Reforming the Industrial

World

Section 9.4

The Philosophers of Industrialization

• Laissez-faire economics – ability of economy to function w/o gov’t interference

• Adam Smith– The Wealth of Nations –

free economy– Economic liberty =

economic progress, no gov’t

Adam Smith con’t

– Three Natural Laws of Economics:• Law of Self-Interest –

people work for own good• Law of Competition –

Competition forces people to make better product• Law of Supply and

Demand – enough goods would be produced at the lowest possible price to meet demand in a market

The Philosophers of Industrialization• Economics of Capitalism– Capitalism – factors of

production are privately owned and money is invested in business to make a profit

– Opposed helping poor because it’s gov’t intervention• Against minimum wage

and better working conditions

– Thomas Malthus• An Essay on the

Principle of Population • Population increased

faster than food supply• Needed wars and

epidemics to kill off extra people

The Philosophers of Industrialization

– David Ricardo• Principles of Political

Economy and Taxation• Valued free trade• Believed the

underclass would always be poor• Market System:

– Many workers + abundant resources = cheap resources and labor

– Few workers + little resources = expensive resources and labor

The Philosophers of Industrialization

The Rise of Socialism• Jeremy Bentham – Utilitarianism – people

should judge ideas, institutions, and actions based on utility

– Gov’t should promote the greatest good for greatest number of people

– Individuals should pursue own advantage

• John Stuart Mill– Questioned

unregulated capitalism– Wrong that workers

lead deprived lives– Ordinary working

people get equal division of profits

– Favored a cooperative system of agriculture and women’s rights

The Rise of Socialism

Utopian Ideals• Robert Owen – New Lanark, Scotland –

site of his new factory• Improved working

conditions • Built homes which he

rented at low rates• Prohibited children under

10 from working in the mills and providing free schooling

– New Harmony, India • Intended to be a utopia –

perfect living place• Lasted only three years

The Rise of Socialism• Socialism – factors of production

owned by public and operate for the welfare of all– Charles Fourier– Henri de Saint-Simon

• Dangers of industrialization- Gov’t should plan the economy- Gov’t controlled key industries

to end poverty and promote equality

Marxism• More extreme than

socialism• The Communist Manifesto– Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels– Society based on class warfare

• Bourgeoisie – owned means of production

• Proletariat – owned nothing but their labor

– Industrial Revolution enriched wealthy, impoverished poor• Needed revolution BEFORE the

proletariat could unite against bourgeoisie

Marxism• Industrial Revolution

would destroy itself– Ultimately leads pure

communism – when means of production are owned by the people

• Economic forces dominated society – Gov’ts kept wealth gap

from becoming extreme, avoiding communism

Labor Unions and Reform Laws

• Unions – labor associations to make working people politically active – Bargained for better working

conditions, more pay– Strike – refuse to work

• Skilled labor lead movement • Great Britain

– Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 – outlawed unions and strikes because they were a danger to society

– Repealed the Acts in 1824

Labor Unions and Reform Laws

• Great Britain– Factory Act of 1833

• Illegal to hire children under 9 • Children 9-12 only work 8 hrs• Children 13-17 only work 12

hrs

– Mines Act 1842 • Prevented women and

children from working underground

– Ten Hours Act 1847• 10 hr workday for women and

children in factories

The Reform Movement Spreads

• Abolition of Slavery– William Wilberforce, lead

fight for abolition – 1807 – Parliament passed

law to end slave trade in the British West Indies

– 1833 – slavery was abolished in the British empire

– Motivations:• Morally wrong • Economically dangerous • Industrialists preferred

cheap labor

• Women workers made a third of men

• Changes:– Reform movements– Safety inspectors where

other women worked– Women’s unions– Jane Addams – settlement

house that served the poor residents of slum neighborhoods

– International Council for Women (ICW – 1888)• Pushed for rights

Women’s Rights

Prison and Education Reform

• Horace Mann (US) – free public education – 1850s (US) many states had

public school systems– Europe followed in the late 1800s

• Alexis de Tocqueville (France) – Wrote about brutal American

prisons– Big deal because US claimed

modern status but Tocqueville pointed out major problems

• Wanted useful skills for when prisoners were released