Chapter 20 - The Industrial Revolution
Begins
Section 3 Hardships of Early Industrial Life
Setting the Scene
The Industrial Revolution brought great
riches to most of the entrepreneurs who
helped set it in motion. For the millions of
workers who crowded into the new
factories, however, the industrial age
brought poverty and harsh living
conditions. Working people could look
forward only to lives marked by dangerous
working conditions; unsafe, unsanitary,
and overcrowded housing; and unrelenting
poverty.
I. The New Industrial City
The Industrial Revolution brought rapid
urbanization, the movement of people to cities
I. The New Industrial City
Changes in farming, soaring population, and
an increasing demand for workers led to this
migration
Seed Drill
Population Explotion
I. The New Industrial City
The poor workers struggled to survive in urban
slums
Slum Neighborhood in London
London’s Poor
II. The Factory System
The heart of the industrial city was the factory,
which imposed a harsh new way of life on
workers
A. Rigid Discipline
Workers faced a rigid schedule - shifts lasted
up to 16 hours and they were exposed to
constant danger
B. Women Workers
Many employers hired women - they were
easier to manage could be paid less than men
C. Child Labor
Factories and mines hired boys and girls as
young as 5 years old, or used orphans as a
source of labor
Child "hurriers" working
in mines
C. Child Labor
Some were killed or crippled and others
were stunted in growth or had twisted limbs
Cripples in the yard of children's home in London
C. Child Labor
In the 1830s and 1840s, Parliament began
to pass laws to regulate child labor in
mines and factories
III. The Working Class
A. Protests - Some skilled workers resisted
the loss of their jobs by smashing machines
and burning factories – the “Luddites”
The Luddites
1811-1816
Today the word
'Luddite' is used to
mock someone who
dislikes new
technology like
computers...
Machine-breakers or 'Luddites', 1812
A. Protests
Protests met harsh repression, workers were
forbidden to organize and strikes were
outlawed
1839 Manchester
protests
B. Spread of Methodism
John Wesley founded the Methodist Church
and tried to rekindle hope among the working
poor and work for social reform
In 1729, Wesley went into residence at
Oxford. There he joined the Holy Club,
a group of students that included his
brother Charles Wesley. The club
members adhered strictly and
methodically to religious practices, and
were thus derisively called
“Methodists” by their schoolmates.
IV. The New Middle Class
Those who benefited most from the Industrial
Revolution were the entrepreneurs who set it
in motion
IV. The New Middle Class
Middle-class families lived in fine homes,
dressed and ate well, and gained influence in
Parliament
IV. The New Middle Class
The middle class valued hard work and
"getting ahead”
IV. The New Middle Class
They felt little sympathy for the poor, who they
thought were responsible for their own misery
V. Problems and Benefits
Problems included low pay, dangerous
working conditions, unemployment, and
dismal living conditions
V. Problems and Benefits
Benefits included new laws to improve
working conditions and labor unions won the
right to bargain with employers