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Positive and Negative Effects of The Industrial Revolution

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Published: Sep 5, 2023

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Positive effects: technological advancements and economic growth, negative effects: harsh working conditions and exploitation, positive effects: urbanization and social mobility, negative effects: environmental degradation, positive effects: advances in education and medicine, negative effects: social inequalities and class struggles.

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Industrial Revolution Causes and Effects

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Descriptive Essay: The Industrial Revolution and its Effects

The Industrial Revolution was a time of great age throughout the world. It represented major change from 1760 to the period 1820-1840. The movement originated in Great Britain and affected everything from industrial manufacturing processes to the daily life of the average citizen. I will discuss the Industrial Revolution and the effects it had on the world as a whole.

The primary industry of the time was the textiles industry. It had the most employees, output value, and invested capital. It was the first to take on new modern production methods. The transition to machine power drastically increased productivity and efficiency. This extended to iron production and chemical production.

It started in Great Britain and soon expanded into Western Europe and to the United States. The actual effects of the revolution on different sections of society differed. They manifested themselves at different times. The ‘trickle down’ effect whereby the benefits of the revolution helped the lower classes didn’t happen until towards the 1830s and 1840s. Initially, machines like the Watt Steam Engine and the Spinning Jenny only benefited the rich industrialists.

The effects on the general population, when they did come, were major. Prior to the revolution, most cotton spinning was done with a wheel in the home. These advances allowed families to increase their productivity and output. It gave them more disposable income and enabled them to facilitate the growth of a larger consumer goods market. The lower classes were able to spend. For the first time in history, the masses had a sustained growth in living standards.

Social historians noted the change in where people lived. Industrialists wanted more workers and the new technology largely confined itself to large factories in the cities. Thousands of people who lived in the countryside migrated to the cities permanently. It led to the growth of cities across the world, including London, Manchester, and Boston. The permanent shift from rural living to city living has endured to the present day.

Trade between nations increased as they often had massive surpluses of consumer goods they couldn’t sell in the domestic market. The rate of trade increased and made nations like Great Britain and the United States richer than ever before. Naturally, this translated to military power and the ability to sustain worldwide trade networks and colonies.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution and migration led to the mass exploitation of workers and slums. To counter this, workers formed trade unions. They fought back against employers to win rights for themselves and their families. The formation of trade unions and the collective unity of workers across industries are still existent today. It was the first time workers could make demands of their employers. It enfranchised them and gave them rights to upset the status quo and force employers to view their workers as human beings like them.

Overall, the Industrial Revolution was one of the single biggest events in human history. It launched the modern age and drove industrial technology forward at a faster rate than ever before. Even contemporary economics experts failed to predict the extent of the revolution and its effects on world history. It shows why the Industrial Revolution played such a vital role in the building of the United States of today.

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• Impact on Society During the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid technological advancements that transformed society in numerous ways. It was a time of great change, and its impact on society was immense. From the development of new machinery to the emergence of new industries, the Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on people's lives. In this article, we will explore the impact of the Industrial Revolution on society and how it shaped the modern era.

We will delve into the various aspects of this period and analyze its effects on different sectors such as economy, culture, and social structure. So let's dive into the world of the Industrial Revolution and discover its significance in shaping the society we know today. The Industrial Revolution was a period of great change and innovation that transformed the way people lived and worked. It began in Britain in the late 1700s and quickly spread to other parts of Europe and North America. This revolution was characterized by the development of new technologies, such as the steam engine and textile machinery, which drastically increased production and efficiency in various industries. One of the main impacts of the Industrial Revolution was the rise of factories and mass production.

With the introduction of machines, goods could now be produced at a much faster rate and with less manual labor. This led to an increase in urbanization as people moved from rural areas to cities in search of employment in these new factories. The rise of factories also brought about significant changes in social, economic, and political structures. The working class emerged as a new social class, with factory workers facing harsh working conditions and low wages. This led to the formation of labor unions and the rise of socialism as a response to the unequal distribution of wealth. Economically, the Industrial Revolution brought about a shift from an agrarian society to an industrial one.

