Reforming the
Industrial
World
Section 9.4
The Philosophers of Industrialization
• Laissez-faire economics
– ability of economy to
function w/o gov’t
interference
• Adam Smith
– The Wealth of Nations –
free economy
– Economic liberty =
economic progress, no
gov’t
Adam Smith con’t
– Three Natural Laws of
Economics:
• Law of Self-Interest –
people work for own good
• Law of Competition –
Competition forces people
to make better product
• Law of Supply and
Demand – enough goods
would be produced at the
lowest possible price to
meet demand in a market
The Philosophers of Industrialization
• Economics of Capitalism
– Capitalism – factors of
production are privately
owned and money is
invested in business to
make a profit
– Opposed helping poor
because it’s gov’t
intervention
• Against minimum wage
and better working
conditions
The Philosophers of Industrialization
– Thomas Malthus
• An Essay on the
Principle of Population
• Population increased
faster than food supply
• Needed wars and
epidemics to kill off
extra people
The Philosophers of Industrialization
– David Ricardo
• Principles of Political
Economy and
Taxation
• Valued free trade
• Believed the
underclass would
always be poor
• Market System:
– Many workers +
abundant resources =
cheap resources and
labor
– Few workers + little
resources =
expensive resources
and labor
The Rise of Socialism
• Jeremy Bentham
– Utilitarianism – people
should judge ideas,
institutions, and
actions based on utility
– Gov’t should promote
the greatest good for
greatest number of
people
– Individuals should
pursue own advantage
The Rise of Socialism
• John Stuart Mill
– Questioned
unregulated capitalism
– Wrong that workers
lead deprived lives
– Ordinary working
people get equal
division of profits
– Favored a cooperative
system of agriculture
and women’s rights
Utopian Ideals
• Robert Owen
– New Lanark, Scotland –
site of his new factory
• Improved working
conditions
• Built homes which he
rented at low rates
• Prohibited children under
10 from working in the
mills and providing free
schooling
– New Harmony, India
• Intended to be a utopia –
perfect living place
• Lasted only three years
The Rise of Socialism
• Socialism – factors of production
owned by public and operate for
the welfare of all
– Charles Fourier
– Henri de
Saint-Simon
• Dangers of industrialization
- Gov’t should plan the economy
- Gov’t controlled key industries
to end poverty and promote
equality
Marxism
• More extreme than
socialism
• The Communist Manifesto
– Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
– Society based on class warfare
• Bourgeoisie – owned means of
production
• Proletariat – owned nothing but
their labor
– Industrial Revolution enriched
wealthy, impoverished poor
• Needed revolution BEFORE the
proletariat could unite against
bourgeoisie
Marxism
• Industrial Revolution
would destroy itself
– Ultimately leads pure
communism – when
means of production are
owned by the people
• Economic forces
dominated society
– Gov’ts kept wealth gap
from becoming extreme,
avoiding communism
Labor Unions and
Reform Laws
• Unions – labor associations
to make working people
politically active
– Bargained for better working
conditions, more pay
– Strike – refuse to work
• Skilled labor lead movement
• Great Britain
– Combination Acts of 1799
and 1800 – outlawed unions
and strikes because they
were a danger to society
– Repealed the Acts in 1824
Labor Unions and Reform
Laws
• Great Britain
– Factory Act of 1833
• Illegal to hire children under 9
• Children 9-12 only work 8 hrs
• Children 13-17 only work 12
hrs
– Mines Act 1842
• Prevented women and
children from working
underground
– Ten Hours Act 1847
• 10 hr workday for women and
children in factories
The Reform Movement
Spreads
• Abolition of Slavery
– William Wilberforce, lead
fight for abolition
– 1807 – Parliament passed
law to end slave trade in
the British West Indies
– 1833 – slavery was
abolished in the British
empire
– Motivations:
• Morally wrong
• Economically dangerous
• Industrialists preferred
cheap labor
Women’s Rights
• Women workers made a
third of men
• Changes:
– Reform movements
– Safety inspectors where
other women worked
– Women’s unions
– Jane Addams – settlement
house that served the
poor residents of slum
neighborhoods
– International Council for
Women (ICW – 1888)
• Pushed for rights
Prison and Education Reform
• Horace Mann (US) – free
public education
– 1850s (US) many states had
public school systems
– Europe followed in the late
1800s
• Alexis de Tocqueville (France)
– Wrote about brutal American
prisons
– Big deal because US claimed
modern status but Tocqueville
pointed out major problems
• Wanted useful skills for when
prisoners were released