The Industrial Revolution through the Eyes of Charles Dickens

& nbsp ; Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Industrial Revolution         Besides being the secular story of Christmas time in an urban setting, A Christmas Carol, tells the sacred story of Christmas as well. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens initiated an ongoing creative process in the Anglo-American imagination. As a result of the Industrial Revolution and the growth and development of cities people's lives changed drastically as they moved from the life and traditions of the country into those of the city.

Throughout history, a divide has always existed between the rich and poor in society. However, during the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England, this rift reached its peak. The working class labored for long hours and received miniscule wages, whereas the bourgeoisie grew abundantly wealthy through the labor of the working class. Published in 1848 and 1854 respectively, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Charles Dickens’ Hard Times both comment on these troubles. While Hard Times is a novel which tells a story and The Communist Manifesto is a short publication which tries to bring about social change, both writings offer a sharp critique of the class antagonism brought about by capitalism at the height of the Industrial

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain bought about significant changes, and had varying impacts on people depending on their economic status. It was a change that spread rapidly widening the gap between the rich and the poor wherever it developed. Although the industrial revolution enhanced production, increased employment opportunities and resulted in high generation of revenues, it also negatively affected various industries given that most of the trust, conglomerate and holding companies used their influence to kill any chance of fair competition; a move that ensured they controlled their respective industries. Worse still, it increasingly degraded the lives of the middle class given that early on in the revolution; there were no specific laws or regulations to protect them. It therefore becomes evident that it is laissez- faire (a classical liberalism) that supported the historical record with regards to early industrial revolution.

The United States attracted many immigrants as it gave opportunity to farm or work in urban areas, which was appealing for people like the Irish, who experienced famine and depression in their home, many Irishmen moved to America, and population wise

The Industrial Revolution became a defining transitional period in United States history. The Industrial Revolution created opportunities for society through, employment, higher pay and allowed for the meeting of many cultures. As a result of high employment opportunities, people flocked to the North and populated areas of the nation creating urban cities. Urban cities of the nation have not changed much since the Industrial Revolution; people are still drawn to the urban culture because of the variety in social and economic opportunities. The urban culture has allowed us to observe the interaction among various cultures and the development of the social class through time.

The Industrial Revolution began in England , spreading to the rest of Western Europe and the United States.The Industrial Revolution started from the early 1700s ,to the late 1800s. Advancements in technology produced the Industrial Revolution while advancements in science and medicine altered the lives of people living in the new Industrial cities .While it may be true that many inventions were created during this time ,it can be argued that the light bulb and dynamite had the greatest impact on society.

The Industrial Revolution that occurred in the late Nineteenth Century brought many new jobs that were drastically different to the jobs that previous Americans held. While agricultural jobs still existed and were vitally important to the sustainability of the American economy, the new factory jobs that opened up created many new work opportunities for Americans and immigrants who came from Europe. However, the problem with all these new industrial jobs was that they had very poor working conditions and the work hours were long and unfair. This along with the low wages made these jobs undesirable. Despite this, immigrant workers continued to work under these conditions because they had nowhere else to obtain work and quitting would make it almost impossible for them to find a job somewhere else with better working conditions and wages. The result of the low wages meant that many immigrants living on the East Coast of the United States lived below the poverty line. There was a fundamental problem with the working and living conditions the immigrants were experiencing. Two political organizations of this era sought to fix this problem with two contrasting methods. The Progressive Reformers were a political organization that sought out to set permanent fixes to these conditions and make it possible for the immigrants to be self-sustaining. On the other hand, the political machines, more specifically Tammany Hall of Manhattan, sought to make changes by directly helping the

“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

America has been expanding and growing since its birth out of Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution has been an influence in the American life since it first in the 1700s. “Most families did not have enough to sell at the market- they had just enough for their own needs.” Up until the factories started booming and employment rates skyrocketed, people really couldn’t become wealthy and live a decent life. As the ways of farming grew the English at the time began to use up more and more land efficiently. “Unusable swamplands could be drained and used for crops.” That’s absolutely amazing that in this era they could turn swamps into areas to raise more crops so they can naturally make more money at the markets and become a bit wealthier. Farming is one of the most important lively hoods of mankind; no matter what argument anyone tries to make. If we didn’t have farming and agricultural production we wouldn’t have all the different sorts of food products we do, nor would they be as abundant. Life would be like it was before the Industrial Revolution came about and most of us would still be growing our own food and barely scraping by in life. With all this agricultural expansion of the time population in England start expanding drastically as well. Thanks to population growth people started to worry more about new inventions and producing stuff for us to make our day to day lives easier than we could have ever before. With all the technological advancements leading up to

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

Think about your life for one second: you communicate with people, travel, make purchases, and utilize those commodities. But have you ever wondered what made those things possible? After all, you go to the store to buy things you need. You drive a car to work and to visit your friends. If you need to talk to someone, you simply pick up your phone or computer. However, none of this would be possible without a means of communication, factories to manufacture the products you need, places to work, and ways to travel and transport goods. And what made these possible? The answer is the Industrial Revolution, which started in Europe around the year 1730. A revolution is a major change or turning point in something. The Industrial Revolution

In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century of England, the Industrial Revolution occurred. It is marked as an important movement in history because it introduced steam-driven machinery, large factories, and a new working class. With new manufacturing, job opportunities opened up. As the demand for employees rose, that is when the working class also began to rise. However, it not only included adults but children as well. The main reason for children to work is because it benefits the employers and their families economically. Employers made profit by having children work for low wages, and the money the children made would go towards the family income and necessities to survive. The low adult wages would not suffice for a neutral family or extended, so children had no choice but to work and help support their family. Although in need of money, there were too many dangers involved when the children were working. As a result of this, the state legislation had Acts passed for the children’s safety. The Industrial Revolution had many upsides in modernizing England, but it also uncovered that children should not be seen as workers needing money, but as young human beings that need education and protection, and the only way to initiate this is with the involvement of the state.

There is no doubt that the Industrial Revolution plays a central role in the modern British history. The structure of British society has forever changed by the impact and consequences of Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution is often stated as the increase of the number of factories, the exercise of steam power in a wide range of area and the mass-production produced by new technology in the course of 1750 to 1850 (Lane, 1978: 72). Engles (1986: 37) argued that the Industrial Revolution’s mainly development were the invention of the steam engine and the cotton industry. As the improvement of technology, the steam engine could produce more power with less

The Industrial Revolution was the quintessence of capitalistic ideals; it bred controversy that led to Karl Marx’s idea of communism as a massive grass roots reaction to the revolution’s social abuses. Firstly, the Industrial Revolution featured the construction of machines, systems and factories that allowed goods to be manufactured at a faster rate with a lower cost. The seed drill made it so there could be “a semi-automated, controlled distribution and plantation of wheat seed”(Jones 2013). Secondly, there was a great social and economic divide between the wealthy owners and the poor workers, which gave rise to the mass’s vulnerability to the advent of extreme socialism. Figures of authority severely oppressed their employees by giving them insufficient pay, a treacherous work environment, and even making some children work more than 12 hours per day (Cranny 150). Finally, far right capitalism created a brutal boom and bust cycle of economics that made, for the multitude at the bottom, a perpetual nightmare of poverty and death. People responded to this social situation by taking part in violent protests; oppression sires rebellion. The Industrial Revolution was the chassis of great imagination and progress of political, economic, and social force that still affects this world today.

We are standing at the precipice of what some call the 4th Industrial Revolution. The 4th Industrial Revolution is being described as a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. We are rapidly moving to an era where billions of people will be connected by mobile devices with unprecedented processing power and storage capacity. Our access to knowledge will be unlimited.