Class Emergence in the Industrial Revolution

The three main classes emerged in Industrial Revolution

During eighteenth to nineteenth century, Britain started their first Industrial Revolution, which brought Britain’s social class into a different stage, and caused the emergence of the new classes, such as middle class. Before the Industrial Revolution, people’s standard of living and working conditions were very simple. Once the revolution started, people changed their work places from farms to factories and moved to urban cities in search of new job. Machines made goods replaced ones that had been done by hand. In a spite of that, the social classes in Britain also altered, which developed three different classes, includes upper class, middle class and working class. The emergence of these three classes followed by the growth of industry, which brought more people to an upper stage, as people’s desire rose, increasing of Capitalism also brought wealth to the rich people, finally, the improvement of education helped increase the population in each class.

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As the growth of industry boosted rapidly in the society, it created many alternative effects on the social classes, such as the gap between rich and poor. Before the Industrial Revolution started, the Agricultural Revolution caused the appearance of new machines and new farming techniques, which replaced lots of farmer’s works. Those unexpected changes brought many problems between workers and government. Workers form union and stroke, many new machines and factories got ruined at the time, but their strike didn’t take a long time, then government claimed that their movements or meeting were illegal. However, the brutal reality didn’t stand on the same side with those workers, and push the poor move from countryside to the urban, and searching for new jobs (Clifford). Most of the increasing population in the city was form by those who work in the factories, which also became as the working class (Butler). For this reason, more people started to work at factories instead of being a farmer. As the demanded of goods are rising, the needs of factories also became essential at that period, and more and more factories were opened (European industrialization). Due to most of the landlords, bankers and factory owners, their life condition became better than what they used to have, they got better education and health care, some of them were even wealthier than the nobles, which caused the emergence of the new middle class (European Industrialization). The growth of industry brought a great leap of new social classes, the existence of the working class and new middle class appeared.

While the growth of factories is keep rising, people started to think about their own business instead of rely on the government, which increased capitalism, and drew the emergence of the new middle class. Before the Industrial Revolution, Britain was ruling under a feudalism system. With the society of feudalism, people got financial assistance from the government, because they only needed to have the ability to carry their own family, which also means that people should return their extra production or surplus to the government (Nairn). Since the Industrial Revolution started, the economy in Britain’s higher classes had a big improvement. With the growth of industry, the invention of new machines and technology allowed many landlord or owners got materials easier from the colonies, also, able to sell out their products in an easier and faster way. Those who were rich landlords and factory owners keep their wealthy and became upper middle class (Lobley). As the ability of factory production became better, people’s desire had become stronger, some of the factory or mill owners planned for start their own business, and became the one that taking control of the economy. The idea of the new political form capitalism affected people to repeal feudalism, and overthrew the upper class’s power (Poynton). Not everything came that successful, some of people that used to be working class became landless during the revolution, their life had changed, but not as successful as other classes did. The increasing taxes of goods or not being able to paid the fine to tenant caused them became vagabonds, looking for goods on the streets. Some of them were lucky, kept worked as a labor in the factory, which also became as the working class (Poynton). The increasing of the capitalism courage more merchants and factory owners became upper class, and also helped some landless became as workers in factories.

The living standard of society rose by the improvement of the education, which allowed more people learned about society form and developed new ideas of social classes. Before all of the changes, children in Britain couldn’t attend to school like nowadays. The low population density gave a hard choice for the principle to build a school in a certain place. Some children needed to take a long time for getting the school, furthermore, this caused some children lost the opportunity of study. As a result, children went to the factories and lose the chance of study, which also decrease literacy rate. In spite of the bad result in the beginning of the revolution, it started to change from the increasing of the literacy rate of middle class or upper class in Britain, one of the reason is the mortality rate decreased, because the improvement of the medical facilities (Simon). According to rising of the population, more schools were built up around 1700s to 1800s. In around 1710 to 1720, Great Britain even got about three hundred schools were established (chant). From the Industrial Revolution, more people realized the changing of the ages and the importance of education. Parents tried to send their children to school and let them received an official education, because they knew the new technology was going to replace the agricultural, and their old ways of working (Bulter). The new education brought more people into middle class. Some of the parents even sent their children to other countries for studied or worked under other companies or factories, the parents hoped their children could learn more, and by the chance they might got the right to work for the factories or companies while they grow up (European). The improvement of education helped more people understand their position in the society.

The Industrial Revolution helped the developed of the new social classes with the growth of industry that help people getting to a higher stage, and became wealthier by the increased of capitalism, similarly improvement in education also brought more people into middle class. From the changes of the growth in industry, people moved to the cities and got works in the factories, because of the invention of new technology during the revolution, and which became the working class. As well as the growing of factories, many factory owners became wealthier or upper-middle class. The growth also raised their desire of having their own companies and factories, which increase the capitalism, many owners wanted to take control of the economy, and the new- middle class existed. Later on, the improvement on education also became better as the new technology developed, which increase the literacy rate and population in each classes. The new social classes form by the Industrial Revolution changed lots of people’s lives, whether alter to a better life or fell into a lower and worsen condition.

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