Transcript Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution

Social Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
Population/City Growth
New Social Classes
Efforts at Change
Population Growth
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Europe doubled, England tripled between 17501850 > lower death rate due to less epidemic,
famine and war.
Large rural population meant less or no land for
peasants = more poverty. Many sought refuge
in cities for work in factories. (see chart)
Irish pop. Doubled 1780-1845, potato famine
killed over 1 million, 2 million emigrated to U.S.
and Britain.
Urbanization
Great Britain’s cities grew more than rest
of Europe. No one had skills or desire to
cope with problems.
 Overcrowding (up to six in one bed)
 Sewage in streets, smelly & unhealthy
 Food substitutes: alum added to bread,
red lead substituted for pepper.
 Poor Law commissioners no help.
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Urban Reform
Food and Drug Act not passed til 1875.
 James Kay-Shuttleworth stated crime,
disease, immorality would ruin society.
 Edwin Chadwick sought to rid poverty &
improve sanitation > Public Health Act
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New Social Classes
Industrial Middle Class: Entrepreneurs,
Bankers, Lawyers, Teachers, Doctors.
 Industrial Working Class: Miners,
Artisans, Craftspeople, Factory workers,
agricultural workers, servants.
 Miners, Factory workers horrible working
conditions.
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Standard of Living
Much debate whether std. of living
improved. Wages increased, but so did
prices. Fluctuation in early century due to
cyclical depressions. One factory closure
could devastate an entire town.
 Middle class lived better.
 Working class not until later in century.
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Effort at Change by Workers
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Combination Acts of 1799 & 1800 outlawed
associations of workers. Unions formed anyway
(purpose: limit entry into craft, gain benefits).
Successful strikes led to repeal of Combination
Acts in 1824.
Robert Owen led movement for national unions
of combined trades. The Grand National
Consolidated Trades Union formed in 1834, but
later collapsed. Society of Engineers succeeded
Luddites were skilled craftspeople who in 1812
attacked machines that threatened their craft.
Chartism
“People’s Charter” of 1838 demanded:
universal male suffrage, pay for and
annual sessions of Parliament.
 National petitions rejected in ‘39 & ‘42.
 By 1848, it fizzled out, but succeeded in
educating working class in politics for
future success.
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Efforts at Change:
Reformers and Government
Factory Act of 1833: Illegal to hire under 9
yrs., 9-12 had 8 hr. limit, 13-17 had 12 hr.
 Mine Act of 1842 women and boys under
10 could not work in mines.
 Ten Hours Act of 1847 put a 10 hr. limit
for children and women in factories.
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