The Industrial Revolution

1. The Industrial Revolution City Life

2. Medicine and Population • Due to the declining death rate, the population of Europe more than doubled between 1800 and 1900. This was partially due to medical advances and better sanitation. • Since the 1600s, scientists had speculated that certain microbes, or microscopic organisms might cause infectious diseases. Most scientists laughed at the germ theory, but in 1870, Louis Pasteur proved the theory conclusively. He went on to develop vaccines against rabies and anthrax. He also developed the process of pasteurization, a way of killing disease-carrying microbes in milk.

3. In the 1880s, Dr. Robert Koch identified the bacteria that caused tuberculosis, a disease that killed about 30 million people during the 1880s. However, a cure was not discovered for another 50 years. • By 1914, scientists had discovered that diseases such as malaria and yellow fever were carried by mosquitoes. • As people began to understand how germs caused disease, they began to bathe and change their clothes more often. Better sanitation caused the death rate to drop even more. • With the invention of anesthetics in the 1840s, doctors were able to experiment with operations that had never before been possible.

4. Hospitals were still very dangerous places. Often, patients who survived operations died a few days later from infections caused by dirty instruments and operating rooms. • Middle and upper class patients often insisted on treatment at home, but the poor had no choice. • Florence Nightingale was a nursing pioneer. She said, “The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.” As an army nurse, she insisted on better hygiene in field hospitals. As a civilian, she introduced sanitary measures in British hospitals, and founded the first nursing school. • Joseph Lister was an English surgeon who discovered that antiseptics prevented infection. He insisted that surgeons wash their hands before operations and sterilize their instruments. • Eventually, deaths from infection began to decrease.

5. The Life of the Cities • Growing wealth and industrialization altered the layout of cities, as city planners began to create new squares and boulevards. The city of Paris began a program of urban renewal, or rebuilding the poor areas of the city, in the 1850s. The tangled medieval streets full of tenement houses were destroyed and replaced with wide boulevards and splendid public buildings. The project put people to work, decreasing unrest among the poor.

6. Eventually, the rich moved to the outskirts of cities, while the poor lived in the center, near the factories. Trolleys made it possible to live in one part of the city and work in another. • Paved streets and street lights made cities safer. Cities organized police forces and increased fire protection. • Sewage systems helped to cut death rates, as they reduced the spread of cholera and tuberculosis. • By 1900, architects were using steel to construct massive buildings. The Eiffel Tower became the symbol of Paris. Skyscrapers began to reshape the skylines of modern cities, and middle class families began to live in multistory apartment buildings rather than single family homes.

7. Despite the improvements to city life, urban life was still quite harsh for the poor. Most lived in small, cramped row houses or tenements. • In the worst tenements, entire families lived in one room. Unemployment or illness caused a loss in wages that could ruin a family. Alcoholism and crime were major problems. • Despite the drawbacks, the cities attracted millions of people. They were exciting places to live or visit. Music halls, opera houses, theaters, museums, libraries, and sports events drew citizens of all classes.

8. Working-Class Struggles • Workers tried to improve the harsh conditions of industrial life. They protested low wages, long hours, unsafe conditions, and the threat of unemployment. At first, business owners and governments tried to stop protests by banning labor unions and strikes, but by the mid-century, workers were making progress. • Workers formed mutual-aid societies, or self-help groups to aid sick or injured workers. Men and women joined socialist parties or labor unions.

9. By the late 1800s, most Western countries had granted all men the right to vote. Workers also had the right to organize unions in many nations. • Labor unions provided the necessary pressure to get governments to pass laws to regulate working conditions. Over time, child labor was banned, and women were no longer allowed to work in mines. • Laws regarding long working hours were also passed. By 1909, British coal-miners only had to work an 8-hour day. This set a standard for many other fields. • Overall, reform efforts did cause the standard of living for workers to rise. The standard of living measures the quality and availability of necessities and comforts in a society. Families ate more varied diets, lived in better homes, and wore mass-produced clothing. Advances in medicine improved health. Eventually, some workers were able to move to the suburbs.