Early Stages Of Industrialization In Western Europe

The living conditions of the newly emerged working class were appalling: overcrowding, poor housing, poor sanitation and rise in crime. The process of industrialization caused people to reconsider their beliefs and values. Thus, the socio-political environment was changing radically in terms of the outlook on such traditional institutions as religion, family and education as well as having an impact on the political views of the population.

One of the major changes that happened in the society during industrialization is the importance of education in the eyes of general population and the government. In the early stages of industrialization, when the factory owners were free to exploit their workers by paying low wages and offering poor living

However, with the emergence of labour specialization and work differentiation, education became necessary, as now workers needed to be trained in order to obtain the necessary technical skills to become professionals. Men like Charles Early Grey and Robert Peel made people aware of their rights and of the need to fight for them . As a result, after the 1833 Factory Act passed by the English Government, children were given better working conditions and factory owners were now restricted by law from exploiting children. Among these rights there were: children under 9 years of age were not allowed to work and children between 9-13 could work no more than 9 hours as well as compulsory two hours of schooling every day. Education was now demanded to be provided by the government and after the 1870 Fosters Education Act , England was now divided into school boards as well as schools being placed within the reach of everybody so that no one was deprived from receiving education. The 1880 Act made education compulsory until the age of ten, which was further

Political thinkers of that time were divided on the issue of industrialization and its consequences on the country’s future. Many of them were provoking the working class to be more conscious about their human and citizen’s rights. This stimulated the growth of liberal and revolutionary ideas among the working class, being tired of the constant misery. The previous government’s laissez-faire approach was gradually becoming unacceptable. Thus, there was a rise of labor unions, which united workers to stand for an improvement of working conditions. They advocated against unsafe working conditions, low pay, long hours and child labor. Even Adam Smith, who was a strong advocate of the laissez-faire approach, did recognize the importance of improving the working and living conditions of the working class, saying: “the only legitimate goal of national government and human activity is the steady increase in the overall wealth of the nation” . In this way, the Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832 resulted in the working class gaining representation in the Parliament. From that point, the House of Commons did undergo some profound changes and did pass a number of liberal legislations aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions as well as the political rights of ordinary