Social Impacts of the Industrial Revolution Essay Example

Social Impacts of the Industrial Revolution Essay The most intriguing to me and the most important to the society, as many historians agree was the social impact of Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. In fact, some historians like Rondo Cameron and R. M. Hartwell have ended up debating whether Industrial Revolution was an appropriate term for this revolution. Harold Perkin is another historian who shares the same viewpoint about Industrial Revolution as Cameron and Hartwell. Perkin says that â€Å"the Industrial Revolution was no mere sequence of changes in industrial techniques and production, but a social revolution with social causes and a social process as well as profound social effects† in the preface of his book, The Origins of Modern English Society. This is one of the two books I’ll be using as reference for the purpose of this essay. The other book is titled, The Industrial Revolution in World History and is written by Peter Stearns. The aspects of social impacts of Industrial Revolution that I will examine in this essay include changes in standards of living and family structure. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Impacts of the Industrial Revolution specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Social Impacts of the Industrial Revolution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Social Impacts of the Industrial Revolution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Both the aforementioned books discuss these topics under a separate chapter. Perkin’s book solely discusses the Britain Industrial Revolution with facts and cited sources in the form of notes at the bottom of almost every page. It discusses a single aspect under a topic and how it progressed over a period of time. On the other hand, Stearns’ book is an account of all the processes that took place during Industrial Revolution internationally. The book is more of a social account of industrialization while Perkin gives us a detailed economic analysis. Stearns cites no sources and doesn’t use any figures to convince the reader but does a very good job in writing an easy to read book. Harold Perkin jumps straight to the issue of the changing living standards and realizes that it is a controversial issue in the sense that the short run changes in living standards might have had a downward trend. However, the long term trend was undoubtedly an upward one. He starts off by considering changes in income levels of the working class as income is a fairly good predictor of living standard. The two types of incomes mentioned are real incomes of the workers and the combined national income of Britain. According to Perkin, real incomes of most of the people including middle class, upper class and some sections of the working class went up â€Å"by a multiple rather than a fraction† (Perkin 2002, 134) which contributed to a huge increase in national income throughout most parts of the nineteenth century. Perkin supports his claim by giving figures on nominal wages (money) and real wages between the period of 1790 and 1850. To further ensure the accuracy of his claim he uses real wage data collected by various economists and statisticians rather than a single source. The data confirms that real wages for workers did decline in several periods but the long term effect stays positive. The likeliest explanation for the decline in real wages is the increase in labor supply due to population growth and urbanization. In the early parts of Industrial Revolution the rich were the biggest beneficiaries. These were the factory owners who had discovered a whole new technology to aid their production or the entrepreneur for these factories. Their real wage increase exceeded the increase in real national product receiving more than their share of the national product. â€Å"Arkwright (leading entrepreneur of Industrial Revolution) made half a million pounds in less than two decades† (Perkin 2002, 140). Adding to this, the new price structure of commodities based on the new patterns of production and demand also favored the rich. Food prices were higher as compared to the new manufactured goods. So, the poor who would spend all their income on food were gaining less than the rich who were the first ones to have the luxuries of industrialization, the new consumer goods. The middle class including skilled factory workers and merchants followed the rich when it comes to enjoying the new consumer goods and the benefits of industrialism. These skilled factory workers are also referred to as the labor aristocracy. They were primarily craftsmen like printers, joiners, cabinet makers, cutlers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and the building crafts. A number of new occupations were added to the list later such as iron puddlers, fine spinners and the railway engine drivers. Their wages also kept up with the economic growth giving them an opportunity to improve their living standards considerably. They could now afford â€Å"fine Georgian houses and furnishings, pianos and pictures, carriages and liveried servants† (Perkin 2002, 142). The middle class also emulated the rich in elaborating the variety of their food evident from their â€Å"obsession with French chefs, gargantuan feasts, and exotic foods, and from the spate of cookery books† (Perkin 2002, 142). The rich were first to enjoy other benefits of economic growth like improved transport, better houses, cleaner drains, piped water, improved medical treatment and taking holidays in new resorts. The middle class followed immediately afterwards in this trend. Last to enter the circle of increased standard of living were the unskilled workers, farm laborers and the dislocated handicraft workers who were forced to revert to begging or criminal activities. The widening gap in income distribution was evident from the fact that number of servants increased faster than the population, indicating how easy it was for the rich to afford more of the poor labor. These poor people discouraged early marriages because then they would have had to feed more mouths. They lived chiefly on bread, potatoes, very little or no milk, cheese or bacon once in a while; meat was a luxury to them. It wasn’t until after 1870 that they started to benefit from industrialization. Perkins then talks about the effects of industrialization on the structure of family. In the early periods of industrialization when women started working in factories babies were neglected and handed over to baby-minders who would feed them badly and quieten them with opiates leading to a high rate of infant mortality. All members of the family would