Bellwork 3/14/14 You are a 15 year-old living in England

where the Industrial Revolution has spurred the growth of thousands of factories. Cheap labor is in great demand. Like millions of other teenagers, you do not go to school. Instead, you work in a factory 6 days a week, 14 hours a day. The small pay you receive is needed to help support your family. You trudge to work before dawn every day and work until after sundown. Inside the workplace the air is hot and foul, and after sunset it is so dark it is hard to see. Minding the machines is exhausting, dirty, and dangerous.

1. Would you attempt to change your working conditions in the factory? Which conditions?

2. Would you join a union, go to school, or run away?

25.2 Industrialization

The factory system changes the way people live and work,

introducing a variety of problems

Industrialization Changes Life

Factory Work Factories pay more than farms, spur demand for

more expensive goods

Industrial Cities Rise Urbanization—city-building and movement of people to

cities Growing population provides work force and a market for

factory goods British industrial cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester,

Liverpool

1. What do you think was the reason for the jump in population from 1700-1900?

Living Conditions

Sickness widespread; epidemics, like cholera, sweep urban slums

Life span in one large city is only 17 years

Living Conditions

Wealthy merchants, factory owners live in luxurious suburban homes

Living Conditions Rapidly growing cities lack sanitary codes

and building codes Cities also without adequate housing,

education, and police protection

Working Conditions

Average working day is 14 hours for 6 days a week, year round

Dirty, poorly lit factories injure workers Many coal miners killed by coal dust

Class Tensions Grow The Middle Class

Middle class—skilled workers, merchants, rich farmers, professionals

Emerging middle class looked down on by landowners and aristocrats

Middle class has comfortable standard of living

Class Tensions Grow

The Working Class Laborers’ lives not

improved; some laborers replaced by machines

Luddites and other groups destroy machinery that puts them out of work

Unemployment is a serious problem; unemployed workers riot

The Luddites

• Named after Ned Ludd, who was a laborer who destroyed the new machines in protest.

• Beginning in 1811, Luddites attacked whole factories and protested – they wanted their skills and labor to be needed.

Positive Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Immediate Benefits Creates jobs, enriches nation, encourages technological

progress Education expands, clothing cheaper, diet and housing

improve Workers eventually win shorter hours, better wages and

conditions Long-Term Effects

Improved living and working conditions still evident today

Governments use increased tax revenues for urban developments

Case Study: Manchester

The Mills of Manchester Manchester has labor, water, power, nearby

port at Liverpool. Poor live and work in unhealthy, even

dangerous environment Business owners make profits by risking their

own money on factories Eventually, working class sees its standard of

living rise some

Case Study: Manchester Children in Manchester Factories

Children as young as 6 work in factories; many are injured

1819 Factory Act restricts working age, hours Factory pollution fouls air, poisons river Nonetheless, Manchester produces

consumer goods and creates wealth

The Day of a Child Laborer, William Cooper