Reforming The Industrial World PDF

Page 1 of 7 4 Reforming the Industrial World MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES ECONOMICS The Industrial...

Page 1 of 7 4 Reforming the Industrial World MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES ECONOMICS The Industrial Many modern social welfare laissez faire Karl Marx Revolution led to economic, programs developed during this Adam Smith communism social, and political reforms. period of reform. capitalism union utilitarianism strike socialism SETTING THE STAGE In industrialized countries in the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution opened a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Business leaders believed that governments should stay out of business and economic affairs. Reformers, however, felt that governments needed to play an active role to improve conditions for the poor. Workers also demanded more rights and pro- tection. They formed labor unions to increase their influence. TAKING NOTES The Philosophers of Industrialization Summarizing Use a chart to summarize the The term laissez faire (LEHS ay FAIR) refers to the economic policy of letting characteristics of owners of industry and business set working conditions without interference. capitalism and socialism. This policy favors a free market unregulated by the government. The term is French for “let do,” and by extension, “let people do as they please.” Capitalism Socialism Laissez-faire Economics Laissez-faire economics stemmed from French eco- 1. 1. nomic philosophers of the Enlightenment. They criticized the idea that nations 2. 2. 3. 3. grow wealthy by placing heavy tariffs on foreign goods. In fact, they argued, gov- ernment regulations only interfered with the production of wealth. These philoso- phers believed that if government allowed free trade—the flow of commerce in the world market without government regulation—the economy would prosper. Adam Smith, a professor at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, defended the idea of a free economy, or free markets, in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations. According to Smith, economic liberty guaranteed economic progress. As a result, government should not interfere. Smith’s arguments rested on what he called the three natural laws of economics: the law of self-interest—People work for their own good. the law of competition—Competition forces people to make a better product. the law of supply and demand—Enough goods would be produced at the lowest possible price to meet demand in a market economy. The Economists of Capitalism Smith’s basic ideas were supported by British economists Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo. Like Smith, they believed that nat- ural laws governed economic life. Their important ideas were the foundation of lais- sez-faire capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the factors of production are privately owned and money is invested in business ventures to make a profit. These ideas also helped bring about the Industrial Revolution. 734 Chapter 25  Page 2 of 7 In An Essay on the Principle of Population, written in 1798, Thomas Malthus argued that population tended to increase more rapidly than the food supply. Without wars and epidemics to kill off the extra people, most were des- tined to be poor and miserable. The predictions of Malthus seemed to be coming true in the 1840s. David Ricardo, a wealthy stockbroker, took Malthus’s theory one step further in his book, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). Like Malthus, Ricardo believed that a permanent underclass would always be poor. In a market system, if there are many workers and abundant resources, then labor and resources are cheap. If there are Adam Smith few workers and scarce resources, then they are expensive. 1723–1790 Ricardo believed that wages would be forced down as In his book The Wealth of Nations, population increased. Smith argued that if individuals freely Summarizing Laissez-faire thinkers such as Smith, Malthus, and Ricardo followed their own self-interest, the What did opposed government efforts to help poor workers. They world would be an orderly and pro- Malthus and gressive place. Social harmony would thought that creating minimum wage laws and better working Ricardo say about conditions would upset the free market system, lower profits, result without any government the effects of popu- direction, “as if by an invisible hand.” lation growth? and undermine the production of wealth in society. Smith applied an invisible hand of his own. After his death, people The Rise of Socialism discovered that he had secretly donated large sums of his income In contrast to laissez-faire philosophy, which advised gov- to charities. ernments to leave business alone, other theorists believed that governments should intervene. These thinkers believed that wealthy people or the government must take action to RESEARCH LINKS For more on Adam Smith, go to classzone.com improve people’s lives. The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville gave a warning: PRIMARY SOURCE Consider what is happening among the working classes.... Do you not see spreading among them, little by little, opinions and ideas that aim not to overturn such and such a ministry, or such laws, or such a government, but society itself, to shake it to the foundations upon which it now rests? ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, 1848 speech Utilitarianism English philosopher Jeremy Bentham modified the ideas of Adam Smith. In the late 1700s, Bentham introduced the philosoophy of utilitarianism. Bentham wrote his most influential works in the late 1700s. According to Bentham’s theory, people should judge ideas, institutions, and actions on the basis of their util- ity, or usefulness. He argued that the government should try to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. A government policy was only useful if it promoted this goal. Bentham believed that in general the individual should be free to pursue his or her own advantage without interference from the state. John Stuart Mill, a philosopher and economist, led the utilitarian movement in the 1800s. Mill came to question unregulated capitalism. He believed it was wrong that workers should lead deprived lives that sometimes bordered on starvation. Mill wished to help ordinary working people with policies that would lead to a more equal division of profits. He also favored a cooperative system of agriculture and Clarifying How did Mill women’s rights, including the right to vote. Mill called for the government to do want to change the away with great differences in wealth. Utilitarians also pushed for reforms in the economic system? legal and prison systems and in education. The Industrial Revolution 735  Page 3 of 7 Utopian Ideas Other reformers took an even more active approach. Shocked by the misery and poverty of the working class, a British factory owner named Robert Owen improved working conditions for his employees. Near his cotton mill in New Lanark, Scotland, Owen built houses, which he rented at low rates. He prohibited children under ten from working in the mills and provided free schooling. Then, in 1824, he traveled to the United States. He founded a cooperative com- munity called New Harmony in Indiana, in 1825. He intended this community to be a utopia, or perfect living place. New Harmony lasted only three years but inspired the founding of other communities. Socialism French reformers such as Charles Fourier (FUR ee AY), Saint-Simon (san see MOHN), and others sought to offset the ill effects of industrialization with a new economic system called socialism. In socialism, the factors of production are owned by the public and operate for the welfare of all. Socialism grew out of an optimistic view of human nature, a belief in progress, and a concern for social justice. Socialists argued that the government should plan the economy rather than depend on free-market capitalism to do the job. They argued that government control of factories, mines, railroads, and other key indus- tries would end poverty and promote equality. Public ownership, they believed, would help workers, who were at the mercy of their employers. Some socialists— such as Louis Blanc—advocated change through extension of the right to vote. Marxism: Radical Socialism The writings of a German journalist named Karl Marx intro- duced the world to a radical type of socialism called Marxism. Marx and Friedrich Engels, a German whose father owned a textile mill in Manchester, outlined their ideas in a 23-page pamphlet called The Communist Manifesto. The Communist Manifesto In their manifesto, Marx and Engels argued that human societies have always been divided into warring classes. In their own time, these were the middle class “haves” or employers, called the bour- geoisie (BUR zhwah ZEE), and the “have-nots” or workers, Karl Marx called the proletariat (PROH lih TAIR ee iht). While the 1818–1883 wealthy controlled the means of producing goods, the poor Karl Marx studied philosophy at the performed backbreaking labor under terrible conditions. University of Berlin before he turned to journalism and economics. In This situation resulted in conflict: 1849, Marx joined the flood of radicals who fled continental Europe PRIMARY SOURCE for England. He had declared in The Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild- Communist Manifesto that “the master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, working men have no country.” stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an Marx’s theories of socialism and uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each the inevitable revolt of the working time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at class made him little money. He large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes. earned a meager living as a journalist. KARL MARX and FRIEDRICH ENGELS, The Communist Manifesto (1848) His wealthy coauthor and fellow German, Friedrich Engels, gave Marx According to Marx and Engels, the Industrial Revolution Summarizing financial aid. had enriched the wealthy and impoverished the poor. The What were the two writers predicted that the workers would overthrow ideas of Marx and Engels concerning RESEARCH LINKS For more on Karl the owners: “The proletarians have nothing to lose but relations between Marx, go to classzone.com their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all the owners and the countries, unite.” working class? 736 Chapter 25  Page 4 of 7 Capitalism vs. Socialism The economic system called capitalism developed gradually over centuries, beginning in the late Middle Ages. Because of the ways industrialization changed society, some people began to think that capitalism led to certain problems, such as the abuse of workers. They responded by developing a new system of economic ideas called socialism. Capitalism Socialism Individuals and businesses own property and the The community or the state should own property means of production. and the means of production. Progress results when individuals follow their own Progress results when a community of producers self-interest. cooperate for the good of all. Businesses follow their own self-interest by Socialists believe that capitalist employers take competing for the consumer’s money. Each business advantage of workers. The community or state must tries to produce goods or services that are better act to protect workers. and less expensive than those of competitors. Consumers compete to buy the best goods at the Capitalism creates unequal distribution of wealth lowest prices. This competition shapes the market and material goods. A better system is to distribute by affecting what businesses are able to sell. goods according to each person’s need. Government should not interfere in the economy An unequal distribution of wealth and material because competition creates efficiency in business. goods is unfair. A better system is to distribute goods according to each person’s need. SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts 1. Developing Historical Perspective Consider the following people from 19th-century Britain: factory worker, shop owner, factory owner, unemployed artisan. Which of them would be most likely to prefer capitalism and which would prefer socialism? Why? 2. Forming and Supporting Opinions Which system of economic ideas seems most widespread