work, resulting in dissolution of family ties. According to some sources cited by Perkin, there was an increased sexual immorality both before and after marriage. However, factory owners and operatives defend these accusations by saying that they employed no married women and that husbands didn’t want their wives to work. The situation improved when new factory rules were implemented where husbands could hire their own co-workers from among the family. â€Å"Thus transferring the family functions of child-rearing and moral education to the factory† (Perkin 2002, 156). Later, in 1833, children were restricted to eight hours of labor and by 1850 a new role of the family was created with fathers working in factories, and wives were to stay at home with the children. This â€Å"left the family free to concentrate on more fundamental functions of child-bearing and rearing, and the emotional satisfaction of affection and companionship† (Perkin 2002, 157) was seen. However, women felt useless in this family structure and certain women did raise their voices against this. In 1855 Barbara Bodichon, with support of the Law Amendment Society collected 26,000 signatures for a Married Women’s Property Bill. The bill got rejected but it made way for the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857, which set up the Divorce Court. This laid the foundation of modern family laws. According to Perkin, â€Å"it was the Industrial Revolution which, if only indirectly, brought about the emancipation of women† (Perkin 2002, 160). Peter Stearns analyzes the social impact of Industrial Revolution only from the viewpoint of factory workers, unlike Perkin who talks about all classes and sub-classes of the English society. He begins by pointing out the difficulties that factory workers had to face during some periods of low wages and high prices of some goods. At the same time, he agrees with Perkin on the issue of standards of living in the long run. Both reckon standards to have gone up. However, Stearns thinks that the low living standards in the short run was not the biggest difficulty faced by the workers and does not mention income fluctuations for the workers and owners of factories, unlike Perkin. Instead he draws our attention to the job conditions in the new factory setting which Perkin didn’t talk about. New rules, fines and supervisors were introduced to increase the pace of work in factories. Workers had to arrive when the factory whistle blew and those who were late would be locked out and would lose half a day’s pay in addition to the fine. Supervision was decentralized in many factories where a spinner would be allowed to hire his assistants. This decentralization was quickly replaced as it didn’t ensure the pace that owners sought. So, workers now had to work under the supervision of strangers for a life-time. Later, firms constructed worker housing, provided some medical care, and in other ways extended assistance beyond wages to certain workers to give them incentives to cope with the new job rules and more importantly, to attract more skilled labor. This was similar to the treatment that Manorial Lords used to provide to their peasants and was welcomed by the workers. They were still not comfortable with this new schedule at work but were working in the factories in order to return to the countryside with some savings. Employers realized that most workers â€Å"preferred to earn less but have more free time† (Stearns 1998, 59) when they started taking Mondays off to extend their Sunday leisure. With time, workers developed another strategy and the skilled labor also called ‘aristocracy of labor’ demanded higher pays and shorter hours to accept changes in the work situation. This approach was called instrumentalism and â€Å"was one of the novel results of the factory environment† (Stearns 1998, 60). Another serious difficulty for the factory workers was a lack of recreational opportunities. They were used to the traditions of village festivals but could not arrange for anything of that sort because workers lived amongst strangers in the cities. Employers curbed any such effort to replicate a traditional procession with the help of police who thought that it was a threat to city order. This resulted in the increase in popularity of Taverns. Drinks provided workers an escape from their tedious work and the tavern offered them with a chance to socialize with people in the new town. This was a huge transformation from village life to city life that Perkin failed to discuss in his book. Its significance lies in the fact that bars are still a favorite place to socialize for most working men in the modern world. The role of family changed enormously during Industrial Revolution according to Stearns. The removal of work from home made it a â€Å"sanctuary in which innocent children could be taught morality† (Stearns 1998, 61). Women increased time with the family playing the piano and reading stories aloud. Marriage was now a relationship purely based on love with the husband and wife closer than ever before. Duties of the wife now included running the household with the aid of employed servants. Men were supposed to generate financial support for the family. Women would also maintain contact with relatives as the man of the family would have very little time to socialize after the job. Women would only work before marriage to contribute to the family income. And it became a middle class notion for women to take care of domestic duties after marriage. Furthermore, child labor became increasingly nnecessary with improvements in machinery and â€Å"children’s role was redefined by the growing belief that the task of childhood was education† (Stearns 1998, 65). A new concept of adolescence emerged. A new barrier between children and fathers was created. People started thinking when to have kids since they were no longer a source of income. This caused the birth rates to plung e. A whole new family system was developed. Lastly I think Stearns neglects a couple of very important issues like emancipation of women, changes in diets and alterations inside the home with respect to decorations. However, both Perkin and Stearns agree on the larger picture how life for the middle class families changed. But Perkin stressed too much on the short run problems created in the family probably so that the reader is aware of the advantages and disadvantages of industrialization and is in a position to weigh them in order to reach a conclusion. WORKS CITED: Perkin, Harold. The Origins of Modern English Society. New York: Routledge, 2002. Stearns, Peter N. The Industrial Revolution in World History (second edition). Colorado: Westview Press, 1998.

