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Industrial Age Challenges. Industrialization Spreads. Britain, the first major industrial power, was soon joined by Germany, France, and the U.S. these nations were larger, had more resources than Britain they took advantage of British ideas and inventions
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Industrialization Spreads • Britain, the first major industrial power, was soon joined by Germany, France, and the U.S. • these nations were larger, had more resources than Britain • they took advantage of British ideas and inventions • Other nations were slower to catch on to industrialization • Russia • countries of Eastern Europe • countries of Southern Europe • countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia (except Japan) • Industrialized nations began to use technology to dominate non-industrialized ones
Urbanization • Unemployed peasants had moved into towns to find work, creating a cheap labor pool; once factories were built to take advantage of this cheap labor, the new jobs drew even more peasants to town, further feeding urban population growth • Small towns could become large cities in a matter of just a few years
Urban Challenges • Sudden population growth presented new challenges: • Pollution: How do you manage waste? • Tenements: How do you house people? • Water: How do you provide enough? • Disease: How do you prevent and control it? • Fire: How do you prevent and control it? • Crime: How do you prevent and control it?
Pollution • Mass produced goods were cheap and disposable, leading to a tremendous growth in “trash” • Coal powered factories produced large amounts of air pollution • Waste water runoff and lack of sanitary sewers polluted lakes and rivers
Housing • Large numbers of working class people had to be housed in a limited amount of space, leading to the construction of cheap “tenement” houses • Conditions were dangerous: most apartments had limited access to natural light, fresh air, bathroom facilities, or exits
Water • Water for drinking, cooking and bathing often came from nearby lakes or rivers • These were the same lakes and rivers that were used to dump raw sewage and industrial waste, so waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery were common
Disease • Spread much more rapidly in cities due to: • More frequent interactions amongst people • Crowded living conditions • Contaminated water • Poor working conditions • Spoiled or unclean food
Fire • Growth was so quick in most cities that no building codes could be enforced (if they even existed) • Most buildings were built of wood, or were at least wood framed • People depended on candles or gas to heat and light their homes and businesses • London formed the first citywide public fire department in the 1830s to meet the threat of fire
Crime • As cities grew larger, they could no longer rely on civilian watch organizations and were forced to develop professional police forces • At the same time, the number of crimes punishable by death was dropping, leading to an increase in the number of prisons needed
Urban Transformations • Streets became wider, straighter, and paved (especially after the invention of automobiles) • Many older parts of cities torn down (or burned!) and replaced with new buildings and parks laid out in a grid pattern of “city blocks” • Gas and electric lighting appeared • Taller buildings began to appear as steel started to be used in construction
Factory Working Conditions • Monotonous – workers performed same job hour after hour, day after day • Shifts lasted 12-16 hours; many factories operated 24 hours a day • Dangerous machinery with no safety precautions • frequent loss of limbs, fingers, sight, hearing • lung diseases from coal and lint dust • if you were injured or unable to work, you were fired
Public Education • Public schools were used as a means to train future factory workers: • Taught “the three Rs” = reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic (math) , in order to produce a literate and more productive workforce • Taught punctuality by ringing bells to change stations or tasks • Taught obedience to authority (teachers = bosses) • Taught self-discipline and instilled an ethic for hard work
Child Labor • Factory operators often preferred to hire women and children: • They were smaller, so there was room for more machines • They were cheaper, since they weren’t the main earners in their family • They were easier to intimidate with violence • Orphans were preferred, since no one would miss them if they were killed in an accident
Workers’ Unions • Workers tried to organize to get better pay and working conditions • Tried tactics such as labor strikes, boycotts, and collective bargaining to end unsafe or unfair labor practices • Unions and labor strikes, however, were bad for businesses and were often outlawed by governments
Luddite Movement • Many skilled artisans and craftsmen were put out of business by the cheap, mass-produced goods manufactured by factories • These disgruntled workers sometimes formed “Luddite” clubs to oppose factory construction or to even commit acts of sabotage or arson against factories
Methodism • New branch of Christianity founded in the mid-1700s by John Wesley • Preaches that hope lies in personal salvation through missionary work • Methodist ministers took their message out amongst the poor rather than limiting themselves to churches • Targeted the neediest people in society and fought for a number of social reforms • Methodists founded the Salvation Army in London in 1865, an organization which sought to reform alcoholics and prostitutes through “soup, soap, and salvation”
