WORLD HISTORY

Life in the Industrial Age

WORLD HISTORY

Britain tried to protect its competitive advantage William Cockerill opened first textile factories outside

Britain, in Belgium (1807) Other nations brought in British engineers, or “borrowed”

technology

New world order driven by industrialization Germany, United States quickly rose to prominence Japan industrialized too, despite few natural resources Southern, eastern Europe lacked capital, political stability

All industrializing nations experienced “growing pains”

Balance of world power favored western industrialized nations

Industrialization Expands

Companies hired experts to help develop new products, machinery, processes

The development of steel was a key innovation Henry Bessemer purified ore by blasting air through it Steel was harder, lightweight, more durable than iron Vital to production of machinery, infrastructure Industrial growth, success measured by steel

production

Chemical research launched new products Dynamite (Alfred Nobel) Fertilizers Consumer products (aspirin, soap)

Technology Fuels Industrial Growth

Electricity replaced steam as industrial power source Alessandro Volta – battery Michael Faraday – first electric motor and

dynamo Thomas Edison - incandescent light bulb (and

many others!)

Manufacturing processes improved Eli Whitney developed interchangeable parts in

gun production Assembly lines produced more goods in less

time – each worker had a very specific task

New Sources of Power, Production

After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn't be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way.“

-- Thomas Edison, as quoted in American Magazine (January 1921)

The Power of Persistence

Railroad construction expanded to include new transcontinental railways (US, Russia)

Nikolaus Otto’s gasoline-powered combustion engine had a transformative effect on transportation Germans Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler used it to build the

first automobiles (1886 - 1887) Henry Ford mass-produced his “Model T” on assembly line,

making cars affordable for more people Powered new farm machinery, and the Wright Brothers’ first

successful airplane flight

Information traveled faster than ever before! Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) Telegraph and “Morse code” (Samuel F. B. Morse) Radio (Guglielmo Marconi)

The World Gets Smaller

Karl Benz Daimler’s first auto

Henry Ford and his Model T

Industrial growth required steady flow of capital Private investors received ownership shares

(stock) Laws of incorporation protected investors from

liability if corporation went bankrupt

Larger corporations used investments to expand business, diversify

Industrialists tried to corner the market by buying or controlling sources of raw materials, production, and distribution

“Big Business” On The Rise

Adam Smith: unregulated free markets would move toward monopoly

Industrialists used economic leverage to push smaller competitors out of business Outright purchase of competing business Blocking access to raw materials Temporary price cuts to drive competitor out

Cartels established to regulate markets, set production quotas, and fix prices

Trusts established to keep separate companies under the same corporate structure – a monopoly by another name!

Early regulations to prevent monopoly, break trusts ineffective

Monopolies and Trusts

From The Verdict, January 22, 1900

Louis Pasteur connected microbes to transmission of disease – germ theory Vaccines for rabies, anthrax using attenuated viruses “Pasteurization” process to kill microbes in milk

Sources of transmission identified for dread diseases German doctor Robert Koch discovered bacterium

which caused tuberculosis Mosquitoes connected to malaria, yellow fever

Improvements in hospital care, sanitation Anesthesia introduced in 1840s (but not entirely safe) Better standards of nursing care (Florence Nightingale) Cleanliness to prevent infection (Joseph Lister)

Advancements in Medical Care

Urban renewal projects revitalized cities Broad streets (security) and public offices Police, fire, water, sanitation Trolley lines meant people didn’t have to live where they

worked

Cities destinations for arts, culture, entertainment Architects designed skyscrapers Theaters, museums, libraries, sports

As cities grew The wealthy lived in comfortable suburbs Middle-class people lived in multi-story apartments Urban poor lived in tenement slums, row houses amidst

crime, alcoholism

City Life

Workers had little leverage to change harsh working conditions

Mutual-aid societies formed to provide community support

Interest in socialist movement

The Great Reform Act (1832) gave working people in Britain more representation – and the vote

Right to organize labor unions led to strikes

Pressure from unions, working-class voters led to reforms

The Working Class Struggles

New social order not dependent on land anymore!

New wealth and “old money” began to mix Industrial families married into nobility Acquired titles, social status, political power – full

membership into upper class!

