Name ________________
Society and Government’s Response to the Industrial Revolution
Directions: Read the following passages and answer the questions that go with it. Answer in
complete sentences.
Because of the Industrial Revolution, British, American, French, and other societies changed thoroughly,
rapidly, and permanently. Throughout the Revolution, workers, owners, and the government responded
differently to its negative effects. As we have seen, in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, the
government and the owners largely expected that the marketplace would magically self-correct the worst
ills. But it rarely did. The government chose, for the most part, not to get involved in business affairs.
A small movement of writers and philanthropists responded to the negative effects of the Industrial
Revolution by designing and trying to implement new ideal, or utopian, communities. They reacted against
all that was ugly about the effects of industrialization. Some utopian communities sought to create
cooperative industrial environments in response to what they viewed as individualistic, competitive, and
exploitive capitalist societies. They dreamed of communities that focused on creating more dignified working
conditions and better treatment of women and children. Some radical utopians focused on socialism—an
economic system (about which you will learn more in the next section) that focuses on cooperation and
equality amongst all economic classes in society.
1. Based on what you know from class, why did governments not get involved in business affairs?
2. How would you describe a utopian community? Did they favor capitalism or socialism?
The British government addressed public health by passing regulatory laws to curb the ills of working-class
urban living. The Public Health Act of 1848 set up local health boards, investigated sanitary conditions
nationwide, and established a General Board of Health. The local boards had the responsibility of ensuring
that water supplies were safe. And in the 1875 Public Health Act, the government took on more
responsibility for public health, adding housing, sewage, drainage, and contagious diseases. This Each new
law was a big step forward for modern medicine and public health, and a far cry from the medieval
bloodletting that had occurred only decades earlier.Because of advances in medicine and public health, life
expectancy increased over the course of the 19th century. Life expectancy at birth, in the high 30s in 1837,
increased to 48 by 1901 (“Victorian Medicine”). Much of this change was due to improvements in keeping
infants alive. Polluted water and damp housing in new urban areas were probably the main causes of high
infant mortality rates in the first era of the Industrial Revolution. By the mid-19th century, the infant
mortality rate decreased from 150 out of 1000 children killed by age 1 in 1840 to 100 in 1870, a 50% drop
over 30 years. (Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire 160)
1. What improvements in public health were made by the British Government during this time?
2. Is there anything government should do in today’s society for public health? Explain.
The British Parliament set up a commission in 1832 to investigate child labor in factories. Based on those
findings, Parliament felt compelled to respond. As a result, the government passed The Factory Act of 1833
to regulate excessive child labor. The act set limits on how many hours per day children could work. This was
the first ever government regulation of the industrial workplace. It was a very small step: even after the
reform, nine-year-old children, for example, could still work nine hours a day, six days a week. Factory
owners had resisted the law because they said it would slow down production, increase the cost of their
products, and make them less competitive. And, some parents of the child workers worried that their
families would have less money to survive as a result of the lost income. Nonetheless, this first child labor
law set a new precedent: that the British Parliament might reluctantly take it upon itself to regulate abuses in
the industrial workplace.
1. From what you just read, how did the government’s role change?
2. If the government became involved with child labor, what else might they start doing?
In the previous section on the effects of the Industrial Revolution, you learned about the economic system
known as capitalism (the free market economy), in which private businesses compete to produce the best
products and services for consumers. The government, capitalists believe, should not intervene to tax or
regulate businesses. Socialists argued for an economic system based on human dignity and equality that
would provide guaranteed healthcare, housing, jobs, education, and pensions for all citizens. To carry out
these costly public benefits, a socialist government would own the property and wealth of a nation and put
them to use for the common good. In short, socialists called for an overthrow of private property and the
entire capitalist system. The most important socialist thinker was undoubtedly an economist and
philosopher named Karl Marx. Socialists such as Marx argued that it was the supporters of capitalism—such
as factory owners and big corporations—that fought against laws to protect children in the workplace,
against healthcare for the poor, against support for the elderly when they retire, and against laws to protect
worker safety. Capitalism did not effectively provide key public needs, such as education and healthcare for
all, national defense, workplace safety, clean water, and a clean environment. Socialists believed that
capitalism inevitably resulted in unequal classes in which the wealthy relentlessly exploited the working
classes. Marx believed that all societies would inevitably go through a series of economic stages from
feudalism to capitalism to socialism. In a new socialist society, the government would own the property and
ensure cooperation and equality. The government would guarantee all citizens the right to food, housing,
healthcare, a job, retirement benefits, and healthy working conditions. In return, citizens would forgo private
property and instead hold it in common or commune. There would be no more upper or lower classes.
1. How does socialism differ from capitalism?
2. What potential merits/benefits from this reading does socialism offer?
3. Do you see anything wrong with socialism and the effects of it?