The Industrial Revolution
The disadvantages of the Industrial Revolution
Introduction
The effect of the Industrial Revolution changed the course of American history but it comes with two sides, the pros and the cons. The Industrial Revolution started in the 1700’s in Britain in the textile or cloth-making, industry. It eventually came to America in the mid 1800’s also in the textile making industry. While there are many pros to the Industrial Revolution, such as inventions,transportation improvements, and mass production the cons such as poor factory conditions, child labor, and long working hours outweigh these pros because they were destructive to society.
Extreme Working Hours
Poor Factory Conditions
The second reason the cons outweigh the pros is poor factory conditions. The poor factory conditions included dangerous machines, sanitation issues, cruel treatment by the boss, chemical exposure, low pay, little fresh air in factories, and tuberculosis. In the meatpacking industry some workers would get their limbs chopped off by machines and their limbs would go in the meat Americans were eating. After those workers got their limbs chopped off by machines they were useless to the factories so they would lose their jobs.
Child Labor
The last reason the cons were destructive to society was because of child labor. Children were being and still are being used today (not in America) to produce and assemble products that adults could not, such as weaving rugs, textiles, etc. The bosses would not feed the children because they wanted the children to stay the same size.
Conclusion
Although there are several pros, such as inventions being created, transportation improvements, and job opportunities for women. However , I feel that that the cons outweigh the pros because the cons were destructive to society. This included extreme working hours, poor factory conditions, and child labor.
Citations
Image of extreme working hours: http://quotesgram.com/during-the-industrial-revolution-quotes/
Image of poor factory conditions: http://blog.world-mysteries.com/modern-world/without-knowledge-of-the-past-there-is-no-future/Image of child labor: http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/boysinfactory.jpg