This resulted in a significant increase in productivity and economic growth, leading to the accumulation of wealth for the upper class. However, this also widened the gap between the rich and the poor, creating a stark divide between the haves and have-nots. Politically, the Industrial Revolution also had a profound impact. As more people moved to cities, there was a need for better infrastructure and public services. This led to reforms in government policies and the emergence of new political ideologies such as liberalism and conservatism. In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution had a lasting impact on society, shaping the world we live in today.

The Rise of Factories and Mass Production

Urbanization and population growth, economic effects, political shifts, social changes.

The working class emerged as a new social class, and the gap between the rich and poor grew wider. In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on society, from its economic and political effects to its social and cultural changes. It transformed the way people lived, worked, and interacted with one another, and its effects can still be seen in our modern world. By understanding the impact of this period in history, we can gain a deeper understanding of our global society today.

Grace Thompson

Grace Thompson is a dedicated historian and writer, contributing extensively to the field of world history. Her work covers a wide range of topics, including ancient civilizations, cultural histories, and significant global events like the World Wars. Known for her meticulous research and clear, engaging writing style, Grace makes complex historical subjects accessible to readers. Her articles are a valuable resource for both students and educators, providing deep insights into how historical events shape the modern world.

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What were some Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution

This essay will discuss the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution, such as environmental damage, worker exploitation, and societal upheaval, and their long-term consequences. Moreover, at PapersOwl, there are additional free essay samples connected to Child Labour.

How it works

The Industrial Revolution is defined as a change in manufacturing and transportation that took place in the late 1700s and 1800s. Before the Industrial Revolution that began in England, people used hand tools and basic equipment to make things at home, but after industrialization, most of them were replaced by the machines. Industrialization was the transition to factories, special purpose machinery, and mass production. The textile industries, along with the development of steam engines, iron products played a central role in the industrial revolution.

It influenced various fields such as politics, society, economy, and culture. Industrialization has brought improved living standards to some through mass production of various commodities but often resulted in harsh employment and living conditions for the poor and workers.

The traces of the Industrial Revolution, which caused great changes in lifestyle, society and culture in the 17th and 18th centuries, also appear in modern society. Namely, the industrial revolution that happened a long time ago is still affecting modern times. With the opening of factories and the mechanization of industry, the quality of life for skilled workers who lost their jobs has declined. For example, before industrialization, Skilled weaver lived well as a kind of middle class through cottage industry. However, during industrial revolution machines and factories replaced the worker’s jobs. People who suddenly couldn’t make money lost their homes and many poor villages were created at that time. Child labor has also emerged as the businessmen began to find a cheaper worker. Workers had to work in poor conditions for 14 hours a day. The labor environment at that time was at its worst, causing human right problems.

There was no law to restrict these problems. Feeling the seriousness of this problem, people began to form trade unions. For example, In 1868, labor union members from all parts of England gathered in Manchester to meet. They organized the TUC(Trades union congress London) by holding an annual meeting and making a decision to take action on matters related to the working class. In the beginning, the TUC(TUC.org.uk) focused on influencing the government’s policies and later played an active role in industrial issues. Growing up in various activities, the TUC began to give the government advice on policies and actively engaged in ensuring workers’ rights and living standards. People also tried to solve the problem of child labor.

At that time, there were many young children who were working in dangerous situations and who were not properly paid for their work. Children had to do dangerous things to survive, such as cleaning chimneys and operating aids. The people of the labor union worked hard to make laws against labor rights to prevent these children’s unreasonable labor practices. For example, there is the Labor Standards Act in the United Kingdom. Britain currently protects the human rights of children and workers by legally restricting the minimum wage by age, layoffs and employment and types of work. Urbanization is one of the enduring characteristics of the Industrial Revolution. Britain, for example, before industrialization 80 percent of its people lived in rural areas.

