population. They seek civilized workers, who save money, attend church, and adhere to the pious principles of religion and culture(Klein). They find their laborers in women of the New England farmers,

As Ewen begins by describing the two contrasting perspectives of social reality. “It described factory industrialism as producing the accoutrements of a democracy, one which invites every man to enhance his own comfort and status. Equating democracy with consumption” (Ewen 187). Ewen recognizes that “Mass production, according to this outlook was investing individuals with tools of identity, marks of their personhood” (Ewen 187). One side of the perception of social reality is production.

Textile factories were not safe for working class families for the reason that the people were injured and unhealthy. A few people entered into the textile factories unhealthy which could´ve made their health issues worse. The interviewee , Dr. Holme says that the people employed were in great health. He also said that the children he had seen were all in health and that the hours they worked were not injurious to their health. John Birley says that they had good food and good beds. He also says that they were treated kindly. Dr . Holme says that Mr. Pooley employed 401 people and 363 people were in good health. Dr. Holme also said that the factories were as healthy as any other part of the working classes of the community. His conclusion was

The Industrial Revolution, which began in England, brought on many advancements in the production of textiles. This revolution that improved the manufacturing industry’s ability to produce goods in mass quantity with less labor should have been a way that the industrial worker’s lives improved. However, the opposite occurred. Engels describes a competitive working environment where workers competed to make enough money to survive with their families. Their survival only led to more suffering of neglect, poverty, and squalor. Engels book, Condtion of the Working Class in England, 1845, is a detailed account of the proletariat who were oppressed by the bourgeoisie. Engels wrote a dismally detailed account of the working class place during the Industrial Revolution in England, placing the workers in the cities as subhuman, expendable, and economically less expensive to maintain than a slave.

The Industrial Revolution made everyday items and transportation readily available, made children who worked in factories happy, and allowed community growth. In Document 3, Charles Knight is explaining the benefits of industrialization which occurred because of the Industrial Revolution since it was happening in 1831. This book Knight wrote was intended to reach the people who protested in Bristol, England, and also people of the working class who were upset with the current working conditions in factories. Charles Knight wrote and published a book therefore he is educated and part of the upper class. He wrote this book to increase employment and to show the people of Bristol the positives of industrializing. However, the reason why the