The Industrial Revolution: Life in the Industrial City

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The Industrial Revolution Life in the Industrial
City

• Aim How did the Industrial Revolution impact
  city life?
• Do Now The Liverpool-Manchester Railroad
  Reading

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The New Industrial City

• The Industrial Revolution brought rapid
  urbanization, or the movement of people to cities
• Changes in farming, growing populations, and an
  increased demand for workers led people to move
  from farms to cities
• Cities developed near coal and iron mines and
  factories
• The city of Manchester grew from 17,000 in 1750
  to 70,000 in 1801

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Urban Society

• The wealthy and middle class lived in pleasant
  neighborhoods
• Large numbers of poor struggled to survive in
  slums
• They lived in crowed tenements, or multi-story
  buildings divided into apartments
• These buildings did not have running water,
  sewage or sanitation systems
• Cholera and other diseases spread quickly in
  these conditions

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The Factory System

• The heart of the new industrial city was the
  factory
• Working hours were long and conditions were poor
• The work day ranged from 12 to 16 hours
• Many factories lacked safety equipment
• Many workers were injured in the factories and
  mines
• Injured or sick workers lost their jobs

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Women Workers

• Employers often preferred to hire women rather
  than men
• They believed that women were easier to manage
  than men
• Factory owners were also able to pay women less
  than men
• These jobs took women out of their homes for 12
  hours per day
• Women then returned home to feed and clothe their
  families, complete house hold chores, and raise
  their children

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Child Labor

• Factories and mines also hired young children
• A childs hands could fit into tight places to
  repair machinery
• Children could also work in narrow mine shafts
• The wages earned by children were needed to keep
  the family from starving
• Many factory owners would make deals with
  orphanages to supply child labor
• Supervisors would beat children who were not
  working hard enough or were found sleeping
• Some factory owners provided education and a
  descent life for their child workers, but this
  was uncommon

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Labor Reforms

• In the 1830s and 1840s, British lawmakers began
  to investigate abuses in factories and mines
• Many children died, were injured, or suffered
  disfigurement
• Most children workers were uneducated
• Slowly, Parliament passed laws to regulate child
  labor in the factories and mines

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The Working Class

• As the Industrial Revolution began, many skilled
  workers and artisans resisted the new
  labor-saving machines that were costing them
  their jobs
• Some destroyed machines and burned factories
• In England, these rioters were called Luddites
  after a mythical figure, Ned Ludd, who supposedly
  destroyed machines in the 1780s
• Protests were usually met with force
• Workers were forbidden to organize or strike

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The New Middle Class

• Those who benefited the most from the Industrial
  Revolution were the entrepreneurs who supported
  it
• The new middle class was made up of merchants who
  invested their profits in factories and inventors
  and skilled artisans who developed new
  technologies
• The middle class lived in comfortable homes and
  ate and dressed well
• They gained influence in Parliament, where they
  opposed any effort to improve conditions for
  workers
• Middle class women did not work in or outside the
  home
• Daughters were educated to become good wives
• Sons received education that allowed them to
  become businessmen
• The middle class valued hard work
• Many believed the poor were lazy and deserved
  their low position in society

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Benefits and Problems

• Was the Industrial Revolution a blessing or a
  curse?
• Eventually, reforms were made
• These reforms improved working conditions
• Workers gained the right to organize labor unions
• Labor unions bargained with employers for higher
  wages, better conditions, and shorter work days
• Eventually, working-class men gained the right to
  vote, which gave them political power
• New jobs were created and wages eventually
  increased
• As the cost of railroad travel fell, people began
  to travel more
• Horizons widened and opportunities increased