Although they mainly lived by farming and raising livestock, many people moved to industrialized cities because of the industrial and population growth caused by the agricultural revolution. The problems of housing, food, the environment, and etc began to emerge as people moved to cities in search of employment. Merchants, shipowners, and others have accumulated wealth as a ruling class, but workers have had to live a terrible life in the worst environment, earning a small wage(Charles A). As people flocked to the city, the class gap deepened, and housing problems arose due to the lack of houses to support many people. People also had a lot of problems with the lack of food to eat. Urbanization has also changed people’s lifestyles. The children were sent to the factory to make money and were exploited there.

Women’s lifestyles have also changed. They spent lots of time working as a worker in the textile industry and so on instead of home. During this period, the middle class emerged which benefited from prosperity. They have influenced the development of culture by enjoying theaters, sports facilities, and concerts in their spare time. In the 19th century, Britain experienced political instability, with industrialization and urbanization causing the need for social and political change. Demands for an abolition of slave trade, improvement of the electoral system, education, labor rights, political rights, and equality have emerged. As a result, the slave trade was abolished in 1807, and in 1832, the British Parliament of the Revolution passed the national assembly. After the reform, manufacturing-based cities like Manchester and Birmingham were able to be represented in Parliament for the first time, actively changing the nature of parliamentary politics. The conclusion shows that urbanization caused by industrialization has had a wide impact on politics, society, culture, law and human rights.

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Industrial Revolution

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 27, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The Industrial Revolution was a period of scientific and technological development in the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies—especially in Europe and North America—into industrialized, urban ones. Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be produced in mass quantities by machines in factories, thanks to the introduction of new machines and techniques in textiles, iron making and other industries.

When Was the Industrial Revolution?

Though a few innovations were developed as early as the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution began in earnest by the 1830s and 1840s in Britain, and soon spread to the rest of the world, including the United States.

Modern historians often refer to this period as the First Industrial Revolution, to set it apart from a second period of industrialization that took place from the late 19th to early 20th centuries and saw rapid advances in the steel, electric and automobile industries. 

Spinning Jenny

Thanks in part to its damp climate, ideal for raising sheep, Britain had a long history of producing textiles like wool, linen and cotton. But prior to the Industrial Revolution, the British textile business was a true “cottage industry,” with the work performed in small workshops or even homes by individual spinners, weavers and dyers.

Starting in the mid-18th century, innovations like the spinning jenny (a wooden frame with multiple spindles), the flying shuttle, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster and required less time and far less human labor.

More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and abroad, where the British Empire’s many overseas colonies provided a captive market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also adopted new innovations.

Chief among the new techniques was the smelting of iron ore with coke (a material made by heating coal) instead of the traditional charcoal. This method was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material, enabling Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in response to demand created by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the later growth of the railroad industry. 

Impact of Steam Power 

An icon of the Industrial Revolution broke onto the scene in the early 1700s, when Thomas Newcomen designed the prototype for the first modern steam engine . Called the “atmospheric steam engine,” Newcomen’s invention was originally applied to power the machines used to pump water out of mine shafts.

In the 1760s, Scottish engineer James Watt began tinkering with one of Newcomen’s models, adding a separate water condenser that made it far more efficient. Watt later collaborated with Matthew Boulton to invent a steam engine with a rotary motion, a key innovation that would allow steam power to spread across British industries, including flour, paper, and cotton mills, iron works, distilleries, waterworks and canals.

Just as steam engines needed coal, steam power allowed miners to go deeper and extract more of this relatively cheap energy source. The demand for coal skyrocketed throughout the Industrial Revolution and beyond, as it would be needed to run not only the factories used to produce manufactured goods, but also the railroads and steamships used for transporting them.

When a Horse Raced Against a Locomotive During the Industrial Revolution

An 1830 battle between steam and horse power marked the moment when the Industrial Revolution changed transportation forever.

The Original Luddites Raged Against the Machine of the Industrial Revolution

Uprisings against a new economic structure imposed by the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the insult "luddite."

The Spies Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution

From water‑powered textile mills, to mechanical looms, much of the machinery that powered America's early industrial success was "borrowed" from Europe.

Transportation During the Industrial Revolution

Britain’s road network, which had been relatively primitive prior to industrialization, soon saw substantial improvements, and more than 2,000 miles of canals were in use across Britain by 1815.