today? Support your opinion. The Future According to Marx Marx believed that the capitalist system, which produced the Industrial Revolution, would eventually destroy itself in the following way. Factories would drive small artisans out of business, leaving a small number of manufacturers to control all the wealth. The large proletariat would revolt, seize the factories and mills from the capitalists, and produce what society needed. Workers, sharing in the profits, would bring about economic equality for all people. The workers would control the government in a “dictatorship of the proletariat.” After a period of cooperative living and education, the state or government would wither away as a classless society developed. Marx called this final phase pure communism. Marx described communism as a form of complete socialism in which the means of production—all land, mines, factories, railroads, and businesses—would be owned by the people. Private prop- erty would in effect cease to exist. All goods and services would be shared equally. Published in 1848, The Communist Manifesto produced few short-term results. Though widespread revolts shook Europe during 1848 and 1849, Europe’s leaders eventually put down the uprisings. Only after the turn of the century did the fiery Marxist pamphlet produce explosive results. In the 1900s, Marxism inspired revolutionaries such as Russia’s Lenin, China’s Mao Zedong, and Cuba’s Fidel Castro. These leaders adapted Marx’s beliefs to their own specific situations and needs. The Industrial Revolution 737  Page 5 of 7 In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels stated their belief that economic forces alone dominated society. Time has shown, however, that religion, nationalism, ethnic loyalties, and a desire for democratic reforms may be as strong influences on history as economic forces. In addi- tion, the gap between the rich and the poor within the indus- trialized countries failed to widen in the way that Marx and Engels predicted, mostly because of the various reforms enacted by governments. Labor Unions and Reform Laws Communism Today Factory workers faced long hours, dirty and dangerous Communism expanded to all parts working conditions, and the threat of being laid off. By the of the world during the Cold War that 1800s, working people became more active in politics. To followed the end of World War II. press for reforms, workers joined together in voluntary (See map on page 963.) At the peak labor associations called unions. of Communist expansion in the 1980s, about 20 nations were Unionization A union spoke for all the workers in a par- Communist-controlled, including two ticular trade. Unions engaged in collective bargaining, of the world’s largest—China and the negotiations between workers and their employers. They Soviet Union. However, dissatisfaction bargained for better working conditions and higher pay. If with the theories of Karl Marx had factory owners refused these demands, union members been developing. Eventually, most Communist could strike, or refuse to work. governments were replaced. Today, Skilled workers led the way in forming unions because there are only five Communist their special skills gave them extra bargaining power. countries—China, North Korea, Management would have trouble replacing such skilled Vietnam, and Laos in Asia and Cuba workers as carpenters, printers, and spinners. Thus, the ear- in the Caribbean. (See map above.) liest unions helped the lower middle class more than they helped the poorest workers. The union movement underwent slow, painful growth in both Great Britain and the United States. For years, the British government denied workers the right to form unions. The government saw unions as a threat to social order and stability. Indeed, the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 outlawed unions and strikes. Ignoring the threat of jail or job loss, factory workers joined unions anyway. Parliament finally repealed the Combination Acts in 1824. After 1825, the British government unhappily tolerated unions. British unions had shared goals of raising wages for their members and improv- ing working conditions. By 1875, British trade unions had won the right to strike and picket peacefully. They had also built up a membership of about 1 million people. In the United States, skilled workers had belonged to unions since the early 1800s. In 1886, several unions joined together to form the organization that would become the American Federation of Labor (AFL). A series of successful strikes won AFL members higher wages and shorter hours. Reform Laws Eventually, reformers and unions forced political leaders to look into the abuses caused by industrialization. In both Great Britain and the United States, new laws reformed some of the worst abuses of industrialization. In the 1820s and 1830s, for example, Parliament began investigating child labor and working conditions in factories and mines. As a result of its findings, Parliament passed the Factory Act of 1833. The new law made it illegal to hire children under 9 years old. Children from the ages of 9 to 12 could not work more than 8 hours a day. Young people from 13 to 17 could not work more than 12 hours. In 1842, the Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. 738 Chapter 25  Page 6 of 7 In 1847, the Parliament passed a bill that helped working women as well as their children. The Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited the workday to ten hours Summarizing for women and children who worked in factories. What were some of Reformers in the United States also passed laws the important to protect child workers. In 1904, a group of pro- reform bills passed in Britain during gressive reformers organized the National Child this period? Labor Committee to end child labor. Arguing that child labor lowered wages for all workers, union members joined the reformers. Together they pres- sured national and state politicians to ban child labor and set maximum working hours. In 1919, the U.S. Supreme Court objected to a federal child labor law, ruling that it interfered with states’ rights to regulate labor. However, individual states were allowed to limit the working hours of women and, later, of men. ▲ Hungarian