Chapter 21: Economic Advance and Social Unrest Flashcards
Where the Industrial Revolution encouraged Britain to invest in the early 19th century
United States and Latin America
Population growth in Britain, France, and Germany by mid 19th century
Britain: 16 million to 21 million
France: 32 million to 36 million
Germany: 26 to 31 million
Impact on cities due to 19th century urbanization
Pressure on physical resources, population growth made existing housing, water, sewers, food supply and lighting inadequate. Filth and disease (especially cholera) reigns. Crime increases.
Causes and effects of the Irish Famine of 1845-1849
Poor harvests. About half a million who didn’t own land or small plots starved. Hundreds of thousands emigrated. Resulted in an increased urban population, as the countryside provided factories with new workers.
Results of railway improvements on consumer economy
Favored capital goods to consumer goods. Shortage of consumer goods at cheap prices. Working class was often unable to buy much for its wages.
Limits of workers in the new labor marketplace
Workers had no say, seen as commodities
Proletarianization
The practice of an individual’s labor becoming a commodity of the labor marketplace
Chartist reform movement/measures
1838: The London Working Men’s Association issues the Charter, demanding…
1) Universal male suffrage
2) Annual House of Commons Elections
3) Secret ballots
4) Equal electoral districts
5) Abolition of property qualifications
6) Payment of salaries for members of the House of Commons
British Charterism
First large-scale European working class political movement. Had specific goals and large working class leadership. Failed as a national movement.
Purpose behind construction of the Crystal Palace
The Great Exhibition was held there to show how industries/products were compatible with culture
Relationship between husbands and wives in early factories
Wife could be an assistant to her husband. Women often did less skilled work than they had in their homes.
English Factory Act of 1833
Forbade the employment of children under age 9, limited work hours to 9 per day for children ages 9-13, and required the factory owner to pay for 2 hours of education for these children
Work hours after 1847
10 hour work days
Requirements of new jobs for women in textile factories
Demanded fewer skills than in home production of textiles. Required fewer skills than most work men did.
Women and employment in France
Worked on land
First organized police force
Paris, 1828
Trends of criminal activity in Europe
Slowly escalated until 1860 until it plateaued
Reason British criminals sent to Australia
British would sentence people convicted of the most serious offenses to Transportation, so these criminals could be sent off and they would never have to be dealt with again. This was seen as an alternative to capital punishment.
The Auburn System and Philadelphia System
Auburn: Prisoners were separated at night, but could associate while working during the day
Philadelphia System: Prisoners are separated at all times. Chief characteristics included individual cells and long periods of separation and silence. The best example of this method was the Pentagon Prison. This method often drove prisoners to insanity.
Classical Economists and their theories
-Adam Smith: Wrote Wealth of Nations (1776), advocated for laissez-faire economics/free enterprise with minimal government regulation
-Thomas Malthus: Wrote Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) which stated that the population outstripped the amount of food supply and encouraged family planning, late marriage, chastity, contraception, and low wages.
-David Ricardo: Wrote Principles of Political Economy (1817) and came up with the “Iron Law of Wages” which stated:
High wages → Population goes up and creates a larger work force → Low wages → Population goes down and creates a smaller work force → High wages
Thomas Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population and his views
- The human population grows geometrically while the food supply grows arithmetically, therefore the population will eventually outstrip the food supply. Methods to avert the disaster included family planning, late marriage, chastity, contraception, and low wages.
David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy
- “Iron Law of Wages.” High wages → Population goes up and creates a larger work force → Low wages → Population goes down and creates a smaller work force → High wages
Jeremy Bentham, and Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism: The greatest good for the greatest amount of people. (Think of Frozone: Wanting to save the public is the “greater good” > Dinner with his wife who is the greatest good he is ever gonna get.)
Wrote Fragment on Government (1776) and The Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), explaining that utilitarianism is better than special interests (a political or economic stake in something).
Utopian Socialist Movements
1) Saint-Simonianism
- Led by Claude Henri de Saint-Simon
- Believed in technocracy. Society’s wealth, property and enterprise were to be managed by experts to achieve social harmony and alleviate poverty and social dislocation.
- Advocated for extramarital sex
2) Owenism
- Led by Robert Owen
- Believed there was no incompatibility between creating a humane industrial environment and making a good profit. Provided workers with good working conditions
- Experiments: New Lanark (success), New Harmony in Indiana (failed), Grand National Union (failed)
3) Fourierism
- Led by Charles Fourier
- Advocated phalanxes: no repetitive work, so workers wouldn’t get bored. Advocated agrarian work moving from one task to another, relatively free sexual activity, and later life marriages to prevent boredom.
