The Industrial Revolution:Working & Living ConditionsJohn Estrella, Alexis Feliciano & Kate HeaneyCentral & South Asia
The Industrial Revolution:
The period starting in the mid-1700s in Britain… economic changes…
affected people’s lives… long, slow, uneven process…
from simple hand tools to complex machines…
spread around the globe…
Ellis, Elizabeth G., and Anthony Esler. World History: the Modern Era. Boston: Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2007.
Working & Living Conditions
• The Proletariat• Work/Labor
– Hours/Conditions– Wages– Children– Women
• The Growth of Cities– Industrial Cities– Living Conditions– Population
• Reforms
The Proletariat
• Definition:
– 1: the laboring class; especially: the class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labor to live
– 2: the lowest social or economic class of a community
“Proletariat.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2007-2008 Merriam-Webster,
Incorporated. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proletariat
Working Hours/Conditions
• Factory hours—one man who worked at a blanket factory described working from 6 am to 8 pm on a usual day with one hour for lunch at noon—14 hours total
• When “trade was brisk,” hours were from 5 am to 9 pm—16 hours total—1 hr. for dinner
• Couldn’t get breakfast at mill—ate at home
• If late to work, “commonly beaten”—severely
• Also could be fined if late—take away half of wages for an hour—fine greater than loss of time
Scott, Jonathan F., and Alexander Baltzly, eds. Readings in European History Since1814. Appleton-Century-Croft, Inc., 1930.http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html#sadler
Working Hours/Conditions
• Perpetual “chastisement”—always heard crying
• Being beaten made people want to work—finish work and not be beaten
• At home, only time to eat and sleep• Some tried to run away—esp. children—
beaten when found• Children could be “bound” to masters—
had to work for them for a certain number of years—their parents would get paid
Scott, Jonathan F., and Alexander Baltzly, eds. Readings in European History Since 1814. Appleton-Century-Croft, Inc., 1930.http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html#sadler
Working Hours/Conditions
• Hours—more than 12-14 hours a day or more six days a week
• Strict overseers and managers• By 1820s, income improved but
conditions, for the most part, did not
• During the early Industrial Revolution, workers were forced to live in dilapidated housing around the factories
• Work was monotonous, tedious, dangerous—operating machines was often unsafe
"Industrial Revolution," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577952_2/Industrial_Revolution.html
"The Industrial Revolution." The West: Encounters and Transformations. 2008. 6 May 2008 http://wps.ablongman.com/long_levack_west_2/44/11325/2899233.cw/index.html
Working Conditions
• Pollution in cities affected the quality of life
• Factories in Manchester produced a “cloud of coal vapor”
• Rapid population growth also made conditions less favorable– Between 1750 and 1900, London’s
population grew by about 5 million people
• In textile mills, workers breathed in lint, which damaged their lungs
Ellis, Elizabeth G., and Anthony Esler. World History: the Modern Era. Boston: PearsonPrentice Hall, 2007. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/core/pics/0253/img0056.jpg
Wages
• Rise in the Standard of Living • Woman earned about half what men earned• Currency
– shilling(s) - twelve pence, or one twentieth of a pound– pound
shilling
pound
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2598895
Trend in Average Full-Time Earning 1755-1835
0102030405060708090
Real Wage Index
1755 1797 1810 1819 1835
Year
Trend in Average Full-Time Earning1755-1835
Series1
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2598895
Reasons Child Labor Emerged
• Increased poverty rates• Working was traditional and customary• Cheap source of labor• Since machines were designed to be
simpler, more unskilled workers could be hired for lower wages
• Orphans were often used and treated worse than other children
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tuttle.labor.child.britain
Children during the Industrial Revolution:Wages and Hours
• Little or no pay• Average working hours: 12-14 hrs per day
– Same as adults
• Some worked up to 19 hours • Horrible conditions
– Same dangers adult males endured– Large heavy dangerous equipment– Many accidents
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html
Children during the Industrial Revolution:Movement to Regulate Child Labor
• Factory Act of 1833– Limited the amount of hours children
of certain ages could work – From ages 9-13; only allowed to work
8 hours a day– From ages 14-18; could work no more
than 12 hours a day– Children under 9 were not allowed to
work at all– Had to attend school for no less than 2
hours during the day
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html
Child Labor Statistics
• British Parliamentary Report (1834) – Roughly 23-57% of the work forces in
cotton, wool, flax and silk mills were between the ages of 13 and 18
– From 1/6 to 1/5 of the total work force in the textile towns in 1833 were children under 14
– 4,000 in mills of Manchester– 1,600 in Stockport– 1,500 in Bolton– 1,300 in Hyde
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tuttle.labor.child.britain
Child Labor Statistics
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html
The Role of Women
• Domestic Services
–cooking, cleaning, caring for children & the sick, fetching water, making & mending clothing –Most unpaid
• Factories–new machinery changed the gender division of labor in textile production– textile production– the spinning jenny
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/womens_work_05.shtml
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/burnette.women.workers.britain
Distribution of Male and Female Factory Employment by Age, 1833
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/burnette.women.workers.britain
The Growth of Cities
• The Migration: from countryside to city– Forced relocation
• Bigger population = competition for fewer jobs
• Small farms disappeared - new enclosure laws
– Mills & factories• Availability of work – 1000’s workers
needed• Better pay
– Trade & politics became more influential
• http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577952_2/Industrial_Revolution.html
• http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
The Growth of Cities
• Cities were close to sources of power– Coalfields supplied fuel
