The Middle and Working Class Mr Whites World

The Middle and Working Class Mr. White’s World History

Objectives ® After we study this section, we should be able to: ® Describe how the Industrial Revolution created a large middle-class ® Describe how the Industrial Revolution affected the working class ® Describe how the working class worked to form labor unions

The Middle Class ® The classes of a society are typically divided into three – upper, middle, and lower (called the working class in the Industrial Revolution) ® The middle class grows during the Industrial Revolution from a very small group of people to a much larger part of the population

The Emergence of the Middle Class ® The middle class grew because it was made up of bankers, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals who began to invest in business ® Others from the lower class were able to work their way up, and the middle class increased in size

Middle-class Values ® The middle class at the time valued education very highly, and saw it as a path to success for them and their children ® Men began to emerge as the sole monetary providers for households ® Women were kept in the home, and dealt with domestic issues – maintaining the home, writing letters, taking care of children ® Children in middle-class homes typically attended school much longer than working class

The Working Class ® The working class led a very different life from what the middle class did ® The working class was made up mostly of factory and industrial workers who used to be farmers ® Poor working and living conditions made life very difficult for the working class

Factory Work ® Working conditions in the very first factories weren’t too bad, but as competition increased, conditions got worse ® Monotony in a type of work (assemblyline) or fatigue because of long hours could cause breaks in concentration or falling asleep, resulting in accidents

Factory Work, continued ® Days were typically 10 -14 hours long, factories were not ventilated well, people often got sick and had little medical care ® Pay was very low for workers, and women made about half what men did

Working-class Families ® Mostly everyone in working-class families worked Children – didn’t attend school very long, poor conditions stunted growth and cause health problems ® Women had new opportunities that they didn’t have before (before only marriage), but they still had poor conditions and difficult jobs ® ® Factory and mill owners typically owned the housing in which factory workers lived, so they could set the rent ® Poor sanitation in cities made health problems worse

Workers Unite! ® Workers began to organize to improve working conditions, hours, and pay in their jobs ® Governments had made some laws to protect workers, but they didn’t go far enough for many ® Workers joined together into trade groups, and then eventually labor unions, to stand together to bargain with ownership

Instruments of Resistance ® Workers organized strikes, sit-down strikes, etc. , to protest management practices ® Factory owners argued that raising wages or decreasing hours would raise the price of their goods and hurt business ® Union workers were blacklisted and couldn’t get jobs anywhere ® British government even outlawed unions ® By 1820, many unions had success in getting collective bargaining rights