Sunday, November 1, 2009

Blog Nov 2.- Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain. The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in human social history because almost every aspect of daily life and human society was influenced in someway. Unfortunately, not ever life was impacted in a positive way. In many towns across England, the new industry that was taking over the country was also destroying local water supplies and shortening life expectancies. The atmospheric impurities and overcrowded dwellings caused the average life expectancy to drop by almost 13 years.
The downside of the industrial revolution is rarely taught to high school students in their world history classes. We are taught of all of the positive contributions the revolution made to not only Britain but to much of Europe and North America. Many students would have a different view of industrial Europe after learning about the conditions in which the works had to live and work in during this time period.
The excerpts read for this blog seem very believable to me, they seem to have factual accounts of living and working conditions of the British during the Industrial Revolution. They are also, I believe, trustworthy accounts. Both writers seem very passionate about the topics and seem to have facts to back up their accounts of the living conditions of the working class. The writings of these accounts were trying to let the world know of the conditions their peers were living in in order to make things easier for the upper classes of Britain, Europe, and North America.
Many of the conditions described in these articles can be compared with modern working conditions. When looking at the conditions of the poor in 1950s Brazil, we can see how water and clean living conditions are vital to the health of the poor and working class. Water was something precious to the working classes both in Europe as well as Brazil. Carolina lived in a favela and woke up at sometimes 4:00am just to stand in line for water at the one spigot for the entire community. In Britain, the new factories supporting the industrial revolution produced waste that flowed into the rivers and thus the water supplies of the working people. It was impossible for them to drink or clean in the water they once enjoyed. It is almost certain that the working classes in under developed countries still meet the conditions of those working during the Industrial Revolution. Water, atmospheric conditions, etc. will always been necessities just as they were in Industrial Britain.