F.2 History Impact of the Industrial Revolution

• The Industrial Revolution brought fundamental changes to society, leading to the industrialization of European countries and greatly improving people's standard of living
• Factories were built near piers during the Industrial Revolution for convenient transportation of raw materials and goods, as machines were big and driven by steam power, requiring large spaces for production
• The factory system began during the Industrial Revolution, becoming the main mode of industrial production, with factories having enough capital and space for large machines
• Before the Industrial Revolution, production was carried out in scattered, half-mechanized workshops without fixed working hours; after the Industrial Revolution, large-sized machines and division of labor in factories required a unified and cooperative working hours system to enhance productivity
• After the Industrial Revolution, the mode of production involved the use of large machines, division of labor, and a unified and cooperative working hours system
• The domestic system involved producing in workshops, while the factory system involved producing in factories
• The division of labor in factories during the Industrial Revolution greatly increased productivity and enabled coping with large-scale production, saving raw materials and lowering production costs
• The Industrial Revolution led to the rapid industrialization of many countries in Europe and America, replacing agriculture with tertiary and secondary industries as the major economic sectors
• The Industrial Revolution led to the overseas expansion of European and American industrialized countries, as productivity was greatly enhanced through mechanization, requiring new overseas markets for the surplus products
• To cope with the increased demand for products during the Industrial Revolution, great powers established colonies in Asia, Africa, Central and South America to secure more markets and raw materials, leading to a more complicated and sensitive world political situation
• Urbanization during the Industrial Revolution saw a consistent increase in the population of British towns from 1750, intensifying greatly from 1801 onwards, with towns like Bristol, Birmingham, and Liverpool experiencing around 6 to 17 times population increase
• Before the Industrial Revolution, most people lived in rural villages, especially in self-sufficient manors; some handicraftsmen or merchants lived in towns
• After the Industrial Revolution, medical hygiene and food quality improved in European countries, leading to rapid population growth
• In the 19th century, factories emerged in British towns, attracting people to move to urban areas for job opportunities, causing a rapid increase in population
• The Industrial Revolution led to the emergence of many new industrial towns, providing more job opportunities and attracting farmers to reside in these towns
• Agricultural mechanisation during the Industrial Revolution lowered the need for labor force in agriculture, pushing many farmers to seek work in factories
• The Industrial Revolution caused urbanization to gradually take place in Europe, with a significant increase in the population by 1900
• The Industrial Revolution led to the formation of two interdependent and opposite classes in society: the industrial-capitalist class and the working class
• The industrial-capitalist class included owners of factories, mines, railways, and banks, belonging to the wealthy upper class of society
• Living conditions of 19th-century British workers were poor, living in densely populated slums with poor hygiene conditions
• Working conditions of 19th-century British workers:

  • Working time: extremely long, up to 19 hours
  • Working environment: poor, with unbearable hotness in factories and lack of protective equipment
• The working class, also known as proletarians, owned nothing beside their own physical working ability and were employed by capitalists to earn wages for a living
• British workers improved their conditions by forming industrial organizations to fight for their rights, demanding wage increases, and petitioning to the Parliament
• Child labor became common during the Industrial Revolution, with children working long hours for low wages, often facing abuse and health issues
• The problem of child labour in the 19th century emerged due to insufficient worker salaries, leading to children being forced to work, with limited legal protection allowing capitalists to exploit child labor
• Working conditions of child labour during the Industrial Revolution were extremely poor, with children as young as three to five crawling into running machineries to clear cotton flocks, risking severe injuries including loss of body parts
• In the 21st century, child labour remains an issue, with around 78 million child labourers in Asia Pacific working under exploitative conditions, deprived of education and childhood
• Labour movements in Britain post-1851 led to significant welfare gains for workers, with the legal recognition of unions by the British Parliament in 1824 and subsequent improvements in workers' living conditions
• The Chartist Movement in 1838-1848 demanded fewer working hours, higher wages, and the right to vote, representing the first broad proletarian revolutionary movement, although it eventually failed
• The British government in the 19th century gradually improved working conditions by implementing maximum working hours for different worker groups and introducing machine safety guidelines in 1844, eventually banning the employment of child labourers
• Keir Hardie founded the Labour Party in 1900, supporting workers and becoming one of Britain's major political parties
• Socialists in the 19th century advocated for public ownership of production resources to redistribute wealth, with various schools of socialism including Marxism, a radical example
• During the Industrial Revolution, a new production system established was automated manufacturing, shifting from family workshops to factories
• The Great Exhibition held in Britain in 1851 exhibited over 100,000 new industrial products
• Colonial powers during the Industrial Revolution aimed to expand territories, find more raw material supplies, and engage in cultural exchange, not for the purpose of being protected by labor laws
• During the Industrial Revolution, workers faced long working hours, low salaries, and lacked safety equipment, but they were not protected by labor laws
• The Labour Party was established in 1900, becoming one of the major British political parties supporting workers