Exam 2: Industrialization

Agricultural Revolution

Agricultural Revolution

A period of time in which various advancements in the farming sector was made to streamline crop production. such as crop rotation and alternating crops to prevent soil from wearing out

Industrialization

The process of transforming the economy of a region from a focus on agricultural production to a reliance on manufacturing.

Enclosure Movement

A series of laws set into motion to redistribute previously common land to privatized buyers based on the theory of the Tragedy of the commons.

Seed Drill

Allowed for more precise planting of seeds

Selective Breeding

The purposeful breeding of specific organisms to get a desired trait or ability in the offspring.

Urbanization

The mass movement of people from rural areas to more densely populated environments

Rotten Boroughs

Depopulated electoral districts that had the same representation as other places. The representation was not proportional to the amount of people living in a district.

Suffrage

the right to vote

Irish Famine

Due to the potato blight- people were displaced and many died

Factory Acts

Three separate acts that introduced early labor laws to the Industrial Revolution: they set a minimum legal working age, limits on how long children could work, and mandating children to 10 hours of schooling a week.

Peterloo Masacre

The calvary charged on a working class protest, killing 15 and injuring hundreds.

Chartist Movement

A working class movement aimed at granting the working the class political rights and influence

Cult of Domesticity

The sharp split between man/woman gender roles, restricting women solely to the home and men solely to monetary work. it was unwomanly to work, it was unmanly to deal in matters of the home.

Self-Help

The belief that the reason the middle class was so well to do of themseleves was because they worked for it and that if the working class worked harder they too would be able to make a lot of money.

Laissez - Faire

The belief that the economy should be “hands-free” in terms of government participation.

Socialism

A political and economic theory of social organization which advocated that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be regulated by the community

Adam Smith

Author of a Wealth of Nations (1776), and came up with the concepts of laissez-faire economy and the invisible hand.

Karl Marx

Author of the Communist Manifesto, believed all of history is just a series of class struggles believed everyone should be paid according to their abilities and needs.

Darwin

Came up with the theory of evolution via his travels across galagos, wrote all down in “on the Origin of Species” (what is relevant to this course: variation)

Social Darwinism

The belief that if variation exists within animal species, the same logic could be applied to humans and that’s why some races are better than others.

Eugenics

The active cleansing (often by forced sterilization or by death) of populations deemed ‘unfit’.

What is the Tragedy of the Commons?

The belief that common lands will forever be used to disarray because every user is constantly trying to maximize their livestock (selfishness) thus leading to a depletion of nutrients in the soil.

Who was Garrett Hardin?

Believed that all common land would eventually fall into the tragedy of the common land

Who was Elinor Ostrom?

She studied various communities across the world and proved that the trudged if the commons does not always have to happen if communities keep themselves

How did the Enclosure Acts impact population growth and population density?

Because the lands were now privatized and more efficient, there was a surplus of food which in turn caused a population boom, and as the need for agricultural workers decreased more and more people flocked to the cities in search of work, thus leading to a more dense population.

Where did the industrial revolution start?

In england

Why did the industrial revolution start in Britain?

England had not been fighting wars on her soil. The enclosure acts forced people off common lands and into cities in search of new work; england’s own raw materials and those of its colonies provided ample markets and resources to build- specifically a surplus of raw coal and iron. They also had lots of harbors and ports and rivers to distribute goods. Lastly england’s merchant class had the capital to fund new buildings and factories.

How was the work of men women and children valued in factories?

All workers were viewed as cheap disposable and replaceable parts for the capitalists to exploit. They worked long hard and dangerous shifts- often working 12-14 hours at any given time of day. They were forced into cramped tenement buildings- often with no clean water or space, making them centers of diseases and epidemics.

How did Urbanization play a role in participation in government?

urbanization was a result of the enclosure acts and available factory jobs. once being they were being exploited they had to unionize which allowed to bargain for better working conditions and hours enacting reform. furthermore, they now ad more to actually vote and participate in government making a fairer society

What were the debates surrounding government response to the Potato Famine?

The british were scared of the irish becoming ‘self-reliant’ on them. They also believed it was the Irish’s own fault they were in the situation in the first place- they had too many babies and needed to pull themselves out of poverty. Eventually they repealed the corn laws and other decrees that mad wit difficult for the irish to get aid

How did the middle class value of “self-help” influence the government?

It influenced the way they treated the people need - by believing “if they worked hard enough they will succeed” then it gives the implication that the reason that they’re in that predicament in the first place is because of some personal flaw not their circumstances. It allowed the government to be negligent- esp. in the Irish Potato Famine

What was Adam Smith’s Beliefs

The invisible hand: people are more like to care about and participate in economies local to them - it directly benefits them.

Why people do things: because they’re selfish- they do not trade goods out of benevolence, but rather out of selfish interest in what you’ll give them in return (money). Die to this interest, competition will flourish as everyone will do their best to regulate or lower prices to keep your business.

Governments invoke t in the economy: nominal, but should be there to place restrictions on the merchant class as their interests are diametrically opposed to the working classes, and ultimately harms them. In a merchant controlled economy you will have higher prices for lower quality goods

Why did Marx prefer revolution over reform?

He believed the entire system was corrupt- and since the all history could summed up to several class struggles - as such people could only end this through revolution. The only way for the working class to free themselves was to completely overthrow the bourgeoisie

How did the Factory Acts impact labor?

The Factory acts were the first inkling of labor laws- it cut back on hours and gave restrictions as to who can work and how long + mandatory schooling for kids.

How did the cult of domesticity influence society?

It created clearly and deeply entrenched societal norms and tradition for what it meant to be a woman and what it means to be a man- those who fail to adhere are considered not womanly or not manly.

How is the Second Part of The Industrial Revolution different from the first part?

The first part of the I.R was mainly agricultural and shifted the population massively whereas the second I.R. had a focus of automation and weaponry