Key Terms – Responses to Industrialism (1)

Utopianism Robert Owen Utopians Louis Blanc Karl Marx Frederich Engels Communist Manifesto Communism

Class Struggle Proletariat Bourgeoisie Labor Unions Collective Bargaining Boycotts Blacklisting

Changes in Ideals

With the growth of industrialism, the different social classes had different interpretations into what governments and economic activity should look like.

The poor believed that rights should be expanded and laws should be made to protect the lower classes in factories.

The upper classes sought little to no change since they were benefiting from the system that was currently in place where they acquired all the profits of industrialism.

The middle classes believed in laissez faire economics and thought that rights and privileges should be expanded to the other classes.

Looking Outward

Because many changes that the lower classes sought were not being instituted, many turned to other forms of government which they believed could bring the change that they were looking for.

Many of the lower classes turned to socialism, an economic and political system in which profits were shared and people cooperated with each other rather than competed with each other.

Utopianism and Robert Owen Robert Owen, a wealthy businessman, sought to use radical

methods as a means of making the lives of the working class significantly better.

Owen bought a cotton mill in Scotland and used the area surrounding it for his socialist experiment.

He would construct his own schools and buildings all with high standards and provided great working and living conditions for the mill workers.

All the workers shared in the profits of the mill and Owen created what he believed was a Utopian society.

Utopianism → the belief that a perfect society can be constructed

The idea ultimately failed since many could not cooperate with each other to a high enough degree to ensure the success of the society

Robert Owen and His Utopia

Louis Blanc and his Utopia

Louis Blanc, newspaper owner and Utopian socialist had his own radical ideas as to how to create a utopia.

Blanc believed that workers should be taught how to run factories and then be ceded control of those factories to generate their own profits.

He believed people should be paid according to need and ability.

Workshops would be set up in this fashion in France but would ultimately fail

Marx and Engels

In 1848, Karl Marx and Frederich Engels created what was known as the Communist Manifesto.

The ideas described in the manifesto spoke of what was known as scientific socialism or communism

Marx believed all the problems that the workers faced were due to the capitalist economy.

Under the capitalist system, the wealthy used their capital to hire labor which would get a salary but little share in the profits.

The wealthy would get a large return on their capital while the workers would get little for their work.

This system put the classes in conflict with each other leading to class struggle → a battle over profits and wages between the proletariat (the working class) and the bourgeoisie (the owners)

Marx's Solution

Marx believed that the only way that the proletariat could acquire the wages they deserved was through revolution.

He believed that if the workers smashed the shackles of capitalism, they would gain control of industries and would be able to share profits rather than compete for them.

This sharing would lead to the end of a need for state rule making people truly free.

This idea would be accepted by the poor and destitute but fail to gain traction in countries that were doing well economically.

The Rise of the Labor Union

Workers sought more immediate ways to influence owners to give them higher wages and workers' rights.

One of these solutions was to form labor unions. Labor unions → groups of workers who work the

same occupation unifying to pressure owners to cede more rights and privileges.

Tactics of Labor Unions

Labor Unions used many different tactics to acquire more rights and privileges.

Collective bargaining → using representatives to speak to owners and work together to negotiate terms, wages, benefits, and privileges. If this failed, arbitration was typically used.

Strikes → complete work stoppage until demands are met. Boycotts → complete refusal to buy a product or service until

a demand is met. If the owners could not find a way to get the workers

back, they would use blacklisting → a list that is compiled of workers who should not be hired because of participation in strikes or other damaging activity.

Strikebreaking