The Reform Movement Spreads workers meet Almost from the beginning, reform movements rose in response to the negative to plan their strategy before impact of industrialization. These reforms included improving the workplace and a strike. extending the right to vote to working-class men. The same impulse toward reform, along with the ideals of the French Revolution, also helped to end slavery and pro- mote new rights for women and children. The Abolition of Slavery William Wilberforce, a highly religious man, was a mem- ber of Parliament who led the fight for abolition—the end of the slave trade and slav- ery in the British Empire. Parliament passed a bill to end the slave trade in the British West Indies in 1807. After he retired from Parliament in 1825, Wilberforce contin- ued his fight to free the slaves. Britain finally abolished slavery in its empire in 1833. British antislavery activists had mixed motives. Some, such as the abolitionist Wilberforce, were morally against slavery. Others viewed slave labor as an eco- nomic threat. Furthermore, a new class of industrialists developed who supported cheap labor rather than slave labor. They soon gained power in Parliament. In the United States the movement to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence by ending slavery grew in the early 1800s. The enslavement of African people finally ended in the United States when the Union won the Civil War in 1865. Then, enslavement persisted in the Americas only in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Brazil. In Puerto Rico, slavery was ended in 1873. Spain finally abol- ished slavery in its Cuban colony in 1886. Not until 1888 did Brazil’s huge enslaved population win freedom. The Fight for Women’s Rights The Industrial Revolution proved a mixed bless- ing for women. On the one hand, factory work offered higher wages than work done at home. Women spinners in Manchester, for example, earned much more money than women who stayed home to spin cotton thread. On the other hand, women factory workers usually made only one-third as much money as men did. Women led reform movements to address this and other pressing social issues. During the mid-1800s, for example, women formed unions in the trades where they dominated. In Britain, some women served as safety inspectors in factories where other women worked. In the United States, college-educated women like Jane Addams ran settlement houses. These community centers served the poor residents of slum neighborhoods. The Industrial Revolution 739  Page 7 of 7 In both the United States and Britain, women who had rallied for the abolition of slavery began to wonder why their own rights should be denied on the basis of gender. The movement for women’s rights began in the United States as early as 1848. Women activists around the world joined to found the International Council for Women in 1888. Delegates and observers from 27 countries attended the council’s 1899 meeting. Making Inferences Reforms Spread to Many Areas of Life In the United States Why might women and Western Europe, reformers tried to correct the problems abolitionists have Jane Addams troubling the newly industrialized nations. Public education headed the move- 1860–1935 and prison reform ranked high on the reformers’ lists. ment for women’s After graduating from college, Jane One of the most prominent U.S. reformers, Horace Mann rights? Addams wondered what to do with of Massachusetts, favored free public education for all chil- her life. dren. Mann, who spent his own childhood working at hard I gradually became convinced that labor, warned, “If we do not prepare children to become it would be a good thing to rent a house in a part of the city where good citizens... if we do not enrich their minds with many primitive and actual needs knowledge, then our republic must go down to destruction.” are found, in which young women By the 1850s, many states were starting public school sys- who had been given over too tems. In Western Europe, free public schooling became exclusively to study, might... available in the late 1800s. learn of life from life itself. In 1831, French writer Alexis de Tocqueville had con- Addams and her friend Ellen Starr trasted the brutal conditions in American prisons to the set up Hull House in a working-class district in Chicago. Eventually the “extended liberty” of American society. Those who sought facilities included a nursery, a gym, a to reform prisons emphasized the goal of providing prison- kitchen, and a boarding house for ers with the means to lead to useful lives upon release. working women. Hull House not only During the 1800s, democracy grew in industrialized served the immigrant population of countries even as foreign expansion increased. The industri- the neighborhood, it also trained alized democracies faced new challenges both at home and social workers. abroad. You will learn about these challenges in Chapter 26. SECTION 4 ASSESSMENT TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. laissez faire Adam Smith capitalism utilitarianism socialism Karl Marx communism union strike USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING 2. What characteristics do 3. What were Adam Smith’s three 6. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS What were the main problems capitalism and socialism natural laws of economics? faced by the unions during the 1800s and how did they share? 4. What kind of society did early overcome them? socialists want? 7. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Why do you think that Marx’s Capitalism Socialism 5. Why did workers join together “dictatorship of the proletariat” did not happen? in unions? 8. MAKING INFERENCES Why did the labor reform 1. 1. movement spread to other areas of life? 2. 2. 3. 3. 9. WRITING ACTIVITY ECONOMICS Write a two-paragraph persuasive essay on how important economic forces are in society. Support your opinion using evidence from this and previous chapters. CONNECT TO TODAY PREPARING AN ECONOMIC REPORT Research a present-day corporation. Prepare an economic report that includes the corporation’s structure, products or services, number of employees, and any other relevant economic information you are able to find. 740 Chapter 25