Industrialization, urbanization, and migration as effects of the Industrial Revolution significantly changed demographics, social classes, family structures, and lives of people.
Describing industrialization and its impact on workers, Morris pictures a “world full of dependence, violence, humiliation, degradation, and derision” (32). Poor working conditions in factories at the beginning of industrialization were characterized by beatings, harsh discipline, intense labor, and danger. Children “were forbidden to go to the lavatory or “necessary” except at several restricted times of the day” (Morris 32).
Due to “enormous taxation and restricted commerce the burdens of trade diminished the profits of capital, and the wages of labor” resulting in strikes, riots, and protests (Morris 32). By Bentley and Ziegler, Luddites “blamed textile machines for low wage and unemployment” and destroyed them (656). On one hand, the factories became a symbol of severe working discipline, violence, and dismissals. On the other hand, the factories led to the creation of trade union organizations and the Chartists movement that intended to protect workers.
Furthermore, industrialization resulted in urbanization, and the growth of the population considerably contributed to migration. Medicine evolved, child and adult mortality significantly reduced, which required an introduction of the birth control system. Nonetheless, the population in Europe grew in the eighteenth century “from 105 million to 180 million… during the 19th it doubled to 390 million,” which lead to massive migration to North and South America (Bentley and Ziegler 661). Moreover, when new cities emerged, the middle and upper class enjoyed new standards of living, “dramatic reduction in the cost of clothing” as they could afford “more furniture, cabinets, porcelains, decorative objects” (Bentley and Ziegler 660). Hence, the structure of society changed, and new social classes emerged.
Industry pioneers and businessmen “became fabulously wealthy and powerful to overshadow the military aristocracy and other traditionally privileged classes,” and this new upper class could enjoy reading books and studying at home (Bentley and Ziegler 665). At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, women and children were considered to fit the factories and work more effectively, but by the end of the eighteenth century “one of three European women became a domestic servant” (Bentley and Ziegler 667). Therefore, the new middle class consisted of working men (small business owners and professionals) and housewives that hired women to work at their homes.
The beginning of the Industrial Revolution is shown both in the article and the book focusing on terrible working conditions in the factories. However, the article also describes the shift in the social structure and origins of “the campaign for universal suffrage” (Morris 35). In my opinion, the representation of Thomas Paine’s The right of men is essential for understanding the democratic outcomes of the Industrial Revolution.
Nonetheless, the article in contrast with the book lacks some important information on the foundation and causes of industrialization, growth of population, description of new inventions (steam power, Watt’s engine, locomotive, and new transport system). The book also describes industrial capitalism in different countries and touches on a topic of “mass production, corporation, monopolies, trust and cartels” (Bentley and Ziegler 658). Hence, this information presents the big picture of the Industrial Revolution.
Although the article depicts many examples of factory workers’ hardships, it does not mention their living conditions. On the contrary, the book discusses the issues of urbanization. For example, poor workers lived in the center of the cities while rich individuals preferred suburbs as “until the latter part of 19th-century urban environments remained dangerous” because of pollution and diseases (Bentley and Ziegler 663). Nonetheless, both sources characterize the Industrial Revolution from different perspectives. Therefore, the article and the book compensate each other and provide insight into the era of the Industrial Revolution.
Works Cited
Bentley, Jerry, and Herbert Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. Volume 2. From 1500 to the Present. 6th ed. 2014. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Print.
R. J. Morris. “The Industrial Revolution: Class & Common Interest.” History Today 33.5 (1983): 31-35. History Study Center. Web.