SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
HIST 3150
What were the
social effects of
How were people’s the
lives changed within ‘Industrial
industrialized Revolution’?
states?

What were the

social effects on the
global scale?
 Agenda
• Part 1: Social Effects
Within the
Industrialized
Nations.
• Part 2: External
Developments -
Creation of the
British Empire
 Why Look at the
Social Impact?
• Industrialization brought
about profound changes
in the societies of Europe,
the USA and the rest
of the world www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/ options/notes/eu2.htm

• Not all changes were beneficial!

• State of living conditions for ordinary people
has been the subject of much debate amongst
historians (social history)
 Part 1: Social Effects Within
the Industrialized Nations
• Population Growth
• Oversupply of labor
• Urbanization
• Disease
• Child labor laws
• Similar problems in
Europe and USA
• Railways and urban
• Social rebellions
• State schemes to assist
urban poor

ecole.wanadoo.fr
 Living Conditions
1. Population Growth
• Statistics show that from
1760 to 1820 there was
little improvement in
living conditions
• Population growth meant:
– Oversupply of workers
– Low wages
– Rising food prices
– Growing numbers of
people in poverty
• So the IR actually
lowered living
conditions at first Unemployed Rail Workers - London
www.mytholyoke.edu/courses/rschrawt/ind_rev
 Living Conditions -
2: Oversupply of Labor
• Oversupply of labor slowed
the rate of modernization.
– 1840, 10% of the British
population were paupers
– Clitheroe, Lancashire:
34% of the population
were paupers
– 1816: half of the
workforce in textiles
were under the age of 18

www.wwnorton.com/.../history/tindall/timelinf/childbr
• Prior to the nineteenth
Urbanization
century, cities were a drain
on the rural economy
• After the nineteenth century, they
became centers of industrial output
• New factories of industry
attracted huge numbers of
people to cities
• Britain:
– 1850: 60% of the population
lived in rural areas
– 1900: 75% lived in
cities, 20% of total
population in London
– 1900: 30 million lived in cities
– Manchester: 1770-1830: 27000
to 180000 © UK Rail, 2003, http://www.ukrail.com
 Crowded British Cities

Workers Laying Pipes, Hampstead Heath, London

Ford Maddox Brown, Manchester City Art Gallery A London Slum, by Gustav Dore
freespace.virgin.net/k,peart/Victorian/brownwork
englishwww.humnet.ucla.edu/marathonreading/mr1997
Infrastructure
• Infrastructure rarely kept up
with rapid growth
• Some well-intentioned
improvements actually made
things worse Early flush toilet
– E.g. the ‘Great Stink’ of
1847: parliament closed
for a week
– Introduction of WCs
(water closets / flushing
toilets) causes cesspits to
overflow into the Thames
– Thames the only source
of drinking water for
Londoners
– 1848/9 6,000 people
died from cholera
Houses of Parliament in the Smog: (Monet)
 Disease in the Cities
- Disease: especially cholera
(caused by feces contamination of
water supply)
- Acute infection of the intestines;
death by loss of bodily fluids
through vomiting and diarrhea
- In 1840: nearly 60% of children
died before the age of five

Musee de la Medicine, Paris

www.chrystalinks.con/cholera Vibrio cholerae www.ulb.ac.be/.../museedelamedecine/virtuel
 Government Intervention:
Child Labor Laws
• Governments were often forced
to intervene, as a result of
public pressure (Lewis Hine in
the USA, Charles Dickens in
England) leading to …
– Restriction of child labor and
then adult working hours
– Provision of state education George MeanyAtchives www.georgemeany.org/archives

Photograph of young
worker in an Ohio factory,
1910 (by Lewis Hine)

www.dwd.state.wi.us
Lewis Hine
• Born in Wisconsin 1874
• Photographer who captured poverty in New York, and children working in
appalling conditions in American factories
• As a result of his photographs, Congress eventually forced to
pass child protection laws for children under 14
 • Born in rural England, but
Charles grew up in London after his
father sent to debtor’s prison
• Worked in a shoe polish factory
Dickens aged 12; then as a clerk for a
lawyer
• Became a great novelist.
• Wrote stories for radical
newspapers about child
exploitation, slavery, public
health
• Spoke out against slavery in the
USA while visiting in 1842 –
sent home by angry Americans
• His efforts put considerable
pressure on British
Government to improve
standards of health and
orwell.ru/people/ dickens/cd_en employment for children
 Charles Dickens: Victorian
Novelist and Social Reformer
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens

www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000

Theatre Fach Company www.theatrfach.co.uk

Child Timber Workers

US Dept. of Labor ww.dol.gov/oasm/library/special/child
in the USA
 Despite Government
Intervention, Inequalities
Remained
.1889, 1/3 of the
Victorian London population of
London lived in
conditions of
extreme want
.1901 census (count of population):
10% houses
dangerously
overcrowded

www.timmonet.co.uk/html/body_town_hpusing
 Urban Problems in Europe
• Problem transferred to and USA
most areas undergoing
rapid industrialization
– The Ruhr (Germany)
– US cities like New York
and Philadelphia

