When reading about the Industrial Revolution, it was clear to see that it was a time of complete transformation. Change for the positive, that is, with new inventions being released constantly. The coal-fired steam engine, the spinning jenny, the power loom, and the cotton gin were just some of the many beneficial tools that added to the “culture of innovation.” (Page 528 Ways of the World)
However, the positive aspects of the Industrial Revolution were all that were stated in this section. It got me thinking if along with all of the beneficial effects this time had on society in the late 1700’s, if there was a downside as well. After some further research, I found that there were some negatives as well. According to Wikipedia along with various other websites such as Yahoo Answers, the main downsides of the Industrial Revolution were enclosure, pollution, child labor, and insanitary working quarters.
Enclosure took place where those of the wealthier class took money/land from those of a lower class, forming one larger and better lot, leaving the farmers jobless. The machines and factories caused pollution, which dirtied the once clean air. The factories needed more workers than just adults, and in turn hired children to work their machines. Due to the fact that they were hiring children, they were able to get away with paying them below minimum wage as well as having them work in extremely close and unsuitable environments.
As one can see, the Industrial Revolution brought both positives and negatives to society in the 1750s-1800s. The positives, however, strongly outweigh the negatives. All of the beneficial things the new inventions brought truly improved the way Europe matured as a whole, opening up countless doors to even more future opportunities. The negatives were in fact harmful in some ways, and it is understandable as to why some saw the Industrial Revolution as damaging to those who lived through it. Yet as a whole, I feel as though for the most part all that came with the Industrial Revolution was beneficial and “this continuous emergence of new techniques of production and the economic growth that they made possible mark the past 250 years as a distinct phase of human history.” (Page 528 Ways of the World)
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Another problem with the Industrial Revolution was that there was an uneven distibution between the classes. There was a large population that were in the working class that struggled to provide for their family while the wealthy owners of these factories were sleeping in money with no worries. Even though that throughout history there has always been a gap between the wealthy and the poor, I think the industrial revolution widend this gap before the forming of unions and the philosophies of people like Karl Marx.
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