Key Terms:

Urbanization: The movement of people from rural areas to cities due to farming changes, population growth and demand for workers. Towns that used to be rural became urban very quickly during the Industrial Revolution because of these reasons.

Tenement: A multi-story building divided into crowded apartments. Mostly the working class lived in these and they were usually run down and bad quality. For example, they had no running water, no sewage or sanitation systems so the people were forced to use community pumps and throw their garbage in the streets.

Labor union: An organization of workers who bargain for better pay and working conditions. These didn’t exist in the industrial time so workers would riot and protest violently because of the terrible pay and working conditions.

Standard of living: The level of material goods and services available to people in a society. While working in factories and coal mines provided several dangers, the standard of living increased for people during the Industrial Revolution because goods could be produced at a faster rate and therefore be less expensive. Ordinary workers could now afford a more varied diet, better homes, better clothing and better medicine that before only the rich could afford which improved their standard of living.

Social mobility: The ability of individuals or groups to move up the social scale. The Industrial Revolution created more social mobility because people could have a better status by having a successful enterprise and working hard for wealth. Before the Industrial Revolution there was no social mobility because people were born into their rank in society and could not change it.

Questions:

1. What led to the massive migration of people from farms to cities?

Farming changes such as the use of machinery more than people and shifting of ownership to more private owners caused people who used to work on farms to migrate to cities. Population growth and a high demand for workers in the cities also caused people to move there.

2. Which class changed the least due to industrialization?

The upper class changed the least, although they shifted from owning large farms to owning large factories, they still made around the same amount of money. They had a much better standard of living then the other classes (which also stayed the same) that they probably wouldn't have even noticed if their income grew.

3. How did members of the working class react to their new experiences in industrial cities?

The working class didn’t like the industrial cities for several reasons. First of all, jobs were hard to find because new industrial machines were doing the labor work they could have gotten paid for, especially skilled artisans. Secondly, jobs that had good working conditions and high pay were almost impossible to find. Some members of the working class reacted by forming a protesting group called the Luddites which violently smashed machines and burnt factories in protest.

4. Why did mine owners hire children for certain jobs?

Mine workers hired children because they are smaller than adults and can more easily fit into small spaces such as tunnels in a coal mine or spaces underneath a large machine. They could do repairs on machines with their smaller fingers and be more precise and quick.

5. How did the Industrial Revolution change the lives of men, women and children?

The industrial revolution made the lives of men, women and children more harsh and risky, especially women and children. For example, all workers were forced into harsh conditions where machines had no safety features and they could easily lose a limb or their lives. Women were especially oppressed because they got paid much less than men for the same, dangerous work. To add on, women also had to tend to the same household chores and family care on top of a 12 hour workday. Children were forced to grow up faster and experience a fast and harsh childhood where they were exposed to health dangers at a young age such as coal dust which can ruin their lungs for the rest of their lives. Children also performed the same amount and oftentimes more risky work than adults.

6. Why was the Industrial Revolution seen as both a blessing and a curse?

The Industrial Revolution was seen as both a blessing and a curse because it had both beneficial elements for the people and major dangers, mainly to people in the working class. For example, greater social mobility due to entrepreneurs and industrialization caused more political rights such as the right to vote and politicians caring more about the people's concerns. However, people were only concerned about things to begin with due to the terrible working conditions and health dangers that they faced working in factories and coal mines. Despite this, the standard of living increased greatly during the Industrial Revolution because goods were mass produced and therefore could be less expensive so regular workers could now afford food, clothing and medicine which raised their standard of living.