REFLECTION 3

Did the Industrial Revolution affect the way people lived and worked in the 19th century for the better or the worst?

Personally, I think that the Industrial Revolution affected the way people lived and worked in the 19th century for both the better and the worse.

It was successful in improving some of the people’s living condition. For instance, machines were located in factories & workers began to work in factories instead of working at home. The use of machines meant that the Europeans could produce their goods cheaply in great quantities and at a faster rate. Raw materials were needed to manufacture these goods.
The Europeans also needed new markets outside their own countries to sell their goods. They began to look to the East for raw materials and markets for their goods.

One place they turned to was Asia.

This also meant that more jobs would be offered as a lot of work was needed to be done and that goods could be bought at cheaper prices.

Therefore, ordinary working people had greater chances of being employed by factories. They were also better paid than those in agriculture. With more money, women had healthier babies and better food to eat.

Other than that, railway trains and steamships were invented, & there was also the discovery of the steam-engine. People could travel longer distances in a shorter period of time to look for markets and raw materials which apparently made travelling and the people's lives easier.

However, the Industrial revolution had also brought about static and often, cruelity, to the society. Harsh working conditions included child labour, dirty living conditions, and long hours of labour.

To elaborate, jobs at factories were dangerous.

If one was not careful when handling the machines, one may have lost his or her life.People working in the factories were also poorly paid.
Working conditions were often dirty, and one would easily contract diseases.As many jobs were offered, though the pay was not high, many children also also started working, to make ends meet at home which caused education to suffer due to the command of work.

Apart from all that, gases and smoke emitted by the factories, there was pollution of the environment. This harmed the health of the people living in the 19th century.

As for housing matters, poor people were likely to live in very small houses in cramped streets. They would share toilet facilities. Diseases spread through contaminated water supply and many people had died after drinking the water.

In conclusion, there are two different types of views to how the Industrial Revolution had affected the people's living conditions in the past.
It had brought happiness, improvements and even problems to the people and the world.

As for my view of perspective, with all the examples I have given of how the Industrial Revolution affected the way people lived and worked in the 19th century, I feel that the Industrial Revolution had more negative impact on the way people lived then because there is more evidence supporting my opinion, though it also had a postitive impact on some areas.