Jacqueline Franco
12/10/18
History
Professor Hero
The Industrial Revolution transformed Europe and the world in many ways, particularly through the effects it had. Societally, there was a shift from family-based sustenance methods to a modernized, industrially-based income system. Additionally, economically, there were new markets and overall economic reform, and, technologically, new establishments ranging from medicine to agriculture came up. There were even immense political effects, as shown in the views many civilians expressed, as well as the laws subsequently altered or passed.
One technological effect of the Industrial Revolution is medicinal improvement, resulting in improved and quantitatively increased livelihoods. Transportation improvements, like railway lines with railroads, water canals, and roads, also improved life, as travelling distances, such as for work and shipping, became immensely more efficient. Agricultural efficiency also resulted from new technologies, as demonstrated by the creations and respective widespreadness of the seed drill and threshing machines for example. Steam, fossil-fuel, and alternative input-based production methods grew in relation with the Industrial Revolution as well, ultimately even damaging ecology. Moreover, gas lighting and machine tools are two areas which were technologically expanded on too.
Secondly, a social effect resulting from the Industrial Revolution is a new societal mode of operation. Societies, pre-industrially, tended to be more family-based and families acted as self-dependent economic units. However, with the Industrial Revolution, came a large change to that. Individuals, who were typically the male heads of houses, now became sole sources of income. Women were overall, resultantly, now tied to the home and raising children. Families needing more money though also sent the wives and kids out to receive jobs. This had much political impact temporally. Another social effect too was a larger global population. Due to aforementioned medicinal improvements and more efficient societies, longer human lives ensued. With a larger population also came more offsprings, especially in conjunction with urbanization and the resulting closeness of many people. Urbanization was the movement of many into cities, which occurred since there were new industrial opportunities, expanded from the Industrial Revolution, within these cities. Additionally, since there were larger populations, more housing, space, resources, food, and other necessities were societally required to maintain such numbers. With these needs not always being satisfied, suffering lower classes existed. However, there was also an expanded middle class with the new industrial jobs that were subsequently born.
As it relates to economy, there were quite a few notable effects stemming from the Industrial Revolution. Firstly, there were new markets for energies such as fossil fuels to provide for such new industrial societies. With these new markets, in addition to the already dominant markets, came industrial business expanding. Businesses gained more power, and in some areas during certain periods, they were overtly powerful and completely dominant. On more national notes however, paper currencies became more widespread, in partnerships with improved banks, as people now needed credit and as the overall economy and expenditure expanded.
Politically, desires for political changes, including, but not limited to, education reform, laborers’ rights, a social welfare system, slave trade, and electoral reform resulted. This is due to the concerns and built-upon foundations new industrial societies instilled within many. There were large amounts who banded together within unions to protest what they felt were unfair conditions within their worlds of living. These unions wanted rights for themselves, and this platform allowed for the request and demands of other rights. The working of women post-industrially also gave women more social and therefore political influence, which heavily influenced anti-slavery and pro-women laws. As time progressed, many of these ideals, such as child labor prohibition, abolition, women suffrage, new educational systems, worker protections, and governmental aid were passed.
Conclusively, European and global life changed under a new industrial and economic societies. New laws, better transportation, larger populations, longer life expectancies, altered social hierarchies, market changes, and business power alterations are major examples of how such global transformations became apparent. As was aforementioned and explained thoroughly, these transformations additionally encompass the economic, political, social and technological results of the Industrial Revolution too.
Jacqueline Franco
12/10/18
History
Professor Hero
Nineteenth-century imperialism and Western colonialism were destined to happen due to the global occurrences of that time. With nationalism on the rise and industrialist countries booming, imperialism and such colonialism resulted for varying reasons. Along with such causes of the inevitable regional expansion, came justifications and rectifications of such actions to convince the public to support imperialism and to create the foundation of which such expansionist actions ensue.
Firstly, nationalism led to imperial inevitability as nationalism gave countries the basis to geographically expand. Nationalism, being strong emotions towards one’s own country, led to different countries, such as England, desiring, with the belief that they have the internal valor to do so in order to express their dominance, conquer other countries. This is precisely due to the civilians thinking their country is very great, and with that self-given greatness, especially over other inferiorly-deemed countries, imperialism was necessitated. With patriotic sentiment, Western and all colonialism was justified by countries claiming they had the right and/ or need to expand their better, morally superior and better-functioning governments onto inferior peoples, or at a minimum at least assist guiding these inferior nations and their respective civilians. These self-proclaimed assisters were realistically the imperialists who gave themselves historically retrospectively incorrect justifications to follow through with their expansionist and even potentially discriminatory practices.
Also having roots in discrimination, industrialization and its effects resulted in imperial inevitability as well. Industrialization led to technological expansion within the larger and more powerful countries, and subsequently factual technological superiority over less powerful and less developed countries and states followed. This technological superiority was used as a justification of Western colonialism globally as life quality would increase within the taken regions if the more-powerful countries would spread these choicest technologies to them. Also, with these new lands acquired from imperialism, would come new resources, which were needed to continue fueling industrialization. These new resources could be used as industrial raw materials, and to additionally expand industrial markets with the discovery or expansion of new materials. Also, with imperialism, came new market demographics, more places for investment, larger profit margins for corporations, cheaper and potentially more efficient labor, and an overall expansion of the imperial country’s wealth. These ideals were all rooted in and expanded under industrialization, and industrialization and the implementation of such ideas led to the need of the further expansion of these ideals. This quantifies how industrialization necessitated imperialism, and the growth of industry assisting the conquered or made-subordinate countries and territories was additionally used as a colonialist rectification of imperialism.
Industrialization and nationalism, through means of technology and economic expansion, as well as the demonstration and enforcement of self-glory, respectively, caused nineteenth-century imperialism. However, with industrial and economic caps eventually being hit with the immense growth of such areas in conjunction with industrialization, as well as resources diminishing, a desire for more money and additional investment, and cheaper labor being the industrial ideal, imperialism, and more specifically Western colonialism, was bound to occur. Moreover, with nationalism increasing along with self-superiority, and the fact that imperialism was possible, imperialism and colonialism sensibly followed, as those were just the best demonstrative methods of such nationalism. Justifications of such actions also include moral, economic and industrial assistance for the countries deemed ‘inferior,’ even if such rectifications were inaccurate of the oppressive imperialism that occured in reality.