Impact of Industrial Revolution on Ordinary Lives

1. Chapter 11, Section 1,2 How did the Industrial Revolution affect ordinary people’s lives?

2. Steel soon replaced iron and was used in the building of lighter, smaller, and faster machines and engines. It was also used in railways, ships, and weapons. Sir Henry Bessemer patented a new process for making high-quality steel efficiently and cheaply known as the Bessemer process.

3. One of the biggest reasons for more efficient industrial production was the assembly line, a new manufacturing method pioneered by Henry Ford in 1913. The assembly line allowed a much more efficient mass production of goods.

4. Marx predicted that the proletariat would violently overthrow the bourgeoisie, and create a classless society. Karl Marx believed that all of world history was a "history of class struggles."

5. Laws were passed that made strikes illegal under any circumstances. To improve their conditions, workers organized in a union. The right to strike was an important part of the trade union movement.

6. With few jobs available in the countryside, people from rural areas migrated to cities to find work in the factories. Cities also grew faster in the second half of the nineteenth century because of improvements in public health and sanitation.

7. The middle class included lawyers, doctors, members of the civil service, business managers, engineers, architects, accountants, and chemists. At the top of European society stood a wealthy elite.

8. The Second Industrial Revolution opened the door to new jobs for women. There were not enough men to fill the relatively low-paid, white collar jobs being created.

9. In the 1830s, a number of women in the United States and Europe argued for the right of women to own property, gain access to universities, and gain entry into occupations dominated by men.

10. Emmeline Pankhurst: British woman who founded the Women’s Social and Political Union, which used unusual publicity stunts to call attention to its demands.