The Unknown Seamy Side During the Industrial Revolution

Parry Huang

Washington High School

Social Study

Mr. Nick

November 18, 2022

 The Unknown Seamy Side During the Industrial Revolution

In the middle of the 17th century, a considerable movement had undergone, and it is

the most tremendous and valuable shift in the development of modern human history. The

motion was so-called the great “Industrial Revolution.” An industrial revolution is a process

that moved the textile industry's production from hand-made craft to factory-made products

by machines. It’s evident that the industrial revolution promoted the breakthrough of the

economy; however, every progress and advance has an immense impact on social life and,

sometimes its influences are negative. There's a skeleton in every closet. The industrial

revolution literally had several adverse effects that damaged the society of old times, which

brought about some catastrophic consequences such as serious worldwide environmental

contamination and social status unfairness which can’t be ignored.

The first negative effect of the industrial revolution on the community was that it

generated a large amount of water and air pollution. Since the trend has changed from

artificial to industrial, the usage of coal has just started, with the growth of the demand for

raw materials which required many apparatus to operate simultaneously; in order to generate

new machines, tons and tons of coal had been consumed. As a result, factories constantly

release substances such as smoke, chemicals, and dust which pollute the environment and

cause serious side effects on humans. In December 1952, a severe air pollution event called

the “Great Smog of 1952” affected the entirety of London. On this day, more than 4000

people died from the smoke and the toxic substances in the air. The major cause of this

disaster was the excessive abuse of coal during the industrial revolution. Although London

has been surrounded by fog for many years, this one was the thickest fog ever; the visibility
was suddenly diminished to only a few meters, and some passersby described it as “Like you

were blind.”

Next, the industrial revolution had a deleterious effect that produced a lot of

unfairness in society which suffered a large number of people to industrialization. Before the

industrial revolution, men worked on farms, and women mostly stayed in the house and

produced food and clothes for their families. Nevertheless, when the industrial revolution

began, everything changed. First of all, with the factory rapidly being built, increasingly, men

were changing working places to factories. After these workers moved to the factories, they

worked about 16 hours a day, six days a week, and there was no time for them to have a

vacation or even a holiday. Furthermore, the working environment there can be described as

extremely horrific and unbelievable, laborers were forced to work in a narrow space with

poor ventilation and toxic substances in the air. Moreover, the cruel fact is that they got paid

for only about 10 shillings of chicken feed per week, which is not enough to cover their living

expenses, not to mention the quality. Besides, there are no regulations to fix this very unjust

environment, which made those rich people dominate the entire market. As a shareholder, to

reduce the cost as much as possible, they forced women and children to work in factories

because they are cheaper than men and easy to control. Generally, women earned half of the

men’s wages while children got a tenth of the men's salary. In sum, from the whole

perspective, the secret sticking point behind the success of the industrial revolution was based

on the torment of workers.

However, some people believe that those who lived during the industrial revolution

period were happy because those people were enjoying lives in a city with lots of new

technology and abundant working opportunities. In fact, the revolution did actually make life
more convenient; yet, the thing they don’t know is, people who lived along with the industrial

revolution spent more than half of their days trading for the satisfaction of money. Thus,

while it is true that incomes were higher during industrialization than agricultural

development, everything was sacrificed to exchange for their health, whether it was physical

or mental. According to the research by Harvard Business Review, throughout the industrial

revolution in Britain, neuroticism was 33% higher and conscientiousness was 26% lower, and

life satisfaction was 29% lower in these areas compared to the rest of the country which

hasn’t been industrialized yet (2018.)

After all, the industrial revolution has brought humans from hand-made industry to

industrial automation industry, and the fact that it actually has a huge impact on the world

nowadays. Without the industrial revolution, the world now couldn’t have become so

prosperous and advanced. Of course, in the process, many things happened that make society

feel dissatisfied today. Some people insist that the revolution doesn’t deserve such a big offer,

and that’s depending on personal opinion because there’s no free lunch in the world;

sometimes, a necessary development requires an essential sacrifice, and that is unavoidable.

 References

Beck, E. (2016, November 26). Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution. HISTORY

CRUNCH. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

https://www.historycrunch.com/working-conditions-in-the-industrial-revolution.html

Carter, N., & Wilkinson, F. (2022, June 2). Industrialization, Labor, and Life. National

Geographic Society. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/industrialization-labor-and-life

Gompers, S. (n.d.). Child Labor in U.S. History | The University of Iowa Labor Center. The

University of Iowa Labor Center |. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

https://laborcenter.uiowa.edu/special-projects/child-labor-public-education-project/ab

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History.com. (2020, March 30). Water and Air Pollution - HISTORY. Retrieved November

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Industrial Revolution: Child Labor. (n.d.). Ducksters. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

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Met Office. (n.d.). The Great Smog of 1952. Met Office. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/case-studies/great-smog
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Scars That Can Still Be Seen Today. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November

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