Agitation And Reform In 19th Century Britain

The Industrial revolution is a term that is used to describe the transformations that the economical and social sectors of Britain during the 19th Century. It is hard to say exactly when the Industrial revolution started or when it finished. Many factors influenced the changes that happened, which makes studying the Industrial Revolution a little more complex than some other areas of History. There were several economic developments that gave rise to the industrial revolution. The changes didn't just affect the economy of the country, but society as a whole. People began to be moved into cities, the availability of material possessions/goods and the change in ways of trading.

The Industrial Revolution brought with it an increase in population and urbanization, as well as new social classes. The increase in population was nothing short of dramatic. The change in workforce was drastic as well, from domestic production to factories under capitalist control. Britain changed form an agricultural society to an industrial one in a very short period of time and this had impacts on social life as a whole. Factories started to pop up everywhere, producing goods with great efficiency and in large quantities. Labourers however would lose their jobs to machines, machines that started to appear back in the cotton trade. Labourers began to experience longer working hours in harsher working conditions for minimal wages. It was no longer about the people, it was about making the biggest profits. Labourers had become a number and nothing more. Before the industrial revolution, employers would live and eat with their employees, even socialise with them, there was little definition between the two, it was all to change. Even the divisions between the capitalist owners of the farms and factories had become more obvious, before the owners of farms would mingle with their employees, even sit at the same dinner table as them, now there wouldn't even be as little as a word between them. This was to give an uproar amongst workers. Millions of people moved during the industrial revolution. Some simply moved from a village to a town in the hope of finding work whilst others moved from one country to another in search of a better way of life. Some had no choice, they were transported as a punishment for a crime.

There were reasons that the Industrial revolution came about, there were many worries in the country at the time of it starting. Education was poor, only the rich being catered for by nannies and private tutors. There were of course schools and several universities. These were not for the ordinary man or woman though. Politics was based upon land ownership and military honours won, with women and ordinary men given few rights. Life as a result was a constant battle against famine, a wicked landlord, overwork and sheer bad luck. Industrialisation would change only some of these worries.

There were soon to be more worries and clashes. Clashes between the employers and employees through trade unions. Trade unions started to appear due to the large unrest felt by the employees over their poor work conditions and low wages. Through the industrial revolution, rather than there only being a bond between a few workers on the same farm, there became bonds between large quantities of a diverse group of people. Factory workers, skilled craftsman, servants, women and children. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, the government was in charge of set wages, but by the late 18th century, many capitalist employers were members of government and managed to persuade the other members of parliament to stop regulating wages. This led to the great increase in trade unions along with rebel groups who were all to unite and fight against the capitalist employers. The workers were no longer satisfied with how they were being treated, and as in France, where the French revolution had the lower class people overthrowing their monarchy and nobles, and executed them, the ruling class in Britain was worried of the same affect. The fear that this was going to happen led to the banning of trade unions in 1799, anyone found to be a member of a union would be imprisoned. The rise of the Luddites came about, a group of workers who smashed up machinery in protest and anger. The Luddities were named after a man called Ned Ludd who was also referred to as King Ludd or Gerneral Ludd, a man who single handed destroyed two large stocking frames that produced inexpensive stockings that overshadowed skilled knitters. In Nottingham, in March 1811, organised machine breaking began - associated with Ned Ludd. Despite government attempt to limit spread, the machine breaking soon broke out across the Midlands and north of England. Mills and property were attacked and, occasionally, people were killed. In 1813, seventeen Luddites were executed in York and this caused the movement to diminish.

The Chartism movement was a movement of the working class to try to get represented in parliament. There were the 6 points of the Chartist movement which were the main objectives between 1838 and 1848. The 6 points were; votes for all men, equal