Reforming the Industrial World
Section 9.4
The Philosophers of Industrialization
• Laissez-faire economics – theory that advocates the
ability of the economy to function without
government interference
• Adam Smith
– Professor at Glasgow, Scotland who defended the idea of a
free economy in The Wealth of Nations
– Economic liberty guaranteed economic progress,
government should not interfere
– Three Natural Laws of Economics:
• Law of Self-Interest – people work for their own good
• Law of Competition – Competition forces people to make a better
product
• Law of Supply and Demand – enough goods would be produced at
the lowest possible price to meet demand in a market economy
The Philosophers of Industrialization
• Economics of Capitalism
– Capitalism – an economic system in which the factors of production are
privately owned and money is invested in business ventures to make a
profit
– Thomas Malthus
• An Essay on the Principle of Population
• Argued that population tended to increase more rapidly than the food supply
• Without wars and epidemics to kill off extra people, most were destined to be
poor and miserable
– David Ricardo
• Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
• Believed the underclass (yes they thought of them that way) would always be
poor
• Market System:
– Many workers + abundant resources = cheap resources and labor
– Few workers + little resources = expensive resources and labor
• Capitalists opposed efforts to help the poor because it would be
gov’t intervention
– Were against the minimum wage and better working conditions
The Rise of Socialism
• Jeremy Bentham
– Utilitarianism – people should judge ideas, institutions, and actions on the
basis of their utility, or usefulness
– Gov’t should try to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of
people
• Only way a gov’t policy was useful
– Individual should be free to pursue his or her own advantage without
interference from the state
• John Stuart Mill
– Questioned unregulated capitalism
– Believed it was wrong that workers lead deprived lives that sometimes
bordered on starvation
– Wanted to help ordinary working people with policies that would lead to
equal division of profits
– Favored a cooperative system of agriculture and women’s rights, including
the right to vote
– Gov’t wanted to do away with great differences of wealth
• Pushed for reforms in legal and prison systems and in education
The Rise of Socialism
• Utopian Ideals
– Robert Owen
• New Lanark, Scotland – site of his new factory
– Improved working conditions for his employees
– 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 are owned by the
public and operate for the welfare of all
– Charles Fourier
– Henri de Saint-Simon
• Saw the dangers of industrialization
– Argued the gov’t should plan the economy rather than
depend on capitalism
– Wanted gov’t to control factories, mines, railroads, and
other key industries to end poverty and promote
equality
Marxism
• More extreme than socialism
• The Communist Manifesto
– Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
– Argued that societies have always been divided into
warring classes
• Bourgeoisie – middle class, “haves”, employers, owned the means
of production
• Proletariat – working class, “have-nots”, workers, owned nothing
but their labor
– Believed the Industrial Revolution had enriched the
wealthy and impoverished the poor
• But also believed that you needed to HAVE the revolution BEFORE
the proletariat were able to unite against the bourgeoisie
– Predicted the workers would overthrow their owners: “The
proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They
have a world to win. Workingmen of the countries, unite.”
Marxism
• The Future According to Marx
– Industrial Revolution would destroy itself
• Factories would drive small artisans out of business – leaving a
small number of manufacturers to control the wealth
• Large proletariat would revolt, seize the factories and mils from
capitalists
• Use those factories to produce only what the society needed
• Gov’t will be a “dictatorship of the proletariat”
• Leads to a classless society
• Ultimately leads pure communism – when the means of
production are owned by the people
• Believed economic forces alone dominated society
– Intervention from gov’ts kept the wealth gap from
becoming as extreme as what Marx had predicted, staving
off the communist dream
Labor Unions and Reform Laws
• Unionization
– Unions – voluntary labor associations that were meant to
allow working people to become more active in politics
• Spoke for all workers of a particular trade
• Bargained for better working conditions, more pay
• If owners refused, they would strike – refuse to work
– Skilled laborers actually lead the movement for unions
• Harder for management to replace skilled workers so they had to
work with them
– Great Britain
• Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 – outlawed unions and strikes
because they were a danger to society
• Repealed the Acts in 1824 and tolerated unions
Labor Unions and Reform Laws
• Reform Laws
– Eventually, gov’t were forced to look at the abuses of
the revolution
– Great Britain
• 1820s and 1830s – started investigating child labor
• Factory Act of 1833
– Illegal to hire children under 9
– Children 9-12 could not work more than 8 hours
– Children 13-17 could not work more than 12 hours
• Mines Act 1842
– Prevented women and children from working underground
• Ten Hours Act 1847
– Limited the workday to 10 hours for women and children who
worked in factories
The Reform Movement Spreads
• Abolition of Slavery
– William Wilberforce, lead the fight for abolition
– 1807 – Parliament passed a law to end the slave trade in the British
West Indies
– 1833 – slavery was abolished in the British empire
– Motivations for the fight:
• Morally wrong to enslave people
• Economically dangerous to use slaves
• Industrialists preferred cheap labor over slave labor
• Fight for Women’s Rights
– Women factory workers only made a third of what the men did
– What women did to change it:
•
•
•
•
Got involved in reform movements
Safety inspectors in factories where other women worked
Spread of women’s unions
Jane Addams – ran a settlement house that served the poor residents of slum
neighborhoods
• International Council for Women (ICW – 1888)
– Pushed for voting rights and other rights for women
The Reform Movement Spreads
• Reforms Spread to Many Areas of Life
– Prisons and education were on the top of reform lists
• Horace Mann (US) – favored free public education for all
children
– By 1850s (US) many states had public school systems
– Europe followed in the late 1800s
• Alexis de Tocqueville (France)
– Wrote about the brutal system in American prisons
– This was a big deal to America because it claimed modern status but
Tocqueville pointed out major problems with the system
• Reformers of prisons wanted to focus on giving the prisoners
useful skills for when they were released