The Responses to Industrialization

The Responses to Industrialization

Late 19th Century Thought

Conditions and treatment of the working class in factories were brutal and harsh:

• Psychological anonymity; boring and monotonous jobs • 14-16 hours - 6 days a week - no breaks, a short lunch• Low wages, even less for women & children

• Factories were dirty, hot, unventilated and frequently dangerous

• Housing was overcrowded, dirty and poorly built.• Unmarried workers lived in barracks; if they lost their job

they lost their shelter.• Little time to socialize, fined for talking with one another

or being late• Little job security, constant competition with others

Conditions in the mines:

• Until 1842, preferred workers were young boys and girls• Faced cave-ins, explosions and deadly fumes• Deep under the earth’s surface, life was dark, wet and

dangerous• Bodies became stunted and twisted, with crippling effects

Factory Act of 1833:

• Children under 13 could not work more than 9 hours

• Ages 13-18 no more than 18 hours or at night

• Children were required to be in school at least two hours a day (no funding for schools!)

• By 1847, women and children were no longer permitted to work more than ten hours

• By 1874, adult male workers

were limited to a ten hour day

The 1842 Mines Act:

• No female was to work underground • Boys had to be at least 10 years old to work underground • It also appointed inspectors to see that the provisions of the

act were enforced • The Act however, did not address hours of work, only

focusing on working conditions in mines.

• By 1870, industrialization was in full swing

• Historians refer to the period from 1870-1914 as the 2nd Industrial Revolution

• The “first” Industrial Revolution was characterized by innovations in the textile industry, iron and coal, and railroads & steamboats…

• The “second revolution” was led by steel, chemicals, electricity and petroleum.

The first change…

• The substitution of steel for iron- steel is stronger, lighter, more durable and improved the machines driving industrialization.

Electricity- the second great change…

• The new source for heat, light and motion

• In 1870, the first commercially-practical generators of electricity were developed

• By 1910, whole communities were driven by electricity from hydro-electric or coal-fired generating plants.

The telephone of A.G. Bell

Radio waves of Guglielmo Marconi

In transportation- electric street cars and subways

In factories- conveyor belts, cranes, machines and machine tools

The third change – the internal combustion engine

• Airplanes: 1903 Orville and Wilbur- and by 1919, the first regular passenger air service was in operation.

Related developments…

• Between 1870 and 1914, Germany passed Britain as the industrial leader of Europe

• Europe was divided into two economic zones-

The Advanced industrial states:

• Great Britain, Belgium, France the Netherlands, Germany , northern Italy and the western part of the Austrian Empire

• These areas enjoyed a high standard of living, decent systems of transportation, and relatively healthy and educated people.

The backward and little industrialized area to the south and east consisted of:

• southern Italy, most of Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Balkan kingdoms and Russia.

• These areas were largely agricultural, and exploited for their function as food and raw material providers.

Economic ideologies…

Patterns of Thought…

• The growth of manufacturing led to the expansion of the middle class and the creation of a new social class, the worker.

• Industrialization created problems wherever it spread.

• Many people had different ideas on how to deal with the new issues created by the transformation of society

Adam Smith

• In his book, Wealth of Nations Smith proposed the idea of laissez-faire - liberalism.

Thomas Malthus, “Essay on the Principles of Population.” 1798

• The working class should blame themselves for their poverty and poor conditions

David Ricardo, “Principles of Political Economy” 1817

• The “Iron Law of Wages.”

• The ideas of men like Smith, Malthus and Ricardo -the classical, liberal economists in general, - had a great influence

• Spread to the public through journals, newspapers and even popular literature

• Businessmen used them to justify their reluctance to raise wages

• These ideas provided strong theoretical support for the opposition of labor unions.

The Utopian Socialists…

• had visionary ideas that advocated for the creation of ideal communities

• They questioned the values and structure of the existing capitalist framework

Robert Owen, 1771-1858

• Owen believed that people brought up in goodness and decency would turn out to be people of fine character.

• In Glasgow, Scotland; New Harmony Indiana (1825) Owens invested his wealth in “factory villages” with low income housing, low priced company stores, schools, higher wages, shorter hours, sick benefits and pensions.

Charles Fourier, 1772-1837

• Create perfect communities where no one would be rich or poor…

• Profit formula: 5/12 to workers; 4/12 to capitalist; 3/12 to managers

Democratic Liberals and the rise of the Labor (Labour) movement

• In general, called for legislation for higher wages, a reduction in working hours, safer conditions in factories, granting voting rights to workers and the formation of labor unions.

• Thomas Hill Green – (1870’s) Oxford scholar lectured on the evils of laissez-faire

• James Kier Hardie – created the Labour Party of Great Britain (1893)

Early struggles led by Democratic Liberals during this period…

• 1880 James K Hardie unionized Scot miners and led their strike

• 1888 Annie Besant led the “matchgirls” strike

• 1889 Ben Tillet organized the Eaast London dockworkers strike

Karl Marx, 1818-1883 Marxism/Communism

• Marx presented a philosophy of history based on the idea of dialectical materialism

Scientific Socialism: the Marxist view…

• He and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848

• Marx saw history as a struggle between the “Haves” and the “Have-nots”

The Marxist Revolution…

• The bourgeoisie of the present age controlled the government and used it to their advantage

• The proletariat, with no political power, had a miserable existence…

• The proletariat will rise up and overthrow the capitalist class in a violent revolution…

• Socialism would become the new form of government – a classless society where all would share equally in the profits of their labor.

Any questions?