Society and the Industrial Age Flashcards

Socioeconomic Stratification: Industrialization created a sharp divide between the emerging middle class and the urban poor. Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist (1839) describes the night as "Bleak, dark, and piercing cold," where the well-housed were home while the "homeless, starving wretch" would lay down and die.
Urbanization and Slums: During the first half of the 19th century, urban areas grew rapidly with minimal government planning, resulting in a damaging ecological footprint. * Tenements: Shoddily constructed apartment buildings, often owned by factory masters, where working families were crowded together. * Urban Slums: Areas designated for low-income families characterized by polluted water supplies and open sewers.
Public Health and Safety: * Inhumane conditions led to the spread of disease, specifically the much-feared cholera. * Public health menaces included fire, crime, and violence. * Reform Measures: Municipalities eventually established police and fire departments. Public health acts were passed to implement sanitation reform, including better drainage, sewage systems, cleaner water, and rubbish removal.
Standard of Living: While life remained difficult for the working class, standard of living eventually increased for many, with the middle class gaining improved access to goods, housing, culture, and education.

The Working Class: Occupied the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy, consisting of factory and coal mine laborers. * Loss of Skill: The technology of interchangeable parts and the division of labor meant workers no longer crafted complete products. They were considered unskilled and easily replaceable, which kept wages low.
The Middle Class: A new class of white-collar workers emerged, including factory and office managers, small business owners, and professionals. Most were literate.
The Upper Class: At the top were the industrialists and owners of large corporations, known as "captains of industry." These individuals overshadowed the landed aristocracy as the primary power brokers and leaders of society.

Disruption of Family Patterns: Before industrialization, families worked in close proximity (farming or cottage industries). The use of large machinery in factories required individuals to leave their neighborhoods and families for long workdays.
Work Culture Shock: Factory work was dictated by the shrill sound of the factory whistle rather than the seasonal or personal needs of the farmer.
Conditions and Hazards: * Workers typically labored $14$ hours a day, $6$ days a week. * Exhaustion led to frequent injuries and death from operating dangerous heavy machinery.

Child Labor: Low wages forced families to send children as young as five to work in textile mills. * Utility: Their small size and nimble fingers were used to repair equipment and navigate tight spots in mines. * Health Hazards: Dust from machinery damaged children's lungs. In coal mines, they faced oppressive heat, heavy loads, mine collapses, and floods.
Women's Labor: Factory owners preferred hiring women because they could pay them half of what they paid men. * Legislation: The practice of hiring women for coal mining was declared illegal in Britain in the $1840s$ .
The Cult of Domesticity: For middle-class women, being a housewife became a status symbol indicating the husband was the sole provider. * Advertising: Consumer culture idealized the domestic homemaker, urging women to be pious, submissive, pure, and domestic. * Working-Class Strain: For working-class women, the expectation to manage a household while working full-time was extremely taxing.
Feminism: Industrialization spurred early feminist movements, such as the $1848$ meeting at Seneca Falls, New York, where $300$ people called for equality for women.

Fossil Fuels: The Industrial Revolution was powered by coal, petroleum, and natural gas. * Pollution: Late 19th-century towns were choked by toxic smog (smoke and fog), causing respiratory problems and water pollution from industrial waste.
Global Consequences: * Early industrializing states searched the world for raw materials like cotton and rubber. * This exploitation undercut industrialization in Egypt, China, and India, ushering in a second wave of colonization.

Shift in Systems: Western Europe moved from mercantilism (regulated trade for national wealth) to a capitalist system where private companies pursued profits.
Adam Smith: Believed the private pursuit of profit resulted in general prosperity.
Karl Marx: German philosopher who responded to the suffering of the working class. * He defined the working class as the proletariat and the capital class as the bourgeoisie. * He called for workers to unite and take control of the "means of production."

Share of Total World Manufacturing Output (Percentage): * Europe: * $1750: 23.2\,\%$ * $1800: 28.1\,\%$ * $1860: 53.2\,\%$ * $1880: 61.3\,\%$ * $1900: 62.0\,\%$ * United States: * $1750: 0.1\,\%$ * $1800: 0.8\,\%$ * $1860: 7.2\,\%$ * $1880: 14.7\,\%$ * $1900: 23.6\,\%$ * Japan: * $1750: 3.8\,\%$ * $1800: 3.5\,\%$ * $1860: 2.6\,\%$ * $1880: 2.4\,\%$ * $1900: 2.4\,\%$ * The Rest of the World: * $1750: 73.0\,\%$ * $1800: 67.7\,\%$ * $1860: 36.6\,\%$ * $1880: 20.9\,\%$ * $1900: 11.0\,\%$

Labor Movements: Workers formed labor unions that utilized strikes and collective bargaining to win concessions on wages and hours.
Voting Rights: Calls for political participation led to the extension of the franchise to city dwellers and non-landowners. Initially, this was limited to males; women did not gain the right to vote until the early 20th century.
The Revolutions of $1848$ : A sign of growing interest in democratic governments. * Paris: Protesters called for freedom of the press. * Berlin: Demands for a parliament to check monarchical power. * Hungary: Demands for freedom from Austrian control.
Bismarck's Social Reforms: Under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Germany implemented comprehensive social reforms to prevent radical socialism: * Workers' accident compensation insurance. * Unemployment insurance. * Old age pensions.
Growth of the Non-Agricultural Labor Force (Percent): * England: $1800: 68\,\%$ , $1850: 78\,\%$ , $1900: 84\,\%$ * France: $1800: 41\,\%$ , $1850: 57\,\%$ , $1900: 69\,\%$ * Italy: $1800: 42\,\%$ , $1850: 56\,\%$ , $1900: 67\,\%$ * Poland: $1800: 44\,\%$ , $1850: 53\,\%$ , $1900: 58\,\%$