Industrial Revolution: Technology, Society, and Reform

Technological Advancements

Another important impact the Industrial Revolution had was the improvements and developments it brought to the printing press. The development of more efficient and productive printing machines helped publish newspapers and made them more available to the masses. The telegraph is a great example that reflects the improvements seen in communication. Also, developing the steam engine as well as the iron and coal industry helped improve the transportation systems of society. Coal was used to power the steam engines, and iron was used to construct bridges and railroads, representing the huge progress made in transportation.

Social Issues and Worker Reforms

Eventually, with all of the mentioned social impacts that were produced by the Industrial Revolution, some political reforms had to arise in order to address the issues. The high number of factories and the higher number of workers they required brought many abuses to the working class who, as stated before, had to endure terrible conditions. Some of these conditions were:

• Extremely long working hours
• Awfully low wages

All of this caused a lot of criticism of the factories and the industrialization process. These complaints began to pressure the British Parliament to pass new reforms and laws to address the issues and to regulate working hours as well as to improve some of the conditions that the working class was exposed to.

The Fight Against Child Labor

In addition, most of these laws also addressed one of the biggest issues that the Industrial Revolution had, which was the problem of child labor. Children as young as 5-6 years old were forced to work 12-16 hour shifts a day and were practically paid nothing for it, given that wages were very low. Many laws were aimed at improving the living conditions for these children as well as protecting them. For example, the Elementary Education Act, which allowed all children within the UK access to education, was one of the laws with the biggest impact. As the revolution evolved, so did the laws that helped it progress, many of which are still present in countries around Europe.

Enduring Impact of the Revolution

The period of time we now know as the Industrial Revolution was a transformative one that changed the world in a way that things would never be the same again. It is hard to believe that before this process, people would only own a pair of pants or just a couple of shirts, given that producing these and many other everyday products was a long process that can now be done in a matter of minutes with existing technologies. We owe, as a society, most of what we are and we have today to the Industrial Revolution.