Industrial Revolution Dbq Essay

In the 18th to 19th century in Europe, the agricultural revolution made farming more efficient which allowed more people to get fed with less labor, which led to a massive population growth. With a much bigger and healthier population and new technologies and resources to take part, new factories emerged ran by capitalists and entrepreneurs. This in turn called for new ways of organizing human labor to maximize the benefits and profits from the new machines. Thus, the Industrial Revolution began and this idea slowly spread throughout Europe and eventually to the United States. Britain, being the wealthiest country and having the correct resources, were the first to experience this change has been through all the success and failures of the

However, overpopulation of people led to horrible health and working conditions of the laborers to the unsanitary daily lives of the citizens. For example in document 2, Edwin Chadick, a health reformer explains how overpopulation lead to diseases and horrible health conditions. He starts of by explaining how, “atmospheric impurities from decomposing animal and vegetable substances , damp and filth, and overcrowded dwellings,” of of the lower working class people caused diseases. Leading to the deaths of many, the lifespan of the working class population became lower due to the industrial revolution. The point of view of this document is of a health reformer, Chadwick. He allows the audience, the people of Great Britain, to know how the overpopulation is affecting lives of the lower class. His purpose was to help improve the health of the people by physically observing how the living conditions were like and warn about the dangers of diseases caused by bad sanitation. In addition, in document 3, Flora Tristan, a French Socialist and women’s rights advocate, describes the working conditions in factories. She says, “They spend from twelve to fourteen hours each day shut up in

Also the fact that the laborers had to work 12-14 hours non-stop know that they are not properly fed had a very negative impact on them because it led to a shorter life span and an unhealthy lifestyle. It goes on to describe the workers physical appearance, “...they are all wizened, sickly and emancipated, their bodies thin and frail, their limbs feeble, their complexions pale, their eyes dead.” This description of the workers can connect to slavery as they are basically tortured and unfed which made them physically incapable of laboring and gave them a low moral, yet were still forced to man the hard, tiring tasks in the factories. And in the last sentence she says, “O God! Can progress be bought only at the cost of men’s lives?” Tristan is implying that industrialization is a cruel thing , it would do anything to earn money and progress in production, however, it shows no regards to the workers even if it costs their lives. The picture in document 5, which was a view from Blackfriars bridge over the River Irwell, demonstrates an example of the urban areas being very unsanitary. From the picture top to bottom we can see that the air is very