Jacob Riis www.arts.gla.ac.uk/www/ctich/Publications/craft17

New York Slums 1890

Immigrants to the USA 1880

www.oswego.org/testprep/ss5/c/immigrationl
 Railways and
Urban Spread
• Railways allowed for
greater urban spread
• Possibility of
commuting opened up
cities and suburbs
(which spread along Building the London Underground
www.pbs.org/.../structure/londonunderground1_tunnel
railway lines)
– London 1863 Eurostar
– New York (1869)
– Boston (1897)
– Paris (1900)
– Berlin (1902)
– New York
(underground 1904)
Paris Metro and Urban spread
Lodging-france.com/paris-info/paris-mapmetro
 Social Revolution
• Government intervention
often stemmed from
concerns about what
ordinary people might do
– Revolutions across Europe,
especially in 1848
– And three important social
rebellions broke out in
Britain opposed to the
conditions created by the
Industrial Revolution
– The Luddites, the Swing
Riots, Chartists

Luddites about to smash machinery

in a British factory, 1811
 Luddites
• Began threatening factory
owners in 1811
• Threatened to destroy
machines unless workers
conditions were improved
• Spread north of Yorkshire,
and many factories were
attacked
• Eventually leaders caught
and hanged in 1812 (13
sent to Australia)

© 2000 BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk

Swing Riots
• Agricultural riots broke
out in the south of
England in 1830
• Caused by poverty. Low
wages, lack of work
• Magistrates sided with the dspace.dial.pipex.com

workers and encouraged Swing rioters destroy farms and crops

landowners to improve in rural England, 1830s
conditions
• ‘ at the same time they
feel the full conviction
that no severe measures
will be necessary, if the
proprietors of land will
give proper employment
to the poor …’

www.learnhistory.org.uk/ cpp/swing
 The Chartists
• Advocate adoption of a ‘People’s Charter’ that set out
reforms for the working class
• Included universal suffrage, annual parliaments, vote by
ballot
• Successful between 1836 and 1848, then largely disappeared

www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/ Chartists

Large Chartist meetings in London and Manchester, 1840s

• Historians debate why these movements ultimately failed
• But they are all clear examples of how working people felt about
the social effects of the industrial revolution – their lives were much
worse as a result
• Government strategy was to engage in more regulation, and to
foster self-regulation through institutions like prisons, schools and
hospitals.

Newgate Prison, London - 1850

Effect of Rebellions www.oldbaileyonline.org
 European Rebellions of 1848
1848 Revolution in Germany
• 1848 a watershed year in Europe
• Revolts broke out all over the
Continent in response to poverty
and political abuse
• Several governments fell, and
people realized that collective
action gave massive social and
political power
• Revolutions took place in France
Revolution48.virtualave.net/1848
where (King Louis Philippe
Was overthrown); Italy (Pope Pius
IX flees the country); and in
Austria, Germany, and Hungary
State Schemes (arrangement )
Unemployed workers sign up for
• Latter part of the unemployment benefits in the USA

19th C, government
regulate :
– Public safety
– Worker’s
compensation
– Pensions (retirement)
– Unemployment
benefits
– Education (to age 14)
www.ssa.gov/history/unemploy
 Part 2: External
• Between 1750 and 1900 Developments -
Europe came to
dominate the world Creation of the
economically, socially
and culturally
British Empire
• The only major exception
was Tokugawa Japan
• 1800: Britain ruled 20
million people
• 1900: Britain ruled 400
million people
• Read The Age of Empire
(Eric Hobsbawm)
The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets

www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images19
• Britain took advantage of the
breakup of the Mughal
Empire after the death of
British Conquest
Aurangzeb in 1707
• Mughals descended
of India
from the Mongols;
their empire included
India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan
• East India Company
(supported by the British
Government) gain monopoly
control of Indian commerce
• Then Robert Clive led a
British invading force
between 1756 and 1757
• By 1818 Britain (via
the Company) ruled
all of India
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/British/Clive

Robert Clive – Conqueror of India

 India Under
the
British Raj
By 1850s all of India – from the
Hindu Kush in the north to
Sri Lanka in the south was under
control of the British government
through a governor known as
the Raj (from Maharaja)
 • Great Rebellion broke out in
May 1847 when India army
shot their British officers and
Great Rebellion
marched on Delhi
• British presence reduced to
beleaguered garrisons
of 1857
• Counter offensive in
1848 led to establishment
of direct rule by British
Government, which was
not challenged until 1935
British Charge at the Battle of Lucknow 1848