to factories– Abundance of iron &
wood as well
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577952_2/Industrial_Revolution.html
Major Industrial Cities (18th – 19th centuries)
• Major British industrial cities: Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, and especially Manchester
• Manchester– Textile industry– 1830: Liverpool &
Manchester railway– 1850: Center of
cotton manufacturing
• http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ITmanchester.htm
Major Industrial Cities (18th – 19th centuries)
• Liverpool– Source of wealth: from slaves to cotton– Cotton: from half to 1.5 million bales a
year between 1820 and 1850 – 8 new docks built between 1815 & 1835
• Birmingham– Abundance of coal, iron and wood– Positioned at the heart of England– Railway: line to London completed in
1838– City's workshops (specializing in metal-
based industries): supply a wider market
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
Major Industrial Cities (18th – 19th centuries)
Living Conditions
• Most cities were not prepared for the great population increase
• Rooms rent out to whole/several families– If not, people stayed in lodging houses
• Worker’s homes:– Near factories– Built cheaply & quickly– Cheap; 2-4 rooms (2 for up &
downstairs)– No running water or toilets inside
• Whole street shared outdoor pump & a couple of outside toilets
http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html
Living Conditions
• New towns: dirty & unhealthy– Perfect breeding grounds for diseases– 31,000 died – cholera outbreak in 1832– Killed also by typhus, smallpox &
dysentery
• Pollution– Smoke blocked most
light into towns– Layer of smoke
covered streets– Came from steam-
powered factorieshttp://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html
Cities – Living Conditions
Cities – Living Conditions
• “Back-to-backs" – Most houses in the
North of England – Built in double rows– No windows at front– No backyards– A sewer down the
middle of the street– Built crammed
close together w/ very narrow streets between them
– Crowded with five or more people possibly crammed into a single room, even cellars
Population Changes
• Rural population rose sharply– New sources of food available
• As a result (in combination w/ forced migrations): growth in cities & their pop.
• 1750 to 1815: only 7% of the European population lived in cities
• Pre-industrialized England: ¾+ of population lived in small villages
• However, by mid-19th cen., England became 1st nation w/ half its population in crowded, grim, industrial cities – millions!
• Reformers spoke of mills & factories as dark, evil places
• http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter3.html
• http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577952_2/Industrial_Revolution.html
Population Changes
• Average life expectancy at birth:– 33 years (1730s)– 38 years (1811)– 41 years (1861)
• High urban death rates– Cities could only sustain their growth
through mass migrations from countryside
• But late 19th cen., death rates declined– Both city & country– Fewer wars & plagues– Supply & quality of food increased – Employment & incomes: relatively optimistic – Sanitary arrangements slowly improved
http://www.ehs.org.uk/industrialrevolution/PH_Population_2.htm
Population Changes
Average Life Expectancy at Birth
05
1015202530354045
1730s 1811 1861
Year
Ave
rag
e L
ife
Exp
ecta
ncy
at
Bir
th (
year
s)
http://www.ehs.org.uk/industrialrevolution/PH_Population_2.htm
Population Changes
• Manchester & Salford had joint population of:– 25,000 (1772)– 181,000 (1821)– 455,000 (1851)
• Liverpool population:– 60% in single decade– 1840s: 250,000 to 400,000
• Birmingham population:– Between 1801 & 1851: 86,000 to
233,000
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
Population Changes
Manchester/Sanfold Population
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
500,000
1772 1821 1851
Year
Pop
ula
tion
Num
ber
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
Population Changes
Liverpool Population (1840s)
050,000
100,000
150,000200,000250,000300,000
350,000400,000450,000
Po
pu
lati
on
Nu
mb
er
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
Population Changes
Birmingham Population
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
1801 1851
Year
Po
pu
lati
on
Nu
mb
er
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kuq
Population Changes
England Population & Urbanization
Year Population (million)
1701 5.06
1751 5.77
1801 8.66
1851 16.74
http://www.ehs.org.uk/industrialrevolution/PH_Appendices.htm
Population Changes
England Population
0
5
10
15
20
1701 1751 1801 1851
Year
Po
pu
lati
on
(m
illi
on
)
ReformsImprovements on Living Conditions
• 1848 – Parliament passed laws that allowed city councils to clean streets– One of the 1st cities to get cleaner:
Birmingham– Proper sewers & drains built– Houses built on a set standard– Paved streets – lighting put up– Slums knocked down, new houses built
• However, few could afford new housing– 1875 - When slums knocked down, little
choice but to move to another one
http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html
ReformsImprovements on Working Conditions
• Utopians, such as Robert Owen, created socialist communities where work and property were shared equally
• Owen also advocated for laws that would limit child labor and help to create labor unions
• Karl Marx advocated for communism, a classless society in which all means of production would be owned by the community
Reformists
Robert Owen Karl Marx
Similarities and differences between feudalism and life during the Industrial Revolution
• Feudalism—the state was too weak to protect citizens, so people put themselves into the service of lords in exchange for protection
• Similar to industrial rev. –children were “bound” to masters and their families were paid
• But feudalism became hereditary—being “bound” during the industrial was not hereditary
Peasants could not leave the land they worked on, did not get remuneration for work, had to pay large taxes to lords
"Pre-Industrial Societies: Anatomy of the Pre-Modern World." Oneworld --Publications. 6 May 2008.http://www.oneworld-publications.com/samples/pre-industrial-societies.htm
Ocana, Juan C. "Feudal Europe: What Was Feudalism?" Historiasiglo20.Org. 2007. 6 May 2008 >.http://www.historiasiglo20.org/MEC-BC/2-6-2.htm
Conclusion
The growth of population in rural areas…
The great migration…
The growth of cities…
Increased population…
Harsh working/living conditions…
Reforms for these conditions…
The Industrial advancements & overall prosperity of the time make up for the
negative aspects