Industrialization: Boom or Bust? Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

The industrial revolution was both a boom and bust. Different segments of society were affected differently by industrialization. This paper will examine the effects of industrialization on different segments of European society and the types of inventions that made the industrial revolution possible. Industrialization took place in Europe beginning around 1780 and continued through the 1800s and early 1900s.

Major Developments

During the period from about 1780 to 1860, some major developments took place to change the way people worked and lived. One of the major developments was the invention of Watt’s Steam Engine. James Watt of Scotland invented an engine that converted “the machine of limited use into one of efficiency and many applications¹ This engine made a ready energy source that was used extensively during the industrial revolution to power machines. It was during Watt’s lifetime that European society transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial society.

The Reverend Edmund Cartwright invented a power loom that increased production time significantly. His power loom effectively put a number of individuals in the weaving industry out of a job. Weaving during that time frame was paid using the piece-rate system. Handweavers could not keep up with the power loom. Power looms were set up in factories where many pieces could be made quickly.

As many different inventions were used to make work more productive many individuals feared the loss of their occupations. Employers were making money while the workers in the factories had to work long hours to make a living wage. Most of the time spent by workers was spent working, eating, and sleeping. That, compared to the lives of the employers, was poor living. General Ned Ludd of Nottingham sent letters to employers threatening them. The ‘Luddites’ were disenfranchised workers upset with wage reductions and the use of “unapprenticed workmen”². These Luddites would break into factories at night and destroy the machines their employers were using. The constables had to create a large force to guard the factories at night. The workers were destroying machines that they felt were putting them out of work. Essentially, these workers were being replaced with machines. By 1812 workers were frustrated because they could no longer feed their families. The result was food riots.

The most upset were the hand boomers who had been replaced with the power loom. These workers whose former occupation employed their whole family (most families worked together to produce a product) were out of a job and hungry. Weavers banded together and vowed to destroy all the power looms and machine weavers. The constable arrested the weavers but they were later acquitted of attending a seditious meeting³.

All of the protests and defiant behavior did not stop inventors from creating machines to make work easier and more productive. In search of a better locomotive prompted the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company to set up a competition for the best locomotive. George Stephenson met this challenge with the creation of a ‘rocket’ that could reach speeds of up to 24 mph. In 1829 this was a great feat! His was the first locomotive to have a “multitube boiler with 25 copper tubes rather than a single flue”⁴

What About the Children?

As stated earlier, entrepreneurs who worked from home employed their whole families. When the entrepreneurs had to find a job their children often went to work as well. Many children were put to work in factories across Europe including England. Most of these children worked in steam cotton mills and looms. Children as young as ten worked in mines across England while other children worked in steam cotton mills for up to 16 hours a day. The Factory Act of 1833 set in place laws that limited the use of children within the cotton mills. The Act prohibited anyone under the age of eighteen from working into the evening hours (8:30 PM to 5:30 AM). The children affected by the Act were those who worked in steam-powered mills and any mechanical mills. In 1847 the Act was amended to forbid factories from working women and children more than ten hours a day. In addition, the Act set holidays that the factories/mills were required to give time off (such as Christmas)⁵.

The Great Exhibition

It is certain that during the early 1800s Great Britain was the most industrialized nation in Western Europe. By the mid-1800s, the population of England was well into the transition from individual entrepreneurs to factory workers (to include children). Great Britain wanted to show off its industrial and military might to the rest of Europe. The idea to have an exhibition was born. Prince Albert masterminded the idea of an exhibition. The exhibition was set up in a specially built building made of iron and glass (The Crystal Palace). There were over 13,000 exhibits for visitors to examine⁶. The exhibits were from all around the world and included kitchen appliances, machine looms, and a reaping machine from the United States. The exhibition was a great success.

Conclusion

Life during the industrial revolution changed the day-to-day lives of many. It changed a mostly agrarian society into an industrialized society. Individual craftsmen were put out of business while factories were built and employed hundreds. Those who worked piece-rate were quickly replaced by factories. The ‘cottage industries’ that employed whole families were put out of business. The diet of most workers was bread-based and not very nutritional. And, children as young as five or six were working in the steam cotton mills.

Those who were well-to-do (rich) lived a life much different from the rest of England. Their lives were full of parties, courtships, and marriages. They were well fed and well dressed. Many women of that time became employed as servants to this upper-class society. Becoming a servant was a much sought-after job as the work was not as hard as in the factories.

The industrial revolution has changed western society from working long hours to shorter six to eight-hour workdays. Food is plentiful and education is a universal right (mandated attendance for children in many countries). Children are no longer found working sixteen-hour days.

Works Cited

BBC History. Stephenson’s Rocket Animation. Web.

The Luddites. The National Archives Learning Curve. Sparticus Schoolnet.

O’Brien, Joseph V. Department of History. “The Factory Act”. John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, N.Y.10019.

The Great Idea Finder. James Watt Biography. Web.

Victorian Station. Vol. III, No. 228, 2008.

Footnotes

1. The Great Idea Finder. James Watt Biography. Web.
2. The Luddites. The National Archives Learning Curve. Sparticus Schoolnet.
3. IBID.
4. BBC History. Stephenson’s Rocket Animation. Web.
5. O’Brien, Joseph V. Department of History. “The Factory Act”. John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York, N.Y.10019.
6. Victorian Station. Vol. III, No. 228, 2008.