© BBC, 2002, http://www.bbc.co.uk

www.military-art.com/dhm361
The Americas
• British control of India coincided
with the loss of American colonies
• Britain had no real policies to
control Americas
– 1776 to 1783: declaration and
then achievement of
independence in 13 North
American colonies

www.pro.gov.uk/.../olive

© Macalester College 2000, http://www.macalester.edu

 Rebellions in Central and
South America
– European colonialists also faced
rebellions in S. and C. America
– Rebellion on Saint Domigue
(Haiti) 1791
– Independence then granted in S.
American colonies: Brazil
(1822), Bolivia (1825), Peru
(1821), Chile (1817) and
Uruguay (1828)
– Loss of colonies just meant a
shift to neo-European powers
and ties were close until the
20th century

Perso.wanadoo.fr/photopassion/venezuala
Simon Bolivar
• The Ottoman Empire one
of the world’s most
powerful states for 600
Ottoman Empire
years
• Founded in 1402, it
reached its zenith under
Suleiman the
Magnificent
• Renowned for
achievements in
literature, arts, science,
law

The Ottoman Empire Under Suleiman I 1580

© 2001 http://www.ottoman-traders.com
Istanbul University of Michigan
www-personal.umich.edu/…/syl
 End of the Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918
– Russian expansion
– Internal reforms did take place
– Carved up by European powers, who took advantage of instabilities

Russian Cossacks Attack the Ottoman Turks Simbattles.britwar.co.uk/Rus_Tur

 • European intervention was
China not welcomed by the
Manchu Dynasty
• This led to smuggling,
particularly of opium
• Treaty of Nanking in
1842: Hong Kong was
ceded to the British, and
ports opened up to
British trade

© Norton College, 2002, http://www.norton.com

Signing the Treaty of Nanking

Asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiacf/east/o6/20
 Opium;
Hong Kong

Opium Den

www.lord.ca/offices/asiapacific
www.cnn.com/.../china.social.overview/content/drugs
Hong Kong Today
Opium Addict

In July 1997 the British handed back

Hong Kong to the Chinese, after their
150-year lease had expired.
Asia.cnn.com/…/past/opiumwars/link.opium Chinese agreed to allow Hong Kong political
And economic independence for next 50 years
 Rebellion in China
Boxer Rebellion
• Several anti-European
internal revolts broke out in
China from 1850 to 1871:
Taiping Rebellion (1852):
20-30 million killed
• This was followed by the
Boxer Rebellion in 1900, in
which hundreds of western
missionaries were killed
• The overall impact of
European imperialism was
relatively slight because of mebn.org/bxr

the size and resistance of

the Chinese state
 Japan and S. E. Asia
• Tokugawa Shogunate (17th to
19th Centuries) controlled by
Samurai warrior class
• They unified resistance to
outside intervention: sako ku
• Went through industrialization
more slowly than Europe and
the US because of rigid class
divisions and peasant farming
sector

Kendo
18th C
© 2001 ALS Translations, http://www.alsintl.com

filebox.vt.edu/org/kendo/history
 Japanese Imperial
Expansion
• Under Tokugawa
Japan also became
an imperial power
• Acquired its own The Kurile Islands
volcano.und.nodak.edu/…/north_asian_kuriles
colonies: Korea
(1910), the Kurile
Islands (1855) and
Okinawa (1879)
• Cultural interest
eventually opened
Japan up to
European
influence
www.traveleastrussia.com/sakhalin
Europe also established control
over much of Southeast Asia
during the 19th Century
Southeast Asia

© 1999 University of Pennsylvania,

http://www.ccat.sas.upenn.edu
 European
Imperialism
in S.E. Asia

The Dutch in Indonesia www.sahistory.org.za/pages/specialprojects

The British in Singapore

www.chefs-unlimited.com/promos
The Portuguese in East Timor www.cnn.com/.../20/indonesia.01
 Africa – Carved
up by the
Europeans
• Carved up in the 19th Century
by European colonies interested
in protecting themselves against rivals
• 1885-6 Berlin Agreement
– France: West Africa
– Britain: Southern and Eastern Africa, Gold Coast and
Nigeria
– Germany: Cameroon, South-West and East Africa
– Portugal: added Angola and Mozambique
– Belgium: Congo became the possession of the monarch of
Belgium
 Colonial
Africa
in 1945

© 2001 UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org

Europeans in
Africa
Belgian Congo

www.fdungan.com/darkness

the Image of
Slaves March to the Coast British Imperialism
www.umich.edu/ece/student_projects/slavery

www.historywiz.com
 Summary: Social Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
1. Industrialization brought about profound changes in
the societies of Europe and the United States, and the
rest of the world
2. Living in conditions for workers in Britain poor
because of overpopulation, crowding, urbanization,
disease
3. Governments eventually forced to redress child
labor, introduced schools, unemployment benefits
etc, in response to rebellions and welfare activist.
4. Externally, Europeans colonized much of the globe,
including India, the Americas, Ottoman Empire,
China, S.E. Asia and Africa