Middle-class lived comfortably – and worked hard to keep up appearances

Urban workers, rural peasants at bottom of social structure, and still in poverty

The Social Order Shifts

Social expectations, manners changing too Family’s home reflected status, material wealth Strict social protocol Marriage an opportunity to enhance wealth, prestige

Gender roles re-defined Successful men earned enough for wives to stay home “Cult of domesticity” celebrated, idealized home life

Women the moral compass, social conscience, keepers of home and hearth

View of women hindered efforts toward rights, reforms that would benefit women

Middle-Class Lifestyle

Many women began to resist these gender-based social constraints Wanted equality in property ownership, finances Wanted greater influence on public policy

Temperance (restrictions on sale, consumption of alcohol) a women’s issue

Early efforts to gain the right to vote Seneca Falls Convention – United States, 1848 Suffrage groups in Europe emerged late 1800s Where women’s role less defined, more openness to the idea

of women voting Most women in Western countries granted the vote only after

World War I

Women Work for Rights

From Punch, June 13, 1910

Public education originally to improve literacy, educate the workforce

Evolved beyond the “three R’s” to include… Patriotism, courtesy, respect for authority Religious education (in Europe)

Passage of child labor laws in late 1800s allowed more children to attend school

Wealthy children could attend secondary schools, universities

College curricula changed to reflect demands of industrialized society (more science, engineering)

Education in Focus

New theories emerged which challenged long-held (religious-based) beliefs

English teacher John Dalton advanced atomic theory All substances made of (different) atoms Dmitri Mendeleyev developed table classifying elements

by atomic weight (basis for modern periodic table)

New evidence showed Earth to be much older than previously believed Charles Lyell’s geological studies: Earth 2B years old! Fossils in Neander valley challenged biblical accounts

New Scientific Theories

On the Origin of Species challenged prevailing beliefs Based on Darwin’s years of research at the Galapagos Islands Controversial, because contradicted beliefs about creation

Theory based on concept of natural selection All species of plants/animals compete for available

resources/food Certain traits give members of a species advantages in survival

(those not having these traits less likely to survive) Species change over time to improve chances for survival “Survival of the fittest” – only the strongest will survive!

“Social Darwinism” applied these ideas to social context Wealthy best able to control wealth, business War weeded out weaker nations; used to justify imperialism Led to racism in West: belief that white race must be superior

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Religious Life Christian, Jewish faith remained

central to Western society

Religious leaders led reforms, charity outreach for the urban poor Schools Hospitals Social service groups

Protestants advocated “social gospel” Booth family founded Salvation Army

in Britain; daughter Evangeline later brought the mission to U.S., Canada

An artistic style which shaped western arts, culture (mid-1700s – mid-1800s) Challenged emotional restraint of Enlightenment Sought emotional response from audiences Celebrated connection to natural world

Heroes moody, melancholy, mysterious (“Byronic”) Suffered guilt, or tragic fate (Faust, Jane Eyre) Legend, history, gallantry (Dumas: Three Musketeers)

Composers (Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin) wrote to portray a range of emotion

Artists used bright color, drama to show emotion, nature

Romanticism

JMW Turner, The Shipwreck (1805)

Eugene Delacroix, A Mad Woman (1822)

Eugene Delacroix, Women of Algiers (1834)

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.   One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.   And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

She Walks In BeautyGeorge Gordon (Lord) Byron (1788-1824)

Beginning in the mid-1800s, realism tried to show the world “as it was” Focused on harsh realities of life for less fortunate Hoped awareness might bring about reforms

Writers portrayed societal constraints, class warfare Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist Victor Hugo: Les Miserables Henrik Ibsen: A Doll’s House

New medium of photography told new stories Louis Daguerre (“daguerrotypes”) Mathew Brady – photographed U.S. Civil War carnage

Artists (Gustave Courbet, Edvard Munch) focused on people engaged in daily struggles

Realism

Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers (1849)

Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893)

Paint what you really see, not what you think you ought tosee; not the object isolated as in a test tube, but the object enveloped in sunlight and atmosphere, with the blue dome of Heaven reflected in the shadows. - Claude Monet

Impressionism sought relevance in the face of realism

New painting techniques (Monet, Degas) captured the “first impression the eye saw” - imprecise, not blended

Post-impressionists (Seurat, van Gogh, Gauguin) experimented with a variety of styles, vivid colors

Impressionists & Post-impressionists

Claude Monet, Water Lilies (1905)

Edgar Degas, Dancers in Pink (1876)

Georges-Pierre Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte (1884)

Vincent van Gogh, A Starry Night (1889)

Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891)