The 19th Century Its Place in the Flow of History
Industrialization
Industrial Revolution By the 1830s writers began using the Industrial revolution to refer to the extraordinary changes in their economic world. The 100 year span following 1780 Transition from an agricultural, artisanal and rural economy to one characterized by large-scale manufacturing, capital intensive enterprises and urbanization.
Industrialization New sources of power (coal & Steam and then later electricity and oil) Faster transportation Mechanization Higher productivity / Mass Production Interchangeable Parts New ways of organizing labor
Textile industry Invention of the fly shuttle Invention of the Spinning Jenny Invention of the Water Frame Invention of the Cotton Gin
Coal & Iron Innovations in iron production (Coke smelting, rolling, Puddling furnace) meant coal could be substituted for wood and led to higher quality iron These new iron products became the infrastructure of industrialization; machines, engines, railway tracks, agricultural implements, hardware...
Transportation Revolution 1830 - Only a few dozen miles of railway in the world 1840-4,500 miles 1850-23,000 miles (1869 completes the Transcontinental railroad)
In europe Britain first industrialized nation By 1850 more than 20% of the population lived in cities of 100,000 or more Elsewhere in Europe no more than 10% lived in cities of 100,000 or more
Late 19th Century Exponential growth in industrialization Transatlantic cable, telephone, new chemical processes, pharmaceuticals, electricity,
Social consequences Small Rural agricultural workers now in competition with industrialized commercial agriculture Cottage industries (artisan) now in competition with factory produced goods Urbanization and its accompaniments
Urbanization in USA 1820 - Only five cities in the country with more that 25,000 people, and only one, New York with more than 100,00 Between 1820-1850 urban population grew from 7 to 18 %. 1850 - Twenty-six cities with more that 25,000 and six that exceeded 100,000
Why? Many wanted to escape the drudgery of farm life Most were eager to improve standard of living Drop in prices for Agricultural commodities improvements in agricultural productivity freed some children to pursuits elsewhere Improvements in transportation led to increased migration
During the nineteenth century witnessed enormous urban growth throughout the western world, It was most dramatic in the United States American cities received migrants not only from farms but also from around the world Europe s crop failures and the Irish potato famine led to a flood of immigration to U.S. in the 1840s and 1850s In the 1840s 40% of New york and New orleans residents were foreign born.
City Life Development of municipal services -- Police, firefighting, water, sanitation -- could not keep up with the rapid urban growth. Working class neighborhoods were as violent as frontier life Gangs, whorehouses, organized crime, robbery, assaults -- Bad stuff happened in the city
City Life Pollution - esp. Air Quality Bad Hygiene - toxic water Men Physically shorter & had shorter lives New born babies in New York & Philadelphia had a shorter life expectancy than a slave born in the south (24 Years)
Warning: Unattended children are in danger of being eaten!
So Why Move to the city? Career opportunities Personal independence (freedom from backbreaking toil & Patriarchal authority) Hope for something more than subsistence farming Theaters, public markets, excitement!
Working - class life Perhaps the defining feature of working class life was vulnerability -- To unemployment, sickness, accidents in dangerous jobs, family problems, and spikes in prices of food. ~ Coffin & Stacey
Society in Transition Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Les Miserables, Victor Hugo Hard Times, Charles Dickens Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens Anything by Honore de Balzac
Representation in Literature Social mobility & Youthful ambition New distinctions based on wealth or social class New social values - i.e. It s Just Business - Heartless and materialistic Families offered continuity and tradition in a time of rapid change