Friedrich Engels was a German philosopher, social scientists, journalist and businessmen during the 1800s. His collection of work done with Karl Marx laid the groundwork for modern socialism. They wrote and published numerous articles and books together that attempted to expose the uneven distribution of wealth gained during the Industrial Revolution. It pinned capitalism as an exploitive system benefiting owners of land, capital and means of production more so than the workforce. The surplus value created by workers in excess of wages produces significant profits for owners of capital. This was a central theme of Engel's contributions to a socialist economic system.
Friedrich Engels was born on November 20, 1820 in the Prussia region— what is now Germany. He was the eldest son of a wealthy textile manufacturer Friedrich Sr and Elisabeth Engels. At an early age, Engels developed a profound sense of cynicism toward major societal institutions like religion. He was opposed to organized religion and capitalism, much of which was
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They grew concerned by his radical ideology but still expected him to follow Friedrich Sr's footsteps. At 22, Engels was sent to a manufacturing center in Manchester to become well-versed in the family business. It was here that Engels grew more engrossed with socialism and met Karl Marx for the first time. Together they would produce countless pieces of work critiquing capitalism and developing an alternative economic system in socialism. Their most famous pieces of work include The Condition of the Working Class in England, The Communist Manifesto, and each volume of Das Kapital. Engels published and edited and published the fourth volume of Capital after Marx's death in 1883. The remainder of Engels' life was spent compiling Marx's unfinished work and putting together thoughts of his own. Engels died of throat cancer in London at age