Society’s Reaction to the Industrial Revolution

New Philosophies

Socialism – economic system that supports the ownership and control of production and distribution of the goods produced

Everything belongs to society – no private ownership, people share work and goods produced (no investors who sit and make $$)

Karl Marx – The Communist Manifesto – predicted that the workers would overthrow the capitalists (private owners making $$)

Communism (political system that supports extreme socialism) and the Russian Revolution in the 20th century

Check out this video! (stop at interview!!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38bM-1l2qBo&safe=active

Rise of Labor Unions

Labor union – groups of workers formed organizations to protest working conditions and demand reform (shorter hours, age limit for workers, safety measures)

Strikes - stopping work… put pressure on employers

Child Labor Laws

Britain was the first to pass laws regulating child labor.

1802 to 1878 - a series of laws gradually shortened the working hours, improved the conditions, and raised the age at which children could work.

United States took many years to outlaw child labor.

By 1899 a total of 28 states had passed laws regulating child labor.

Minimum Wage Laws

Minimum Wage – the lowest amount a business can legally pay a worker

Meant to prevent unfair workplace Changes over time with cost of

living Minimum wage in the US infohttp://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/

minimumwage.htm

Literary Movement

Realism - philosophy of seeing the world as is really is, focus on everyday life and individuals

Literary Movement

Naturalism individual human beings are at the

mercy of uncontrollable larger forces that originate both inside and outside of them

Often a grim outlook often political

Important Figures Emile Zola – French

novelist and playwright Founder of the naturalist

movement

Quick video!!http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=Kl1gt_uMbgY&safe=active

**What events in the Industrial Revolution might have inspired Naturalism?

Important Figures

Charles Dickens great urban novelist in

England used fiction effectively

to criticize economic, social, and moral abuses in the Victorian era

Some of Dickens’ Famous Works

Oliver Twist A Christmas Carol The Pickwick Papers

“Oliver Twist” can be read as a textbook of Victorian child abuse and a social document about early Victorian slum life.

The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in his cook’s uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver; while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity: ‘Please, sir, I want some more.’ [15]

Some houses which had become insecure from age and decay, were prevented from falling into the street, by huge beams of wood reared against the walls, and firmly planted in the road; but even these crazy dens seemed to have been selected as the nightly haunts of some houseless wretches, for many of the rough boards which supplied the place of door and window, were wrenched from their position, to afford an aperture wide enough for the passage of a human body. The kennel was stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine. (Ch. 5, 44)

The following passage from The Pickwick Papers anticipates Dickens’s lifelong concern with the effects of industrialization on English society.

It was quite dark when Mr. Pickwick roused himself sufficiently to look out of the window. The straggling cottages by the roadside, the dingy hue of every object visible, the murky atmosphere, the paths of cinders and brick-dust, the deep-red glow of furnace fires in the distance, the volumes of dense smoke issuing heavily forth from high toppling chimneys, blackening and obscuring everything around; the glare of distant lights, the ponderous wagons which toiled along the road, laden with clashing rods of iron, or piled with heavy goods — all betokened their rapid approach to the great working town of Birmingham.

As they rattled through the narrow thoroughfares leading to the heart of the turmoil, the sights and sounds of earnest occupation struck more forcibly on the senses. The streets were thronged with working people. The hum of labour resounded from every house; lights gleamed from the long casement windows in the attic storeys, and the whirl of wheels and noise of machinery shook the trembling walls. The fires, whose lurid, sullen light had been visible for miles, blazed fiercely up, in the great works and factories of the town. The din of hammers, the rushing of steam, and the heavy clanking of engines was the harsh music which arose from every quarter. [632-33]

Important Figures

Stephen Crane one of America's foremost realistic writers works have been credited with marking the

beginning of modern American Naturalism The Red Badge of Courage (1895) -

realistically depicts the psychological complexities of fear and courage on the battlefield during the Civil War

Important Figures

Henrik Ibsen Norwegian playwright and

poet Founder of modern

theatre Common themes: Societal

breakdown, stereotypes, class struggle, and issues of morality

Cinema and Photography

Quick Videoshttp://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKJqeJ48CPs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ID_A1ixUk

EQ: How were the arts of photography and cinema both evidence and a reflection of the Industrial Revolution?

European Revolutions of 1848

Where did it happen?

Most important places: France Germany Italy Austrian Empire

European Revolutions of 1848

Represent a widespread appearance of situations, across much of Europe, people sought changes in society that were:

1. constitutional2. liberal3. nationalist 4. socialisticKnown as the “Springtime of Nations”

European Revolutions of 1848

Liberals sought:1. Representative government 2. Civil liberties3. Improved conditions for working

class… We’ve heard all of this before,

right?

Trends and Problems

1. Often occurred in cities with liberal thinkers

2. Driven by the middle class3. Temporary unification with urban

workers (middle class could not identify with workers)

4. 2 groups could overthrow government, but could not share in the effort of creating a new government = unsuccessful revolution