Dbq for Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution had many different impacts on England's people and economy, some being positive and others negative. The Industrial Revolution began when new inventions were introduced to England. These inventions effected transportation, jobs, social classes, education, and living conditions.

As the revolution was in motion, a number of people had benefited from its growth in the manufacturing industry. Women had started working in factories, producing cloth. This material was able to be made much more efficiently and cheaper, due to new inventions like the "Spinning Jenny". This allowed far more materials being produced to supply the increasing demand. As demand increased, so did employment opportunities.

The industrial revolution was having a large demand for jobs in the cities. With these jobs came, long hours and horrible conditions. The conditions were so horrible that the government had to step in and regulate the factories. Some of the laws that were enforced were the Health and Morals act of 1802. This made the employment age to be 9 years old. The working day would also be limited to 12 hours for children under the age of 14. These laws were to help the workers. Many of these factory owners took advantage of their workers because the workers couldn't form unions or complain, they would be fired. (Doc3) The combination of 1800 made it illegal to form unions. Even though the government was trying to help the workers it wasn't an easy life. Many factories hired women and children because, they could be paid less. (doc1)

Many people were following different ideas and coming up with different ideas during the industrial revolution. Before the Industrial Revolution, Europeans followed a policy of mercantilism, which called for government regulations, such as tariffs, to achieve a favorable balance of trade.

During the Enlightenment a theory of laissez faire economics emerged, which argued that businesses should be allowed to operate free of government regulations.

In 1776, Adam Smith wrote The wealth of nations which promoted laissez faire economics. His system became known as capitalism which said that the economy should be governed by the natural forces of supply and demand and competition among businesses. (doc.5) To some people, the Industrial Revolution only seemed to cause greater separation between the classes while factory owners made profits, workers became poor. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two thinkers from Germany, that

attacked the capitalist system they believed caused this inequality. In 1848, they

wrote The Communist Manifesto, a pamphlet that eventually would trigger

revolutions around the world. (doc 8)

The industrial revolution had a great impact on many people. It was the worst of times for some