Use the French Faire to Build Castles in the Air

Use the French Faire to Build Castles in the Air The French verb faire  means  literally  to do or to make and is used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to build castles in the air, turn a deaf ear, act like a child and more with these expressions using faire.2 et 2 font 4 (math)2 plus 2 equals 4faire infinitive (causative)1) to cause something to happen  Ã‚  Ã‚  Le froid fait geler leau.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cold makes water freeze.2) to have something done  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je fais laver la voiture.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im having the car washed. faire beau or mauvais  (weather expressions)il fait beau or  il   fait beau tempsto be nice weather;  Ã‚  its nice out; the weather is fine/niceil fait mauvais or il fait mauvais tempsto be bad weather; its bad out; the weather is bad/nasty faire 5 kilomà ¨tres, 3 heuresto go 5 km, be on the road for 3 hours faire acte de prà ©senceto put in an appearancefaire sa tà ªteto act impulsively, to have ones wayfaire attention to pay attention to, watch out forfaire bon accueilto welcomefaire cadeau des dà ©tailsto spare the detailsfaire de la peine quelquunto hurt someone (emotionally or morally)faire de la photographieto do photography as a hobbyfaire de lautostopto hitchhikefaire demi-tour (figurative)to make a U-turn; do an about-facefaire des bà ªtisesto get into mischief faire une bà ªtiseto do something stupid faire des chà ¢teaux en Espagneto build castles in the air faire des coursto give classes, lecturesfaire des à ©conomiesto save up; to save money; to economizefaire de son mieuxto do ones bestfaire des progrà ¨sto make progressfaire des projetsto make plansfaire du bricolageto do odd jobs; to  putter aroundfaire du lard (familiar)to sit around doing nothingfaire du sportto play sportsfaire du thà ©Ãƒ ¢treto be an actor; to do some actingfaire du violon, pianoto study violin, pianofaire dune pierre deux coupsto kill two birds with one stonefaire face to oppose; to face up tofaire fito scornfaire jour, nuitto be daytime; to be nighttimefaire la bà ªteto act like a foolfaire la bise, le bisouto kiss hellofaire la connaissance deto meet (for the first time)faire la cuisineto cookfaire la grasse matinà ©eto sleep in; to sleep latefaire la lessive; faire le lingeto do the laundryfaire la moue; faire la tà ªteto pout; to sulkfaire la queueto stand in line; to line upfaire la sourde oreilleto turn a deaf earfaire la tà ªteto sulkfaire la va isselleto do the dishesfaire là ©cole buissonnià ¨re  Ã‚  to be truant; to play hooky  from schoolfaire le jardinto do the gardeningfaire le litto make the bedfaire le marchà ©,  faire les achats  to do the shoppingfaire le mà ©nageto do houseworkfaire lenfantto act like a childfaire le pontto make it a long weekendfaire les bagages, faire les valisesto packfaire les carreauxto do the windowsfaire les coursesto run errands / to go shoppingfaire les quatre cents coupsto sow ones wild oats, get in trouble, lead a wild life   The list of French expressions with the irregular verb faire  continues.  faire le tour deto go / walk aroundfaire lEuropeto travel to / visit Europefaire lidiotto act the foolfaire le singeto act the foolfaire mal quelquunto hurt someonefaire part de quelque chose   quelquunto inform someone aboutfaire partie deto be a part offaire peau neuveto turn over a new leaffaire peur quelquunto frighten someonefaire plaisir quelquunto please someonefaire preuve deto display a quality / virtuefaire sa toiletteto get up and get dressed, to wash upfaire savoir quelque chose   quelquunto inform someone of somethingfaire semblant de faire quelque choseto pretend to do somethingfaire ses adieuxto say good-byefaire ses amitià ©s quelquunto give ones regards to someonefaire ses devoirsto do homeworkfaire ses à ©tudes to study atfaire son bacto study for the baccalaureatefaire son droitto study for a law degreefaire son litto make ones bedfaire son possibleto do ones bestfaire suivre (s es lettres)to forward (ones mail)faire toute une histoire de quelque choseto make a federal case of somethingfaire un beau coupleto make a nice couplefaire un cadeau quelquunto give someone a giftfaire un clin doeil to wink atfaire un coursto give class(es) / to lecturefaire un temps de Toussaintto have grey and gloomy weatherfaire une bà ªtiseto make a blunder; do something  stupidfaire une croix dessusto