Social Effects of the Industrial Revolution

        The Industrial Revolution has changed the nation greatly. It has developed the minds of men to develop great inventions to benefit the working class. Before the Industrial Revolution the country was greatly dependent on agriculture, everyone had to be a farmer to feed and support their family. With the Industrial Revolution people could hold other jobs and could still make a good living for their families. With these new jobs there also came many hardships that changed the social effect of the country.

        These hardships, it seemed, were most common in the factories. Before the Industrial Revolution there were no factories, only small businesses. With this revolution factories sprang up all over because of the mass production that was discovered. Factory work is very different from other types of labor. The introduction of the factory system had a negative effect on living conditions. They believed that if the workers wanted to improve their lives they had to do it on their own. Also, because no particular strength or skill was required to operate many of the new factory machines the workers were considered unskilled. This meant they were easily replaced. "The owners of the early factories often were most interested in hiring a worker cheaply. Thus they employed many women and children. These workers could be hired for lower wages than men. These low-paid employees had to work for as long as 16 hours a day; they were subjected to pressure, and even physical punishment, in an effort to make them speed up production. Since neither the machines nor the methods of work were designed for safety, many fatal and maiming accidents resulted." (www.socialstudieshelp.com.) 

        The employer or business would often have an area around their factory where they would have apartments and housing for the employer. This would provide cheap housing on top of the cheap wages they were getting. These apartments were very crowded and not sanitary for people to live in. The worker was trapped, he couldn’t leave the terrible living because then he wouldn’t have a job and he couldn’t leave the job because then he wouldn’t have anywhere to live. "Let us "step back" and view the revolution as a whole now. In the beginning, people struggled and suffered, and this happens with all change and progress; people sacrifice. As time passed, people gained more benefits, and their lives became better. Work became much less tedious, and many people found themselves with more extra time. Finally there is the modern day and the future. Technology and industry has dominated our world, improving it to a point that would have been unimaginable one hundred years ago, and with the help of the people, the sacrificing and the hardships, progress continues."(The Effects of the Industrial Revolution )

        "The owners of the early factories often were most interested in hiring a worker cheaply. Thus they employed many women and children. These workers could be hired for lower wages than men. These low-paid employees had to work for as long as 16 hours a day; they were subjected to pressure, and even physical punishment, in an effort to make them speed up production. Since neither the machines nor the methods of work were designed for safety, many fatal and maiming accidents resulted." (Google. Effects of Industrial)

The employer or business would often have an area around their factory where they would have apartments and housing for the employer. This would provide cheap housing on top of the cheap wages they were getting. These apartments were very crowded and not sanitary for people to live in. The worker was trapped, he couldn’t leave the terrible living because then he wouldn’t have a job and he couldn’t leave the job because then he wouldn’t have anywhere to live.

        "Let us "step back" and view the revolution as a whole now. In the beginning, people struggled and suffered, and this happens with all change and progress; people sacrifice. As time passed, people gained more benefits, and their lives became better. Work became much less tedious, and many people found themselves with more extra time. Finally there is the modern day and the future. Technology and industry has dominated our world, improving it to a point that would have been unimaginable one hundred years ago, and with the help of the people, the sacrificing and the hardships, progress continues. (The Effects of the Industrial Revolution)

 WORKS CITED 

The Effects of the Industrial Revolution . Planet Papers, n.d. 6 Nov. 2007 <http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/675.php>.

Google. Effects of Industrial Reoltion. n.d. 5 Nov. 2007 <http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/USRA__Workers_Lives.htm>.

National Geographic. Eye Witness to the Twentieth Century . Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 1998.