Chapter 4 AQA industrialisation

?
  • Created by: Maisiew01
  • Created on: 21-04-24 12:12
View mindmap
  • Chapter 4 AQA Industrialisation
    • Social class
      • Old social order= small, wealthy, landowning elite, monarch and aristocracy. All had power over the rest of the population
        • By end of 1700s this was changing, less relevant cause of industrialisation. Huge increase in population blurred old social divisions
          • Middle class emerged in growing urban centres. New industrial world was run by middle class
      • Trading and manufacturingclasses benefitted from expanding capitalist economy BUT changes in urban development brought problems for working class and caused deep divisions in society
        • All classes of new urban society had a lack of political rights
          • As a result- new enlightened ideas flourished and popular demands for reform in towns and cities
            • Working class wanted to overthrow existing system but middle class wanted to modify it to include them
        • Yeoman class were small independent farmers who farmed their own land. General view that they were economic victims of enclosure-> unable to meet costs and sold out to large landowners
          • Game  Laws prevented rural/agriculture workers from supplementingtheir basic diet. They were often forced to fall back on parish poor relief
            • Industrial workers had to discover a new attitude to work. They were accustomed to seasonal irregular work,. Regular and disciplined work in factories. Relentless demands of machines
              • Factory workers resented machinery that was running their lives. Factory conditions: little ventilation-> lung infections, no safety regulations, high Rick of fire(wooden machines). Harsh discipline + fines for lateness
                • 12+ hour shifts. 6 day working week. 20% of workforce were children. Women= cheaper to pay
                  • New Lanark Mills Robert Owen 1800 made them good. Skl for kids. None out of 3000 kids in trouble with the law
        • Even with industrialisation, in rural areas changes less evident,landowning class controlled political, social, and economic activity
          • Landowning class had been made wealthier by enclosure, agriculture improvements,and raw minerals(iron ore+coal)
    • Industrial workforce
      • Made up of skilled craftsmen and unskilled labourers, they all received an hourly wage: higher than agricultural labourers
        • If the economy was booming they had a regular wage, but often economic downturns-> wages lowered and ppl temp laid off
          • Skilled craftsmen able to protect themselves by subscribing to friendly societies which payed out in hard times
    • Standard of Living
      • From an economic point of view it is clear that Britain was getting richer, but unclear if standard of living was improving
        • There was an increase in output of manufacturing industry even when measured against population rise-> suggests greater availability of goods and more farming production with new methods
          • Others argue that the picture is not so clear. Poor living and working conditions in industrial towns negated any positive effect in the rise of wages
            • Fluctuations in living standards each year caused by bad harvests and disruption of war- very hard to make a clear analysis/judgement
        • Cartwright power loom = devastating effect on skilled weavers
        • War with France 1793-1815 caused economic disruption. Led to stagnation of real wages
          • Series of bad harvests 1795-6 and 1799-1800 made situation even worse: all difficult to import grain from Europe
            • 1798 income tax first introduced, very unpopular with wealthy
              • 1812 grain per quarter= £6.30 all time high
                • Seemed living standards were improving, but progress slowed by wars with France
                  • Industrialisation stimulated growth of trade societies (and later trade unions) whose aim was to maintain a decent standard of living for their members
                    • Friendly Societies Act 1793 gave members rights to hold meetings and have their funds protected
                      • Combination acts made all associations of working men illegal(directedat trade societies and preventing strike threats) they didn’t want workers bargaining for better wages and conditions
              • Rural areas=little change. Urban development=prosperity. Unclear wether living standards improved or not
            • French Revolution 1789

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all Industrialisation resources »