Industrial_Revolution_Dbq

2.13.11 DBQ The Industrial Revolution which began in England in the mid 1700's had a wide range of positive and negative effects on the social, political, and economic life of people throughout the world. The industrial revolution has been interpreted from a variety of perspectives- the factory owners, the factory workers, political officials, and ordinary citizens. Many have wondered if the world was left for better or worse. The industrial revolution began in the Mid 1700's. The immediate effect it took on England was inspirational to the rest of the Revolution. Before the revolution, goods were manufactured through the domestic or “cottage” production. This way of production was conducted by workers in their own home, they would work at their own pace, in their own self-satisfying conditions. Although the conditions were better, the production rate was slow, and goods were more expensive as a result. The goods that were being manufactured through the factory production system were cheaper, and easily made. Rather than having one man work on the product from start to finish, he would do only 1 step and then hand it off to the person who would do the next step, the worker would repeat this all day. The houses that workers lived in were built better, and travel was much cheaper and faster (doc 6). Because of these decreases in time and money it took to travel, people were now able to travel much more abroad than before. In the 1830's, it took 43 hours to get from London to Edinburgh, and 24 hours to get to Liverpool. However with the invention of the steam engine during the Revolution, just 20 years later the journey from London to Edinburgh was reduced to 12 ¼ hours, and the journey to Liverpool was reduced to 6 ½ hours (doc 5). The factory system also was a great way for lower economic classes like peasants to make a living and provide for their family, this extended the range of the middle and lower classes (doc 3) England's economy skyrocketed as a result of the industrial revolution, and jobs were plentiful. Although the Industrial revolution had a major positive impact on England, the negative effects of factory life and production were soon brought to light through government inspectors such as the Saddler Commission, and interviews of factory workers. Life in the factory was dangerous work, as seen in an interview between Saddler and Hebergam, a factory worker, Hebergam states that “there were about a dozen died during the two years and a half that I was there. A boy was caught in a machine and had both his thigh bones broke and from his knee to his hip the flesh was ripped up the same as it had been cut by a knife. His hand was bruised, his eyes were nearly torn out, and his arms were broken” (doc 2). This was not the only account of poor treatment towards children in the factory's. In coal mines, kids were forced to drag, tow, and lift heavy loads of coal out of narrow and dangerous mine shafts. Smoke and dust filled the air and was inhaled directly into the children's lungs (doc 1) this would lead to the same cause of illness that Hebergam sustained after working in a factory with to much dust for long hours. Children were going to work long days in the factory's, and were not getting an education. This lead to a decrease in literacy among children. But the negative effects spread much farther than just the factories and coal mines. In the cities surrounding the factory, living conditions were unsanitary and cramped. The factory's workers lived in the city in over crowded apartment rooms, some without windows or escape routes, this meant that the hazards that the factory system brought to Europe was not only in the factories themselves, but in the city's as well. Friedrich Engles stated that ever great town has a part called “ the slums” where the poorest of all workers lived, the living conditions were extreamly unsanitary, human waste was hurled out onto the streets, along with garbage which was rarely removed from the street. As a result, the city streets became a breeding ground for disease and illness. The times that the garbage was collected, it was thrown straight into the main river of Manchester. A coal black and full of filth river in which the waste from factory's and humans was dumped directly into (doc 4). The values that were once precious also started to deteriorate as the Industrial Revolution expanded. People daily activities were now regulated by bells and work whistles. People soon began to loose any ability to realize when the time was to eat, rest, or play (doc 7) The industrial revolution which started in England in the mid 1700's, was a major step forward in the way that goods are produced. The technology invented then is still in use today. The revolution brought about many upsides such as wealth, cheaper goods, and more jobs, but at the same time was destroying family values, and was extremely hazardous to the factory workers.