Industrial
Revolution
3. What were the social effects of the
Industrial Revolution?
• Rapid industrialization
• Created a new
industrial middle class
& industrial working
class
• Material benefits &
new opportunities
• Brought great
hardships to factory
workers & miners, esp.
women & kids
Urbanization
• Growth of cities
• Tenements –
multilevel
apartment
buildings, no
sewers or clean
water supply;
disease-ridden
Labor Unions
• Workers’
organizations
• Illegal in Britain
• Some organized
anyway – led
violent protests
Friedrich Engels
• Son of a wealthy
factory owner
• Author of The
Condition of the
Working Class in
England in 1844
• His book outraged
readers
• Became the financial
backer for Karl Marx
4. What new ideas about
economics and society were
fostered as a result of the
Industrial Revolution?
Thomas Malthus
• Poverty was
unavoidable
because the
population
increased faster
than food
production
• Thought poor
families should
have fewer children
Adam Smith
• Wrote Wealth of
Nations in 1776
(capitalism)
• Laissez-faire – idea that
government should stay
out of business; “handsoff”, “to let alone”
• Argued that without
government
interference, the
economy would thrive;
guided by the “invisible
hand”
Socialism
• Idea that
government should
own and control the
means of
production
• Appealed to the
poor
• Stage between
capitalism &
communism (acc. to
Marx)
Robert Owen
• Early socialist
• Tried to develop
utopian communities
in Scotland & US –
shared work and
property
• Successful mill owner
• Refused to use child
labor
Karl Marx
• German philosopher
• Teamed with Engels to
write The Communist
Manifesto
• History of class
struggles (haves and
have nots)
• Bourgeoisie – “haves”
• Proletariat – “have
nots”
Marx …
• Predicted the workers
of the world would
unite (proletariat) &
take control of
factories, gov’t, etc.
and set up a classless,
communist society
• Communism– means
of production owned
by community, no
classes, no government
5. How did science, technology, and big business
promote industrial growth?
• New technology
• Inventions
• Power sources
(steam engine,
electricity)
• Production
methods
(assembly line)
• Business practices