Social Ramifications of the Industrial Revolution

Flashcards about the social ramifications of the Industrial Revolution, focusing on class, women, and children.

Profits

Increased due to the industrial revolution, leading to the emergence of new middle classes.

Rapid urbanization

A consequence of rapid urbanization during the Industrial Revolution, leading to towns that were unplanned and had poor conditions.

'The rich got richer, but the poor got poorer'

This phrase reflects the disparity in wealth accumulation during the Industrial Revolution.

Work or starve

The only choices for working people due to extreme poverty caused by the industrial revolution.

Breakdown of the family

A consequence of harsh living conditions and factory work during the Industrial Revolution.

Readily exploited

Describes how women and children were often treated in factories, performing tasks at very young ages.

Scavenging cotton fluff

Tasks given to children as young as six, involving collecting cotton from beneath moving factory machinery.

Permission to leave their post

Common in the textile industry, this describes the permission workers needed to leave their work area.

Family structures

Altered as parents and children had to work in factories or mills.

Child Labour

Children as young as 4-5 years old had to start working.

Factory owners and mine owners

Entities that exploited children for labor because of their lower wages.

A labour force

The reason factory owners saw orphans as a beneficial labor source during the Industrial Revolution.

Food, shelter and clothing

Justification given by factory owners for not paying orphans, providing them with basic necessities instead.

Trappers

Tasks that involved opening and closing trap doors in mines, often done by young children.

Scavengers

Tasks such as picking up loose cotton from under machinery, which were extremely dangerous.

Twisted limbs and crooked spleens

A result of the strenuous work for children workers that impacted their still developing bodies.

New forms of affiliation or alliance among factory workers

Organizations that formed among factory workers to address their working conditions.

Factory Reform Acts

An Act that shortened the length of the working day and provided education for children.

Twelve hours

The maximum number of hours children aged 11-18 were permitted to work per day, according to the 1833 Act

Hereditary aristocracy

A term for the upper class in in the nineteenth century, comprising royalty, nobility, aristocracy and gentry.

Angel of the House

Victorian ideal of femininity; woman considered the moral center of the home.

Embroidery

This activity became a site of power for middle and upper class women.

Domestic service

The largest realm of employment for English women throughout the nineteenth century.

Fallen woman

Term to describe women who were forced into prostitution.

Seduction, their own immorality, or as a product of poverty

Reasons why Victorian society considered one a fallen woman.

Workhouses

A place provided by parishes for the very poor, but were usually even less attractive than prostitution

Prostitution in the early 1800s

A necessary evil.

Contagious Diseases Acts

Acts passed to tackle venereal disease in British society, particularly the military.

Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866 and 1869

Acts Made prostitution legal, forcibly detained and examined for disease

Victorian Feminist Movement

Movement associated with Florence Nightingale that led to the Repeal in 1886 of the Contagious Disease Acts.

Victorian Ideal: Angel of the House

Imagine a society where women are expected to be paragons of virtue, the moral compass of the home. That's the 'Angel of the House'—a Victorian ideal that placed women squarely in the domestic sphere, celebrated for their purity and selflessness, but also confined by those very expectations.

Embroidery as Empowerment

Now, picture upper and middle-class women engaging in activities like embroidery. It might seem like a simple pastime, but it was a subtle form of empowerment. These creative outlets allowed women to express themselves and exert influence in a world that often minimized their voices.

Domestic Service

Consider the working class. For many women in 19th century England, domestic service