The Industrial Revolution – Pros and Cons

Before the Industrial Revolution, technology was considered to be a candle, or a horse and buggy. But after coal was discovered and machines of all sorts were invented, the future of the way we lived held in this time period’s hands. In lots of ways, it was a good thing. It made our lives more than toiling in the fields and milking the cows. This was about travel, and new job opportunities for anyone who was looking for work. It was about making an income just by working with simple machines. However, during this revolution, also came child labor and the focus of education. Everyone was taught that you didn’t need knowledge or to be an adult to make a living. So what was the point? Having tons of factories then buying stuff the factories would make with the money you would make by working for the factories (if that makes any sense). I will be reflecting the pros and cons of the Industrial Revolution that everyone will be able to agree on in this editorial.

There were many positive things that came out of the industrial revolution. One that will always stick is the transition from farmers to factory workers. People were stuck in a rut of tending crops and watching the grass grow. Nothing changed and not many things were easy– they were simple, but not easy. Now there were more opportunities to live modernly for more people.

Another positive thing that changed was the government had revised their opinion on education. They provided much more financial aid for schools and had insisted that children learn basic skills for life. However, most families could not afford to have their kid clothed and able to go to school, so this wasn’t much of an improvement.

The best outcome of the industrial revolution was all the modern inventions that scientists were motivated to create. Such things were; the light bulb, flu shots, X-Rays, telephones, etc. These inventions made everyday things much easier for centuries to come.

But if you put your hand over the good things, you would realize just how much the revolution changed the way everything was for the worst.

One thing was the unfairness of the working conditions and wages in the factories. Although many of them chose women to work over men, this was only because they paid women much less! Two dollars an hour less than the average pay of a man working for the same job. Not only were women treated unfairly, but children worked for even less and were forced to do so. And no Matter what you were paid, you had to suffer through the awful environments of the factories. They were extremely dangerous because of all the lung-consuming toxins that filled the air, and were very uncomfortable to work in because of the 80 degree heat.

Another negative outcome was Urbanization; this was basically the transformation of farmers moving into townhouses and working for other people. This was very negative since the average age of death of the urban area community was 17, while on farms it was 35. Crime was also a persistent problem and diseases spread quickly in the more populated groups of people.

Many of the things of the Industrial Revolution just couldn’t be changed for a long period of time, no matter how negative the effect was on society. Basically what I’ve done here is I’ve organized the effects of the Industrial Revolution by separating the pros and cons. This develops a clearer picture of what was happening. Maybe if the people had done that and showed the government what was happening, something could’ve changed.