In the early 1800s, Richard Trevithick debuted a steam-powered locomotive, and in 1830 similar locomotives started transporting freight (and passengers) between the industrial hubs of Manchester and Liverpool. By that time, steam-powered boats and ships were already in wide use, carrying goods along Britain’s rivers and canals as well as across the Atlantic.

Banking and Communication in the Industrial Revolution

In 1776, Scottish social philosopher Adam Smith , who is regarded as the founder of modern economics, published The Wealth of Nations . In it, Smith promoted an economic system based on free enterprise, the private ownership of means of production, and lack of government interference.

Banks and industrial financiers soon rose to new prominence during this period, as well as a factory system dependent on owners and managers. A stock exchange was established in London in the 1770s; the New York Stock Exchange was founded in the early 1790s.

The latter part of the Industrial Revolution also saw key advances in communication methods, as people increasingly saw the need to communicate efficiently over long distances. In 1837, British inventors William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the first commercial telegraphy system, even as Samuel Morse and other inventors worked on their own versions in the United States.

Cooke and Wheatstone’s system would be used for railroad signaling, as the speed of the new steam-powered trains created a need for more sophisticated means of communication.

Labor Movement 

Though many people in Britain had begun moving to the cities from rural areas before the Industrial Revolution, this process accelerated dramatically with industrialization, as the rise of large factories turned smaller towns into major cities over the span of decades. This rapid urbanization brought significant challenges, as overcrowded cities suffered from pollution, inadequate sanitation, miserable housing conditions and a lack of safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, even as industrialization increased economic output overall and improved the standard of living for the middle and upper classes, poor and working class people continued to struggle. The mechanization of labor created by technological innovation had made working in factories increasingly tedious (and sometimes dangerous), and many workers—including children—were forced to work long hours for pitifully low wages.

Such dramatic changes and abuses fueled opposition to industrialization worldwide, including the “ Luddites ,” known for their violent resistance to changes in Britain’s textile industry.

Did you know? The word "luddite" refers to a person who is opposed to technological change. The term is derived from a group of early 19th century English workers who attacked factories and destroyed machinery as a means of protest. They were supposedly led by a man named Ned Ludd, though he may have been an apocryphal figure.

In the decades to come, outrage over substandard working and living conditions would fuel the formation of labor unions , as well as the passage of new child labor laws and public health regulations in both Britain and the United States, all aimed at improving life for working class and poor citizens who had been negatively impacted by industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution in the United States

The beginning of industrialization in the United States is usually pegged to the opening of a textile mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793 by the recent English immigrant Samuel Slater. Slater had worked at one of the mills opened by Richard Arkwright (inventor of the water frame) mills, and despite laws prohibiting the emigration of textile workers, he brought Arkwright’s designs across the Atlantic. He later built several other cotton mills in New England, and became known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

The United States followed its own path to industrialization, spurred by innovations “borrowed” from Britain as well as by homegrown inventors like Eli Whitney . Whitney’s 1793 invention of the cotton gin (short for “engine”) revolutionized the nation’s cotton industry (and strengthened the hold of slavery over the cotton-producing South).

By the end of the 19th century, with the so-called Second Industrial Revolution underway, the United States would also transition from a largely agrarian society to an increasingly urbanized one, with all the attendant problems.

By the mid-19th century, industrialization was well-established throughout the western part of Europe and America’s northeastern region. By the early 20th century, the U.S. had become the world’s leading industrial nation.

How the Industrial Revolution Fueled the Growth of Cities

The rise of mills and factories drew an influx of people to cities—and placed new demand on urban infrastructures.

7 Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution

While the Industrial Revolution generated new opportunities and economic growth, it also introduced pollution and acute hardships for workers.

8 Groundbreaking Inventions from the Second Industrial Revolution

The period between the late 1800s and the early 1900s saw a boom in innovations that would take the world by storm.

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Historians continue to debate many aspects of industrialization, including its exact timeline, why it began in Britain as opposed to other parts of the world and the idea that it was actually more of a gradual evolution than a revolution. The positives and negatives of the Industrial Revolution are complex.

