The 19th century was a period of great change for Europe, the United States and Japan. The Industrial Revolution introduced factories, mass transportation, electricity and engines, technologies that changed the world forever. However, while the Industrial Revolution had both positive and negative effects on society and the economy, in the short term the negative effects outweighed the positive.
Undoubtedly, the economy and technology benefited tremendously from the Industrial Revolution. The increased demand for clothing led to a series of inventions, like the flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, the water frame and mule, the power loom and the cotton gin that made production easier (Halsall). These inventions increased production to unprecedented numbers and at the same time led merchants to invest their profits to fund new technologies that spanned to other fields (Halsall). The metal and coal markets followed, transportation and communication became easier with new roads and new more powerful means to travel (Brummett et al, 650, 654). The newly developed steam power was used for ships making even the longest journeys by sea easier than ever before (Brummett et al, 655). At the same time, the inventions of the telegraph and the telephone allowed communication to a greater number of people (Brummett et al, 655).
However, the condition of the vast majority of the population, which constituted the working class, did not improve. One of the first effects of the Industrial Revolution was urbanization. People left the country and moved to the big industrial cities to work. In London the population in one century rose from 831.000 to 4.521.000, while in Paris it climbed to 2.888.000 from 547.000 (Brummett et al, 652). Thus, the cities became suddenly overcrowded and the already existing problems of waste pollution became worse. Only after the mid-19th century these problems started being addressed and until then clean water was rare, sewage practically non-existent and proper housing for the millions of new inhabitants unavailable (Brummett et al, 652).
The living conditions for the vast majority of the population, therefore, did not improve. They most probably worsened –often dramatically- especially for those laborers that worked in the factory system. Working conditions were hard. Laborers worked for 12 or more hours every day, often without light, could be fired at any time and suffered from illnesses that were the direct result of dangerous working environments (Brummett et al, 653). Children as young as 6 years old were employed in the factories in the same working conditions. It was not until the 1830’s that a law was passed to forbid the employment of children (Halsall). The living and working conditions of the masses of poor inhabitants of the cities were immortalized in the novels of Charles Dickens and in paintings by French realists like Honore Daumier.
The factory system led to a rise in production in 3 ½ times during the first fifty years of the 19th century (Halsall). One, however, is tempted to question how much of the products were actually available to most people. The existence of vast numbers of poor meant that the technologies and advancements of the Industrial Revolution were not accessible to them because they could not afford them. At the same time, a new class of people managing the profits of the industries appeared, creating therefore a new wealthy class. These, however, were few and formed a new, powerful elite (Halsall).
The negative effects of the Industrial Revolution improved as the 19th century progressed and today the world would certainly be a very different place without the advancements of that age. However, the vast majority of the first generations who experienced these changes did not profit from them. Instead, their effects on them were mostly negative.
WORKS CITED
Brummett, P., Edgar, R., Hackett, N., Jewsbury, G., Taylor, A., Bailkey, N., Lewis, C. and Wallbank, W. Civilization: Past and Present. Vol. 2. New York: Longman, 2000.
Halsall, P. “The Industrial Revolution: Technology and Effects”. Modern Western Civilization, n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/lect/mod16.html]
