Industrial Revolution DBQ

The industrial revolution began in the 1700’s in England and rapidly grew throughout the rest of Europe. It was supposed to change society for the better and improve life. There was a variety of new inventions and products that gave people a new way of getting things done. While some of these effects were positive, however, some turned out to be negative instead. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, many hardships had to be overcome, causing great grief to most of the population. According to document 4, the population density of Great Britain increased greatly and more and slums were being developed all throughout the country. This is due to the increase in factories and jobs everywhere. This is a negative impact because too many people were occupying the land making it more crowed and harder to support them. Unsanitary and poor conditions in factories and homes came about due to the over populated towns and cities.

Although it is not shown in the document, injuries of the workman rarely happened before the industrial revolution, however eventually injuries began to occur often due to the unsafe conditions. The excerpt from document 3 explains how child labor was being used at the time and children were very sickly due to working at England’s factories. Children were forced to work in these factory conditions and many would come out unhealthy. The areas were also being polluted heavily, causing it to be difficult to breathe in. However, people needed the money and they were willing to go through anything just to earn it for their families. Anyone can easily recognize the negative aspects of such a dramatic event. However, if the revolution is viewed as a whole, the positive aspects will completely out-weigh the negative aspects.

Although there were a lot of negatives, the industrial revolution was still mainly a positive thing for Europe. In document 1, it shows the entire process of clothing being produced in the domestic system. The work looks very slow, complicated, and time consuming. When new inventions were made and factories were built, more can be produced in a day and more income is made this way as well. This is a positive impact because more women can get jobs in the factories and the work is easier as well as more efficient. They could produce cheap goods which could then be used to trade with other countries for much more desirable foreign items. The machinery improved their trade greatly, almost tripling it. Another positive effect that isn’t displayed through the documents is the development of a union.

It is a positive effect because it showed the strength of the people and also setting a lot of standards for the future. Another positive effect from the industrial revolution was the creation of a strong middle class. Before the revolution, most people were part of a poor labor, lower class while a few wealthy people made up the upper class and they had the most power. When factories started being used, more people were getting jobs and making money, improving their social status and giving them more rights and power. Europe went through major changes during their industrial revolution, some were good and some were bad. However, it did bring on a way of thinking and a new way of doing things that carved the way for many other civil actions to follow. Although, not all of the effects were positive, the industrial revolution was a very influential point in history.