On one hand, unsafe working conditions were rife and environmental pollution from coal and gas are legacies we still struggle with today. On the other, the move to cities and ingenious inventions that made clothing, communication and transportation more affordable and accessible to the masses changed the course of world history.

Regardless of these questions, the Industrial Revolution had a transformative economic, social and cultural impact, and played an integral role in laying the foundations for modern society. 

Photo Galleries

Robert C. Allen, The Industrial Revolution: A Very Short Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007  Claire Hopley, “A History of the British Cotton Industry.” British Heritage Travel , July 29, 2006 William Rosen, The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention . New York: Random House, 2010 Gavin Weightman, The Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World, 1776-1914 . New York: Grove Press, 2007 Matthew White, “Georgian Britain: The Industrial Revolution.” British Library , October 14, 2009 

HISTORY Vault: 101 Inventions That Changed the World

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DBQ: US Government – Liberty or Safety

DBQ: School Integration in the South: Evaluate the Response of Southern Society to Integration.

DBQ: The Industrial Revolution – a positive or negative effect on the quality of life for humans?

• Filed under Uncategorized

Historical Question: The Industrial Revolution – does rapid economic growth, due to industrialization, have a positive or negative effect on the quality of life for humans?

Introduction: This DBQ, will have students analyze the effects of industrialization culturally, politically, and economically in the western world. They will compare sources from a variety of viewpoints and infer on the overall impact industrialization can have on human life. Students can use that they’ve learned from this DBQ and also apply it to industrialization in other countries throughout the world. This DBQ supports the profile of the South Carolina Graduate (see resource section) because students will be using critical thinking skills to analyze and compare sources, collaborate and discuss with their peers, and communicate their findings in a democratic way.

Standards | Vocabulary |  Context | Questions – Doc #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8

Time Required:  The estimated time frame for this DBQ is four 45 minute class periods.

Click here to download the full DBQ with attached handouts: The Industrial Revolution/ Does rapid economic growth, due to industrialization, have a positive or negative effect on the quality of life for humans?, Standard 4,   and Sources with Questions , and Quality of Life Chart

South Carolina Standards (2020)

Targeted Standard: Standard 4: Demonstrate an understanding of how increased global exchanges promoted revolution from 1760 to the beginning of the 20th Century.

6.4.P Summarize the local and global impacts of the Industrial Revolution.

6.4.CX Contextualize the environmental impact of the Industrial Revolution.

6.4.E Analyze multiple perspectives on increased global interactions and revolutions through a variety of primary and secondary sources.

• Industrialization
• Child Labor
• Agriculture

Historical Context and Background Information:

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the late 1700s following the Agricultural Revolution and early advancements in technology and machinery. The enclosure movement, crop rotation, and the agricultural technology increased agricultural yields, which led to increased population and forced small farmers to become tenant farmers or move to the cities. Great Britain had the factors of production needed for industrialization, including natural resources, rivers and harbors, experience entrepreneurs, rising population, political stability, increasing world trade, and economic prosperity and progress. Following it start in Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution spread to the United States and those countries of continental Europe and which factors of production were available such as Belgium and Germany. Later, in Japan, industrialization began as a response to growing imperialistic threats against the nation. The Industrial Revolution caused major economic, cultural, and political changes around the world.

The Industrial Revolution was an economic revolution, and therefore economic changes were widespread and still continue to impact our world today. These economic changes lead to cultural and political changes. Economic changes began with the invention of machines. New textile machines for spinning and weaving, chores that had previously been done by hand increased the production of cloth goods. The modernization of textile technology revolutionized industrialization. The flying shuttle advanced textile production by doubling the amount of weaving a worker could do in one day. This machine was soon joined by the more advanced spinning jenny, which allowed one spinner to spin eight threads at a time. At first operated by hand, these machines were soon powered by the water frame. In 1779, the spinning wheel was invented as a combination of the spinning jenny and water frame. The mule produced a stronger product than its predecessors. And 1787, the water-powered power loom increase the speed of weaving yet again. The cotton gin significantly increased cotton production following its invention in 1793. As reliance on large, expensive machines increased, factories were built to house the machines, rather than the “cottage industries” of handwork previously done at home in earlier times. Due to the increasing demand for waterpower to drive machines, factories were built near rivers or streams. Therefore, jobs that had previously been done by individuals in the home were moved to factories. These factories were built in existing cities or established towns near water sources. After the development of the steam engine by James Watt, factories begin being built away from water sources because the steam engine became the new power source for machines. Coal and iron were the main resources used to power and build these engines in machines, and later, and the second wave of the Industrial Revolution that began in the 1870s, electricity, chemicals, and steel were the main sources for industrial business.

