The Great World 's General Population

In 1879 Henry George wrote an article titled “Progress and Poverty”. In this article he discussed the ongoing industry and he stated that “the wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poorer class is becoming more dependent.

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 Age of Enlightenment brought forth some of history’s greatest philosophers who introduced and provided the arguments for contemporary thought and social systems in continued use today. Although historians consider the ideas of natural rights and separation of powers in democracies of the highest order of importance, the economic theories developed by the leading thinkers of the era pervade daily life in all societies. The idea of wealth is timeless, but philosopher Voltaire and economist Adam Smith wrote opposing theories on the true value of wealth and how society should allocate its wealth and resources. Voltaire’s satire Candide, or Optimism features El Dorado, a socialist utopia where the inhabitants treat precious metals and stones as dirt and provide for the general welfare of their city, while Smith’s The Wealth of Nations discusses macroscopic economies and how these economies interact to maximize production and encourage human advancement. Both arguments make use of ethical, moral, and social ideas, but only work perfectly in a utopian setting. By comparing and contrasting the arguments presented in each of these texts, one establishes an understanding of how economies and societies operating on either capitalism or socialism alone compare to those that incorporate elements of both ideologies.

As the wealthy increased their assets in the cities, at the same time, a large class was “impoverished city dwellers.” A huge contrast between the wealthy and the poor were forming and becoming more apparent from the beginning of the eighteenth century in the colonies. The data that was collected on the people who were submitted into poor houses clearly with little “doubt that the third quarter of the eighteenth century was an era of severe economic and social dislocation in the cities, and that by the end of the colonial period a large number of urban dwellers were without property, without opportunity, and except for public aid, without the means of obtaining the necessities.” This evidence of poverty in the colonies is one that Nash tries to point out to support his argument that there was a sharp contrast in the distribution of wealth, and that the masses were at this time more focused on the economy’s downfall of the period than defending for constitutional rights and liberties. Protest sparked as the result of the enormous poverty in the colonies. Frustrated with their living conditions the middle and lower classes protested violently in the cities. During this time of frustration with the economic conditions, “rank had no privileges, as even the lieutenant-governor was shot” in Massachusetts. The wealthy were attacked

Analyst: The document explains how the mass production of goods led to more people become becoming part of the revolution because more mass production led to a better business. Because the better businesses were able to buy bigger factory, more people would be more employed, the businesses and give out better wages. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations tells us the inside the businesses marketing/ business records. He says that that if it was separate and independent people were working, they would only produce 20 pins per day, but because of the mass production they were able to produce 48,000 pins per day, proving how The industrial revolution was intended to increase mass

The late-nineteenth century was a turning point for American society, economics and politics. This era was an era of seeming prosperity and diversity. Nonetheless, there were many perspectives that were omitted from this prosperous and wealthy view shared among the few. As a result, the late 1800s was known as the Gilded Age, named by Mark Twain as an allusion to the concept of something that is seemingly pleasantly plated with gold on the outside, but rotten to the core. This Gilded Age, in essence, was a period of rapid growth of industry in the American North and West. This industrialization brought many benefits, however, along with the benefits for the select few, it also saw heavier persecution and exploitation against those who were

Smith, however, was of the opinion that Mercantile System was deeply flawed. Firstly, as given in the Fourth Book (3) of the Wealth of Nations, he argued that the real wealth of a nation was “not in the unconsumable riches of money, but in the consumable goods annually reproduced by the labour of the society”. (4) Secondly, the balance of trade, as observed by him, often did little to enhance the wealth of a nation and instead served to create violent national animosity instead. He instead put forth the idea of a balance of annual production and consumption, which if it were unfavourable would have caused a decay of the wealth of a nation. Thirdly, Prof. Smith was a strong critic of the idea of colonialism; stating that, “To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight, appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers. Such statesmen, and such statesmen only, are capable of fancying that they will find some advantage in employing the blood and treasure of their fellow-citizens, to found and maintain such an empire.”(5) The implication being that the idea of colonialism was of an extremely oppressive nature, beneficial only to the colonial

Accurately established by many historians, the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America were regarded as corrupt “robber barons”. In a society in which there was a severe imbalance in the dynamics of the economy, these selfish individuals viewed this as an opportunity to advance in their financial status. Thus, they acquired fortunes for themselves while purposely overseeing the struggles of the people around them. Presented in Document A, “as liveried carriage appear; so do barefooted children”, proved to be a true description of life during the 19th century. In hopes of rebuilding America, the capitalists’ hunger for wealth only widened the gap between the rich and poor.

