CAMBRIDGEASHISTORYREVISION

THEINDUSTRIALREVOLUTIONBY1800

2.3 THESOCIALEFFECTSOFTHEINDUSTRIALREVOLUTION

ONDIFFERENTCLASSES

KEYEFFECTSSocial mobility: industrialists gained in wealth and influence; often wealthier than nobility.Voting rights: by 1900, most men had the right to vote in Britain, France and Germany.Education: most children gained access to education, at least to literacy level.

WOMENWorking classes: now worked in factories rather than in cottage industries or on the land.Upper classes: did not work, but more began going to university.General: still denied political rights.

TARIFFS AND TRADEDisease: Poor living and working conditions; epidemics of typhoid and cholera; tuberculosis.Attempts to improve conditions: e.g. Board of Health set up in Britain in 1842; in Britain, France and Germany rich people were reluctant to pay for improving the conditions of the poor; by 1900, sewage systems and fresh water supplies led to improvements.Diets: rich had varied diet; poor rarely ate meat and survived on cheap foods such as potatoes; lack of vitamins led to diseases (e.g. rickets).

WORKING CONDITIONSBritain: Factory Acts from 1833 tried to limit working hours; resisted by owners and workers.Germany: attempts to protect children from 1839.France: attempts to improve conditions from 1873.

EFFECTS OF RAILWAYSCommunications: newspapers, postal service.Diet: improved as fresh food could now be transported.Travel: became more affordable; seaside resorts.

RELIGIONImportance pre-1800: Church and religion had been focal point for society.Religious beliefs: challenged by scientific discoveries, capitalism, Marxism.Religious movements: not many churches in industrial towns; in Britain, this led to the rise of protestant groups (e.g. Methodists) working outside the Church of England.Church attendance: in Britain, less than 50% attended church regularly by 1851.Church views: in Britain, France and Germany, some religious thinkers criticised industrialisation because it was driven by greed and increased gap between rich and poor; Catholic Church came to terms with industrialisation after 1878.

THE ARTSFiction: e.g. novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Émile Zola.