Chapter Summary: 23.1 & 24.1

From textbook pages 448-449, 474-475

Working Conditions & Impacts of Industrialization

The Industrial Revolution greatly changed society. Cities grew, gender roles changes, and new social classes developed in the first half of the 1800s. In many ways, these changes were the result of the working conditions that the Industrial Revolution created. Factory workers faced terrible working conditions. Work hours were between 12 and 16 hours a day for 6 days a week. Also, there was no guarantees that workers could keep their jobs and no minimum wage. Factories and mines often had dangerous conditions. Machines or mine accidents might injury workers. And, disease spread in the cramped work spaces that were dirty and dusty.

​Not all people faced difficult conditions during the 1800s. The earlier middle class that developed in Europe was known as the bourgeoisie. Originally, the bourgeoisie were merchants, artisans, lawyers, or scholars. This middle class group had enough extra money to purchase some luxury. Because of industrialization, factory-owners and factory-managers were a new group of people who earned money and became part of the middle-class bourgeoisie. So, while factory workers worked in terrible conditions, the people who built the factories and bought the machines made a lot of money.

Labor Unions & Trade Unions

The bad working conditions upset many poor, workers. The growing gap between middle-class factory owners and lower-class factory workers also resulted in many workers fighting for rights. A common way for workers to fight for rights was by forming labor unions or trade unions. Labor unions were organizations run by workers that promoted unity. Once united, workers had a larger voice to negotiate for changes and improvements against the factory owners. One of the most important strategies for a labor union was to go on strike. In a strike, a union told its members to stop working. This put pressure on employers to meet their demands for higher wages or improved factory safety. In Europe, some trade unions were successful in helping workers achieve a better life.

But, the effort to use unions to help workers was not always successful however. Population growth, immigration, and more efficient farm techniques meant that there were lots of people looking for work in factories. Some unions struggled to unite all the workers in a factory because the workers could not afford to lose their job. The abundance of people looking for work meant there were always workers willing to take the place of striking factory workers from a union.

Socialism

​Some workers wanted to push for reform through the government instead the factory-owners. Instead of labor unions, some workers joined new political groups, like the socialists or communists, that were based on the ideas of Karl Marx. Karl Marx was a German author who helped write a book called The Communist Manifestoin 1848.

Capitalism
In contrast to Marx’s ideas, capitalism is an economic idea based on private ownership and individual economic freedom. In this system, most factories and businesses are owned by private individuals, not the government. Private owners make decisions about what and when to produce and how much products should cost, not the government. Other characteristics of capitalism include competition and the law of supply and demand. These ideas suggest that prices are determined by how many products there are and how many people want them.

Karl Marx was shocked by the horrible conditions in the industrial factories. Marx blamed capitalism and bourgeoisie for these conditions. According to Marx, capitalism and industrialization were connected. In a capitalist system when owners cared about profit, industrialization seemed bad for workers. This belief led to a movement known associalism. Socialism can be defined as a system in which the government owns and controls the making and distributing of goods. The idea was that a socialist government would improve conditions for workers because the government is not motivated by profits.

Main Idea:
Step 1. Industrialization led to factory jobs with bad working conditions a capitalist system that emphasized profits.
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Step 2. This created an anti-capitalist reaction & desire for better working conditions.
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Step 3. Idea of Socialism was created.

Many workers liked the ideas of socialism. Thetransitionto an industrialized society was very hard for workers. Factory jobs were often difficult and dangerous, and workers were forced to live in crowded slums. Socialism was a reaction to industrialization, because some workers believed socialism would improve their working and living conditions by sharing the factory’s wealth among all the workers. Rather than workers competing for jobs or using unions to improve conditions, all workers could work toward improvements through socialist changes to the government. When workers received the right to vote from the political revolutions of 1848, they could support socialist parties that would pass laws to help workers have better pay and working conditions.

Capitalism vs. Socialism
-Freedom
-Production of goods services controlled by private individuals
-Competition
-Individual wealth
-Government should not interfere in economy
-Private ownership / -Equality
-Production of goods services controlled by the government
-Cooperation
-Redistribute wealth
-Government should regulate economy
-Government ownership

More extreme socialists, sometimes called communists, wanted a revolution. Some extreme socialists and communists were outraged by the growing gap between the rich and the poor. They believed capitalism made the rich bourgeoisie richer by taking advantage of workers. As the class division between the two groups was growing wider, communists believed that the anger would lead to a revolution in which the working class would violently overthrow the bourgeoisie. Without the rich in control of society, the poor workers hoped to evenly share all the wealth and property.