The Industrial Revolution

            The Industrial Revolution was a time for big changes all around the globe. In 1750 most people were farmers working the land with homemade tools. They had their belongings made by hand and their food grown by themselves. In the next one hundred years, country villages transformed into industrial towns and cities. The people within these towns and cities were now able to buy clothing and food instead of having to produce it themselves. The Industrial-age was spreading far and wide – moving rapidly between countries and continents by trains and ships. Along with many inventions and the improvement of home life, there were many strides in the medical and science fields. Anesthetic used for pain during surgery, antiseptic methods to prevent death during child birth, the measurement of the speed of light, heck even the sewing machine was first invented. Those are examples of just a few of many inventions created during this booming time of change and creativity.

            There were a few positive effects of this new era….but they of course came with negatives. To begin with the many reasons the Industrial Revolution both damaged and helped society, we’ll be visiting with the conditions in the coal mines. The Industrial Revolution had drastically increased our need for iron and coal – forcing people, specifically children and women – to start working in the mines. Miners were paid more than average factory workers, yes, but they also worked with a higher risk of injury and the working conditions were far harsher. There was no light in the mines, giving the miners no visuals for what they were doing other than maybe the light of a candle. The coal dust in the air was destroying their lungs every time they inhaled it and there was always a danger of explosions, flooding and collapsing tunnels. There were heavy loads of coal being carted by women and children through low passages – some being reduced to crawling so they could squeeze through. There were also ladders they had to climb carrying heavy baskets of coal several times during their work day. The only actually positive thing I can see from this is the fact that the families get extra income seeing as the children are working along with the parents and that the growing demand for coal and iron is being satisfied.

            As I had mentioned, children were working in the mines; they were also working in factories. Child labor was a normal thing during this time era and children started working as young as five. Those working in the factories were constantly on their feet, changing spools or crawling under machinery as they repaired broken threads in the mills. Those working in the mines had it worse off – they were stuck for hours in the dark as they worked the air vents. Some helped move coal carts in the scorching temperatures of the underground. Child labor wasn’t such a big deal at this time for one main reason: children had helped on the farm. This fact made parents think that if they could work on a farm at such a young age, they could work in the factories and mines. Luckily for the children by the 1830s onward there were laws erected to get children out of the working industry and into education. Children were now given six hours of education, something that was extremely beneficial to the children. A few cons of this were the fact that families weren’t getting as much money because instead of working, children were now learning in whatever place would become the school.

            I believe that the education was a vital thing for the things that would ensue next. Britain was far ahead in the new age, so they were benefiting greatly while the rest of the world tried to catch up. With these new young minds being taught, there was hope that the other countries could catch up to – and hopefully outrun – Britain in this new revolution.

            Modern buildings and inventions were popping up around the globe as well. Instead of Churches being built, places like a City Hall, stock exchanges and opera houses were being erected. This was a drastic change to what the world had been like a few centuries before, and it would only increase its evolution.