SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

DO NOW: 2/7/13

• How has life changed since the 1750s?

• What will life be like for the farmers/peasants who move to the cities?

NEW LIFE IN THE BRITISH CITIES

• New cities = poverty & harsh living conditions• Move from farms to

cities was too quick – cities were not built to sustain• Working people –

suffered dangerous working conditions• Unsafe, unsanitary &

overcrowded housing• Urbanization

NEW SOCIAL CLASSES EMERGE

• IR created new middle class & new working class

• Middle Class: aka Bourgeoisie • Owned & operated new factories,

mines & railroads• Comfortable lifestyle $$$

• Working Class:• Previous farm families• Workers in mines & factories• Tough working conditions &

poor housing options• Tenements

LIFE IN TENEMENTS

• No running water – common pump• No sewage or sanitation

system• Waste & garbage rotted in

streets• Dumped into rivers =

STENCH & CONTAMINATION• Spread of disease

WORKERS PROTEST

• Labor unions (worker’s organizations) = ILLEGAL• Secret unions existed• Wanted reforms• Increase in pay• But had no political power

• SOMETIMES – led to violence• First industrial riots – 1811-1813• Luddites • Textile workers resisted machines replacing their jobs• Smashed machines, burned buildings wore masks @

night• Wide spread support for Luddites

LIFE IN FACTORIES• Rigid schedule set by factory whistle• Long hours 12-16 hours• Could only take breaks when allowed by owners• Suffered from accidents exhaustion• No safety devices• Loss of fingers, limbs & even lives

• Textile mills – breathed air filled with lint damaged lungs

• Sick or injured? LOST THEIR JOBS• Early factory workers were women not men – half $$• Double burden• 14 hour shifts & came home to chores

LIFE IN MINES

• IR increased demand for IRON & COAL• Miners were paid more• Conditions were worse than factories• Worked in darkness & coal dust destroyed their

lungs• DANGER – explosions, flooding & collapsing

tunnels• Women & children carted heavy loads of coal &

navigated tunnels on all fours

CHILDREN’S DANGEROUS JOBS

• Started working 7 or 8 (sometimes younger!)• Small hands & quick moving• Changed spools in the hot & humid textile mills• Could not see – dust• Crawled under machinery to repair broken threads• WORSE for children in mines• Worked all day in the dark• Child labor reforms “factory acts” passed in early 1800s• Reduce work day to 12 hours & remove young children

from cotton mills• Laws NOT enforced inspectors hired in 1830s & 40s• Eventually required children to be educated

RESULTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

• Debate – was the IR a blessing or a curse?• Brought terrible hardships• Took time to improve conditions• Labor unions won rights to bargain with

employers• Eventually working class men gained suffrage

Positive • demand for goods created more jobs• Wages increased - $$ left over for entertainment• Opportunities increased

• Social Reforms

EXIT TICKET

•How did the factories & mines change the way people lived and worked in the 1800s?