Transportation improved with the development of the steam engine as well. The steam engine was soon used to power steamboats and locomotives, leading to the building of canals and railways for trade and transportation. The railroad boom created new jobs for railroad workers and miners were needed to obtain cold to power the new engines. With less expensive means of trade and transport of goods, industries developed and trade over long distance is grew and travel for humans was easier. With the development of the

factory system came the division of labor as individuals were assigned specific task, which led to increased worker productivity and increased output of manufactured goods. Through the development of interchangeable parts, where many identical parts were produced rather than the previous process of creating unique items by hand, it became possible to mass produce and repair many goods with the aid of machines and refined them by hand. Mass production allowed goods to be produced for a cheaper price, making them more accessible to the increasing portion of the population. Worker spent long hours in the factories, often 14 hours a day, six days a week. The working conditions were dangerous and often resulted in injury, but there was no recourse for such injuries. Individuals could earn more in factories than on farms, leading to a large rural-to-urban migration.

Rural-to-urban migration lead to many social changes. Unfortunately, the division of labor also made clear the division between the worker and owner classes. Many European cities doubled in population during this period of history. Because of the low pay for workers and because of the living conditions in cities were unregulated, housing conditions were often very poor. The working class lived in crowded areas often without basic utilities such as running water. Conditions were often unsanitary due to these circumstances along with increase pollution from the factories. Crime increased due to poverty, however there was often inadequate police protection. The middle and upper classes, usually business owners or other professionals, typically moved to nicer homes in the suburbs, which was a tangible reflection of the growing class divisions.

Because working conditions were so dangerous and because of the growing class divisions, further economic changes began along with political changes. Laissez-faire capitalism was the foundation of the Industrial Revolution, as this was the economic system in which all factors of production were privately owned and there was no government interference. But capitalism based on laws of competition, supply and demand, and self-interest, also allowed for great disparity in wealth. Supporters of capitalism opposed the creation of minimum wage laws and better working conditions, believing that it would upset the free-market system and weaken the production of wealth. The working class was increasingly oppressed by the middle and upper classes. This lead to rising support of socialism, because of the belief that such a system would provide for the greater welfare of the masses of working class people and allow the government to plan the economy in order to promote equality and end poverty. Socialism at that time offered workers more protection than capitalism and it also promised that it would better distribute wealth according to need. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, writing in The Communist Manifesto , proposed a radical socialism, stating that society was dividing into warring classes. It was proposed that the proletariat, the “have nots” or the workers, who were oppressed in their current conditions, would overthrow the bourgeoisie, the “haves”, or the owners, and create a “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Although this proletariat revolution did not occur during the Industrial Revolution, Marx provided the fuel for future reforms and revolutions.

In addition to the rise of socialism, labor unions and reform laws came about in the 1800s as a means to correct the disparities between social classes. Unions negotiated for better working conditions, higher pay, and shorter hours, and they would strike if demands were not met. These unions were restricted at first, but overtime achieved nominal success. In the 1830s, the British Parliament begin regulating mine and factory conditions for women and children, bringing much needed reform. Well individual gaps and wealth were problematic at this time, a global wealth gap also was occurring. As industrialized nations gained power over non-industrialized nations, these industrial powers begin looking to exploit the weaker nations for resources and markets. Thus imperialism was born out of the industrial era (South Carolina Department of Education, 2011).

Guiding Questions and Sources

Document 1: Fredrikke Palmer illustration in the Women’s Journal , 1916.