give up on / kiss something  goodbyefaire un demi-tourto do a U-turn, an about-turnfaire une drà ´le de tà ªteto make a strange / funny facefaire un fromage (de)to make a big stink / fuss (about)faire une fugueto run away from homefaire une gaffeto blunder, make a mistakefaire une malleto pack a trunkfaire une partie deto play a game offaire une promenadeto take a walkfaire une promenade en voiture  to take a ridefaire une questionto ask a questionfaire une rà ©clamationto make a complaintfaire une visiteto pay a visitfaire un tourto take a walkfaire un tour en voituret o take a ridefaire un voyageto take a tripfaire venir leau la boucheto make ones mouth water(click the numbers below to read the other pages of this lesson and learn more expressions with faire)Faire conjugations | All about faire Article Edited by  Camille Chevalier Karfis The French verb faire literally means to do or to make and is also used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to build castles in the air, turn a deaf ear, act like a child, and more with this list of expressions with faire.Laccident a fait 5 victimes.Five people were killed in the accident.Aussità ´t dit, aussità ´t fait.No sooner said than done.Cela / Ça fait un an que...Its been a year since...Ça fait mon affaireThat suits me just fine, thats just what I needÇa lui fera du bien.That will do him / her some good.Ça me fait froid dans le dosThat gives me the shiversÇa ne fait rienThats OK, it doesnt matter.Ce film a fait un tabacThat movie was a hitCest bien fait pour toi  !It serves you right!Cest plus facile dire qu faire.Easier said than done.Cette pià ¨ce fait salle comble.This play draws a full house.Les chiens ne font pas des chatsThe apple doesnt fall far from the treeComment se fait-il ...?How come ...?Fais gaffe !Be careful! Watch out!Fais voirSh ow me, Let me seeFaites comme chez vous. Make yourself at home.Il fait encore des siennes.Hes up to his old tricks again.Il fait toujours bande part.He always keeps to himself.Il le fait contre-coeurHes doing it unwillingly(Il ny a) rien faire.Its hopeless, no use insistingIl te fait marcherHes pulling your leg.la goutte qui fait dà ©border le vasethe straw that broke the camels backUne hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps (proverb)One swallow doesnt make a summerOn a fait une nuit blanche.We pulled an all-nighter.Que faire  ?What is to be done? What can we do?Que faites-vous dans la vie  ?What do you do for a living?Quel mà ©tier faites-vous  ?What do you do for a living?Quel temps fait-il  ?Hows the weather?Quest-ce que cela peut bien te faire  ?What could that possibly matter to you?Quest-ce que jai fait avec mes gants  ?  Ã‚  What have I done with my gloves?Si cela ne vous fait rienIf you dont mind.Tu as fait un beau gà ¢chis  !Youve made a fine mess of it!Tu as fait courir ce bruit.You spread this rumor.(click the numbers below to read the other pages of this lesson and learn more expressions with faire)Faire conjugations | All about faire Article Edited by  Camille Chevalier Karfis The French verb se faire literally means to become and is also used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to earn money, make friends, worry, and more with this list of expressions with se faire.se faire attributeto becomese faire infinitiveto have something done to / for oneselfse faire nounto make something for oneselfse faire 10 000 eurosto earn 10,000 eurosse faire quelque chose oseto get used to somethingse faire des amisto make friendsse faire des idà ©es, des illusionsto be fooling oneselfse faire du mauvais sangto worryse faire du souci / des soucisto worryse faire fort de infinitiveto be confident, claim that one can do somethingse faire malto hurt oneselfse faire passer pourto pass oneself off asse faire tout(e) petit(e)to try not to be noticed, make inconspicuousse faire une idà ©eto get some idease faire une montagne de quelque chose to exaggerate the importance of somethingse faire une raisonto resign oneself to somethingsen faireto worryCela / Ça ne se fai t pasThat isnt done, one doesnt do thatCela / Ça ne se fera pasThat wont happenComment se fait-il que subjunctiveHow is it that... / How does it happen that...Il sest fait tout seulHes a self-made manJe men fais. (familiar)Im worried.Je ne te le fais pas dire  !Im not putting words in your mouth!ne pas se le faire dire deux foisnot to have to be told twiceFaire conjugations | All about faire | Pronominal verbs Article Edited by  Camille Chevalier Karfis