Industrial Revolution: Positive/Negative?

I think that the Industrial Revolution helped the higher more wealthy classes and people but it didn't help the poorer lower classes. I think that the higher classes noticed that the lower classes were poor and in need of money. When they realized this they hired more people from the families to work on the machines and then they paid each individual a smaller wage. That way the factory workers could produce maybe 3 times more than they were and then they would only have to pay a little more than before. Then the poorer people felt that they were making more because the prices in potatoes and other goods were lowered because of all the work that was being supplied. There were so many workers working to make money that many of the products doubled and tripled in production. Therefore the poorer people were able to afford a little more than they could before. This did help lower class a little because of the price drop but in relation to the wealthy people, the high class people were coming out way wealthier than the poor lower class. From the documents, the lower class was gaining some things like education, but it started slow so it wasn't real effective in the beginning compared to education now and where it can take you. But it was a step in the right direction. There were many points in these documents that mentioned the beatings and injuries inflicted on the laborers. This is obviously not very positive for the working class.

I think that Smith was right about how the "masters" or industrialists or factory owners were using the laborers because the laborers need to work to get money to survive, and the factory owners could have actually lived without workers, but the factory owners preferred workers so that they could produce more inventory and therefore make more money. I think that Marx was right about the point that the laborers should ideally make a time limit and set boundaries for when they work because otherwise they would be selling themselves and their freedom to the factory owners, and then essentially become slaves. The problem is that the laborers need the money to live and support their family and so they aren't always given the option of choosing how long they are to be employed. So I think that Marx had a good point and it makes sense but it wasn't exactly realistic for all of the laborers.