Essential Question: How did both the government and workers themselves try to improve workers lives? The Philosophers of Industrialization Rise of Socialism Labor Unions and Reform Laws The Reform Movement Spreads
Industrialization opened a gap between rich and poor, Business leaders warned the government to stay out of economic affairs Reformers felt the government should play an active role in bettering conditions for the poor.
Laissez faire comes from the French word let do Economic policy of letting owners of business set working conditions without interference from the government Also known as: Hands OFF Policy or Free Market Economy Adam Smith, defended the idea of a free market economy in his book The Wealth of Nations (1776) Claimed economic liberty guaranteed economic progress. This ideas formed the foundation for Capitalism Money is invested in business ventures with the goal of making a profit. Laissez-faire thinkers, opposed government efforts to help workers with such things as Minimum wage laws Better working conditions
In contrast to the laissez faire philosophy to leave business alone, others felt that the government should intervene. An English philosopher came up with philosophy of utilitarianism, People should judge ideas, institutions and actions on the basis of their utility or usefulness. John Stuart Mills led the utilitarian movement in the 1800 s, calling into question unregulated capitalism.
Other reformers took a more active approach, Robert Owen founded a cooperative community Indiana in 1825 People would live in utopia. Other reformers sought to offset the effects of capitalism with a new kind of economic system called socialism, The factors of production are controlled by the public for the welfare of all. Socialists argued that the government should actively plan the economy
German journalist, Karl Marx introduced the world to a radical type of socialism called Marxism. Marx and Engels outlined their ideas in a 23 page pamphlet called the Communist Manifesto Argued that human societies had been divided into warring classes, the middle class haves (bourgeoisie) and the working class have nots (proletariat) They predicted the workers would overthrow the owners because they have nothing to lose except their chains Marx believed that the capitalist system would eventually destroy itself, when the large proletariat revolts and seizes the factories and mills. Eventually there would be a period of cooperative living and education where workers would share the profits called communism, where private property would cease to exist and all goods and services would be shared equally.
While Marxism did inspire communist revolutionaries: Lenin (USSR) Mao Zedong (China) Ho Chi Min (Vietnam) Fidel Castro (Cuba) Many of the predictions have since proved wrong
Faced with long hours and dangerous working conditions, working people became more active in politics by putting together associations called unions. Unions engaged in collective bargaining, They spoke for all the workers in a particular trade and negotiated with their employers. If factory owners refused their demands they could strike, or refuse to work. The union movement underwent slow, painful growth in both the US and Britain For years the government denied workers the right to form unions. New reform laws corrected some of the worst abuses of industrialization Parliament passed the Factory Act of 1833 which outlawed child labor for those under 10 years old and restricted the hours for older children. Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited the workday for both children and women.
Reform spread beyond industrialism, helping to end slavery and promote rights for women. William Wilberforce led the fight for abolition in Britain, Abolished slavery in the empire in 1833 for both moral and economic reasons. The US did not abolish it until after the Civil War in 1865 Brazil s huge enslaved population win freedom in 1888
The Industrial revolution was a mixed bag for women Worked offered higher wages than work done at home, But women factory workers only made one-third the amount of men. The Women s rights movement began in the United States as early as 1848, and women around the world formed an International Council for Women in 1888. Public education and prison reform ranked high on the reformers lists, 1850 many states in America and nations of western Europe offered free public schooling Reformers took on the challenge of emphasizing the goal of restoring prisoners to useful lives rather than just punishment.