There are many turning points in history that can be examined with none exceeding in importance that which took place during the 18th century. For much of the 17th century, and into the early 18th century the primary economic system was the domestic method, utilizing merchants and skilled craftsmen. However, as the 18th century progressed the world began to undergo a revolution that is now known as the Industrial Revolution. Because of its resources, geography, and beneficial governmental policy, England led the way in this new age where the factory replaced rural work. While this was a time of great technological advancement, not everything was a positive result of the Industrial Revolution. Nonetheless, the Industrial Revolution brought a

The industrial revolution introduced many new technology and improved our economic system. There have been a large increase in manufacture and machine tools since then. This led to better transportation, steam powered factories, consumer goods, a large workforce, and labour conditions. During the 1870’s , many financial issues had arise in the United States of America and in many European countries. Due to the financial crises that arise , it led to a major depressing era in history that is called the Panic of 1873. In “Standing at Armageddon” written by Nell Irvin Painter, the author discusses the progressive era and the United States economic crisis , as well as, social status during the ninetheeth century. Painter explains on how the high class white people owned most of the United States industry and due to their wealth, they owned fifty-one percent of the properties in America. They were the wealthiest one percent of the United States. There were different layers of wealth and social status which also integrates with race and ethnicity. Those who were wealthy in America weren’t the ones working hard and getting their hands dirty. Many low class were immigrants, women and blacks who worked in factories and were receiving low wages and poor work conditions. The low class owned only 1.2 percent of the properties in America. This caused major issues in the united states because the workers formed

Slave Societies in the Eighteenth-Century South: The Slave Family and Community: It was hard keeping a family together during slavery due that they was getting sell or split up. The community was always changing but they slaves brought their culture with them. Slave Resistance in Eighteenth-Century British North America: The slave resistance happened more in the Caribbean Islands and Brazil than in the New World. Enlightenment and Awakening in America: The First Great Awakening: Preachers will reach the evangelical message have the people fear hell and the domination of their sins. The Aftermath of the great Awakening: The Americans started to debate over everything from culture to religion. Anglo-American Worlds of the Eighteenth Century: English Economic and Social Development: England Financial institution grew profitable in 1750. The colonists indulge in luxuries. Inequality in England and America: In England the rich was living a good life, while the bottom of the society was

Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Edwin Cannan, ed. 1904. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved October 26, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html

Members of society in the 19th century were enlightened by an industrial system of private capital. Compared to a feudal, agricultural society, an industrial economy based on private capital became a far more efficient means to produce and accumulate wealth (Bellamy, 1996). It allowed the production of cheap, mass-produced goods, so it raised the standard of living. However, the wealth that was produced as a result was placed into the hands of the privileged few. Bellamy expresses his point of view by arguing that an economy based on publicly owned capital would strengthen the characteristics that 19th century society members admired most about their industrial system (Bellamy, 1996). He believed that his ideal society would be more efficient. For example, labor would never be inactive, and supply would far more closely match demand. He argued that the frequent gluts, shortages, strikes, and business failures under an economic system run on competition are immense wastes that would be eliminated under a system based on communal cooperation (Bellamy, 1996).

In the eighteenth century, most people thought they knew how countries get rich. The way they thought was that you have to export as much as possible and import as little as possible so that they can have a rich economy. They also thought that we had a fixed wealth but Adam Smith was the first person to oppose this theory. He proposed that

Movie directors predicting humanity coming to an end because of population density may not be as preposterous as society thought. Population is defined as the amount of same species sustaining in a certain region, for humans that would be Earth. The graphical representation of human population increase from the beginning of history was a slightly inclined horizontal line, however that all changed after the industrial revolution (more industry, jobs, sustainability, etc.) and from that moment on to present day it has changed into a slightly inclined vertical line. Just taking a glance at population numbers since 1997, where it was approximately 5.9 billion, to 2015 where it is approximately 7.3 billion, means an increase of 1.4 billion, in just eighteen years. At such an exponential increase rate, population density will have a negative impact on Earth. Using technology, it has been determined that Earth has the natural resources to sustain ten billion people before a resource crisis. The population increase only accounts for human population, if other species are accounted for including chickens, cows, pigs, etc. the sustainability number decreases. Furthermore, scientists have determined that if population continues to increase at such an exponential rate, by 2050 the population will have reached approximately 10 billion. The increase in population will effect water, food, and energy supplies. Although, Nobel Peace Prize honoree Norman Borlaug contributed to the grain