This annotated bibliography will try to explain how the industrial revolution has brought drastic changes to the society. Industrial Revolution that happened between the mid-1700s and 1900s brought a major transition in the process of manufacturing. The revolution was started in England and later has been spread all over Europe. There were many developments such as machinery, the steam engines, locomotives and increase in production of materials such as iron, glass and steel. There has also been a drastic change in the trade system as transportation was easier with the locomotives. The industrial revolution has been the turning point in the history as it has had a major impact on the socio-economic aspect such as the living standards, social divisions, working-class wages and the public health.The topic: We know that the increase in production of the iron and glass and invention of the steam engines and locomotives have improved the quality of construction and transportation but how did the socio-economic problems affect the architecture? The author’s agenda is to explain the impact of industrial revolution on the socio-economic aspects such as the social division and the living standards and explain it through different readings from the past.
Reading 1: Clark Nardinelli, "Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 1993. Library of Economics and Liberty. 23 March 2018.
<http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/IndustrialRevolutionandtheStandardofLiving.html>
The author identifies that the progress in technology, education and an increase in the capital stock during the 1760 and 1860 has caused a sustained rise in the income per person in England and further explains how the industrial revolution is one of the most important events in the history and also about the disagreements which were caused and further explains it based on a debate between the views of the pessimists and the optimists.
The author gives an insight about a debate that focuses more on when the standards of living improved rather than the role of the industrial revolution in it and compare between Lindert-Williamson findings with that of Charles Feinstein's. The findings produced by Charles Feinstein's show that rise of real wages was much slower than the Lindert-Williamson series.
“What does “standard of living” mean? Economic historians would like it to mean happiness. But the impossibility of measuring happiness forces them to equate the standard of living with monetary measures such as real wages or real income.”
By saying that, the author also sheds the light about the what “standard of living” is about and how it has been accelerating at a slow rate based on other sources of information.
The author, Clark Nardinelli is an economist and also the author of the book, Child labour and the Industrial Revolution.
This finding has given relevant data about the rise in the living standards. The standard of living for the working class has been tough initially but slowly increased towards the end of the revolution which suggests better housing. The comparisons between the estimations and the findings have also demonstrated on how there were different opinions between groups of people.
Reading 2: “Britain Industrial Revolution the Making of Manufacturing People, 1700-1870.” Britain Industrial Revolution the Making of Manufacturing People, 1700-1870, Carnegie Publishing, 2013, pp. 486–490.
In the pages in a particular chapter known as Cities, the author talks about how the housing and the structure of living of the working class was and the author explains it in a clear manner where we can understand how the factors of the industrial revolution have affected the standards of living. The author talks about other factors that affected this and not just about the industrial revolution and also gives information on how the structure of houses changed with time in different places and the various laws that were implemented.
Due to the factors such as the birth rate and migration, the population in the urban area has increased quite a lot and as there wasn't enough place for the working class and since the demand for the inexpensive houses has increased, the developers have built low quality houses with the outer wall thickness being around half brick or at most a brick’s width in order to spare material and also since most of these developers weren't the landowners and were leasing it.
The author further explains about the housing as he differentiates the houses of the working people in different places and narrows it down to back to back houses whose construction has come to an end in Manchester in 1804 and the Local Government Act in 1858 has authorized councils in order to prevent the construction of the back to back houses because of reasons such as lack of ventilation.
Due to health problems such as cholera, the Public Health Act of 1848 has authorized the start of local boards of health to take action regarding the enforcement of the bylaws on matters such as new houses, proper drainage systems, measurements of the houses and streets including the back alleys. Working classes’ living standards have increased from the end of the eighteenth century onwards as per the survey maps. The tunnel houses came into existence since 1850, which is a four-room house with an extension having a scullery in the ground floor. These houses were built in reasonable sizes in almost every town. The tunnel houses failed at enclosing the space according to the architects. Even though, the standards of housing changed, the towns were still unhealthy even though there was a check on the quality of the new housing by the public-health legislation and the old houses were also benefited by the new sewer system.
The author also explains how people were asked to vacate the houses and leave from that area for railway construction and didn't give an alternative housing for them and has got them to a homeless state.
This book has helped in a better understanding of the architecture of the houses during different time periods and how the transition of the houses took place. The author’s point of view was well expressed and the reader can understand the text clearly.
Reading 3: Industry and the Empire: Eric Hobsbawm
Pg 132- 137
The author briefly describes the start of people losing their jobs and the difference between the different social classes with statistics and also mentions about the migration during the revolution.
“ It was increasingly an urban phenomenon, or perhaps, so far as its middle layers were concerned, a suburban one, for the migration of the non-proletarians to the outskirts of the cities gathered speed; particularly, in the 1860s and later in the 1890s”.
The above reference to text explains how fast the population has migrated and how the number of people residing in the city was lesser than the number of people that migrated.
The author mentions that the places that had railway systems and stations were crowded and also pushed the people residing in that locality to other slums to places that are covered with a dense layer of soot and grime whereas, the places that didn’t have railway systems had more open spaces and parks for the public.
“If the British city nevertheless remained an appalling place to live in, exceeded only by the grimly rectilinear streets of low cottages in the British industrial…”
This reference supports the explanation of the bad condition of houses.
The finding is credible as the author is a historian, social theorist and an author.
Though the author didn’t give much insight on the living conditions, he could explain his point of view within the given information which helps in a better understanding of the reasons why there were a migration and a major change in the urban population.