• The First I.R. saw the rise of
• The Second I.R. gave rise to steel chemicals
electricity and which led to a whole bunch of
other inventions like:
Improvements in Human Life
Europeans could now afford to buy manufactured consumer products because of increased wages & the decreased price in goods
Department stores emerge selling all kinds of goods like clocks, bicycles, electric lights, typewriters, etc…
Improvements in Human Life
Living conditions in the cities improvedStart of building regulations like
requiring running water and internal drainage systems
Gas heaters in the 1860s allowed people to take hot baths
Change in Family LifeBirthrate began to decline as babies started
to live longer and the advances in birth control
Family valuesIdeals of togetherness – Christmas
traditions and family picnicsMarriage remained the only honorable
and available career for most women (lower class women chose to work to support family) Lower class women entered the workforce as
clerks, typewriters, secretaries, and telephone operators
1890-1914 – family patterns begin to change. Husbands start making more money which allows women to become stay at home moms
The Push for Equality
Feminism - movement for women's rights and woman’s suffrage (the right to vote) Inspired by the Enlightenment ideas of natural rights
1830s – argued for right to divorce and own property (not successful)
1870 – English women receive right to vote
*It would take the dramatic upheaval of World War I to make male-dominated governments give in to this basic issue of the rights for women
1920 – American women receive right to vote with the 19th Amendment to US Constitution
The Push for Equality (continued)
Universal Education: School used to be for the wealthy elite class, now governments began to finance (pay for) education => required every boy and girl ages 6-12 to attend school. Saw an increase in literacy rates (# of people who could read/write)
Why would it benefit the country to require their children to receive an education?
Turn to your neighbor and discuss