• What do you notice about the outside of the web? What is going on in the center?
• What labels or main words do you see?
• Who is represented in the cartoon?
• How would people of the time period feel if they saw this cartoon?

Citation: Simkin, J. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2018, from http://spartacus-educational.com/USAWpalmer.htm

Document 2 : Lewis Hine Photograph of Child Labor in Textile Factory

• What is going on in the source? What is the child making?
• Who do you think is being represented in this source? Who is not represented?
• How would this image be different in modern times?
• Is this image meant to persuade or inform the viewer?

Citation: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1905). Sadie Pfeifer, 48 inches tall…, November 1908 Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-4d2c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Document 3 : “Child Labor in the Canning Industry of Maryland”, Lewis Hine 1909

• What is being described in the source?
• What is the tone? Is the author happy? Angry?
• What do you think is the author’s goal?
• Based on the author’s findings and what you learned from the image in Document B, what are the effects of hard labor on children?

Citation: Hine, Lewis. (1909, July 10). “Child Labor in the Canning Industry of Maryland.” [Manuscript]. From Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division. National Child Labor Committee Collection . http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/images/canneries3.pdf

Document 4 : William Blake poem The Chimney Sweeper

• What is the daily life of a chimney sweep?
• What does this poem say about the family life during this time period?
• What do you think is the author’s opinion on children working in these conditions?
• What feelings do you think would come up when someone of the time period were to read this? How could this poem persuade the public?
• How would Andrew Ure (Document E) respond to this poem?
• Based on when this poem was written, what do you think will happen to the health of children in the workforce as the Industrial Revolution continues?

Citation: Blake, W. (n.d.). Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Songs of Innocence: The Chimney Sweeper. Retrieved July 26, 2018, from http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/sie/sie09.htm

Document 5 : Skilled and Unskilled Labor Wages Chart, 1897 and 1899

• What do you notice about the value of wages from 1897 to 1899 for both unskilled and skilled workers?
• Why would the author publish this data? What is its purpose?
• What detail, group, or category is missing from this data that should be included? How would the missing information help determine the factors that led to wage increases?

Citation: Wright, C. D. (1900) Labor and capital. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of labor, shows how labor fares under large industrial corporations. Chicago, Ill. Allied printing. Chicago. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.01804500/

Document 6: Something New Starts Every Day, Song Sheet

• What are some new things or inventions that have been created based on the song?
• What do you think is the tone of the song?
• What connections can you make between your background knowledge and the new things in this song?

Citation: Something new starts every day. Sold wholesale and retail, by Leonard Deming … No. 61 Hanover Street, Boston. Monographic. [Online Text] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/amss.as112730/

Document 7 : Photographs made by reform photographers, Jacob Riis and Jesse Tarbox Beals

• Look at the four corners/sections of each photo. What do you see? What are two notices and two wonders?
• What are the similarities and differences between the two images?
• Who is missing? Why do you think they were not included?
• Why do you think both photographers chose to take these pictures? What was the purpose?
• What can you infer was the reason that lead to these living conditions

Citation: Stamp, J. (2014, May 27). Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed “How The Other Half Lives” in America. Retrieved July 29, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pioneering-social-reformer-jacob-riis-revealed-how-other-half-lives-america-180951546/

Tenement life in turn of the century new york. (2009, may 09). retrieved from https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/tenement-life-in-turn-of-the-century-new-york/.

• What is a trends or patterns do you see with the data?
• What do you think is the reason for this trend or pattern? What could be going on in the cities that would lead to these results?
• How trustworthy is this source?
• What details did this chart leave out that may help you answer the historical question? What groups of people are left out?

Citation: Szreter, S., & Mooney, G. (1998). Urbanization, Mortality, and the Standard of Living Debate: New Estimates of the Expectation of Life at Birth in Nineteenth-Century British Cities. The Economic History Review, 51 (1), new series, 84-112. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2599693

Digital Collections Information                    

This DBQ is based on images and/or documents from several institutions including the University of South Carolina Libraries, The National Archives, and The Library of Congress. See individual images for institution information.

DBQ Prepared by Courtney Garrison, 2018

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