Industrial Revolution Working Class Essay

Before the industrial revolution in the 18th century, conservatism and romanticism had taken hold of society as a repercussion of revolutionary movements. England stabilized itself with the reinstatement of monarchial power after the French Revolution allowing industrialization to take root with the introduction of limitless steam power. Steam power directly resulted in a shift from the cottage industry to the machine age. With this shift in the industry came a multitude of social, political, and economic changes. The Industrial Revolution inspired productivity and social mobility but did not benefit everyone equally or fairly. As industry spread and developed attitudes began to polarize among societal classes and lower, working classes awoke

Women and children had no claim to voting and no sway in politics. However, working-class men were closer to having similar rights to their middle and upper-class counterparts. Politics were driven by economics during the machine age. This stunted working class rights since they were not fully seen as individuals let alone individuals with political opinions. In turn, decisions regarding their quality of life, work environment, and pay were all made for them without their input. For example before the Factory Act of 1833 over fifty percent of the textile and cotton industry was composed of women and children. After child labor laws set age and hourly limitations for children, women took over even more of these industries (Spielvogel 20-30d). Their hours also were limited by the Factory Acts of 1830. In this instance, factory workers were finally seen as humans but it took lots of unrest to make leaders see them. The working class became fed up with poor wages, terrible working conditions, and maltreatment and began to rise in numbers to make a collective louder voice. For example, the Luddites attempted to resist low wages by smashing machines that made their way of life obsolete. Even though these machines were relatively inexpensive, Parliament denied their living wage claim again and instead passed a law that deemed the destruction of a machine a hangable offense. This was a pivotal claim, a machine

With more money came more population growth as the population grew there was a higher demand for goods, jobs, and food so machines were established as an efficient way to support this growth (Winks 71). Individuals with money could easily buy into the industrial age by being part owner of a factory or working as a manager of the factory facilities. The money allowed individuals to be upwardly mobile. Once factories were established in cities workers found that there was less opportunity on farms and in the cottage industry as machines began to take over artisan specialization and craftsmanship. Workers migrated to cities where jobs were plentiful. This urbanization also centralized the economy. However, the working class still had much less money than middle and upper-class individuals so in these cities there was a visible divide in wealth reflected by clothing, language, neighborhoods, and businesses. The working class began to create their communities within the city allowing them to create a working-class identity. Financial security played a large role in emerging classist