Chapter 17

Industrial Revolution

• The I.R. began in Britain. Following the Revolution, there were advanced technological inventions such as "...the soinning jenny, power loom, steam, engine, or cotton gin...a culture of innovation, a widespread and... obsessive belief that things could be endlessly improved" (Strayer, 829).
• There were massive populations of people. Up to "...375 million people in 1400 to about 1 billion in the early ninteenth century" (Strayer, 828).
• People that came here originated from Western Europe, China, Japan, and others. A main motive for their migration was global energy. Energy was discovered and industriel fuel became a powerful and demanding tool that the population valued.

British Aristocracy

• The Aristocrats were a very wealthy class of citizens,  "...the dominant class in Britain, suffered little in material terms from the Industrial Revolution" (836)
• The Artistocrats were landowners and they owned a large percentage of Britain. 
• "In the mid-nineteenth century, a few thousand families still owned more than half of the cultivated land in Britain.." (Strayer, 836).

Middle Class

• The Middle class were a group of citzens who were developing their wealth while the Aristroacy already had a mass of wealth. "As its upper levels, this middle class contained extremely wealthy factory and mine owners, bankers, and merchants" (837).
• Other types of citizens that were in the Middle Class were doctos, lawyers, small businessmen, engineers, teachers, and much more. 
• The Middle Class valued "respectability" and this connects with Scotsman Smiles's Self-Help where Smiles argues that people are to take care of their destiny. Smiles believes that this belief furthered the Middle Class to remain above those below.

Laboring Class

• The laboring class was more than 70% of Britain's 19th century population. The labor force was the majority of Britain's population at the time.
• Living as a labor class citizen was very tough because the living conditions were not sane and not humane. In page 839, Strayer writes, "These cities were vastly overcrowded and smoky, with wholly inadequate sanitation, periodic epidemics, ...few public services, ...and polluted water supplies" (839).

Social Protest

1. Karl Marx was an activist who was born in Germany, but "... witnessed the brutal conditions of Britain's Industrial Revolution" (842). Karlx Marx invented the system of communism and was noted for his"scientific socialism" (843). Marx challenged those in charge of society such as the King, Aristocrats and others of high power.
2. Robert Owen. "..a wealthy British cotton textile manufacturer, urged the creation of small industrial communities where workers and their families would be well treated. He established one such community, with a ten-hour workday, spacious housing, decent wages, and education for children..." (842).