The Causes of Urbanization and life in early industrial cities
Before the Industrial revolution, life was slow. People did not know more than what they could see. They were limited to a certain area. This limited social growth. In Europe’s pre-industrial society people did not live long lives. Life expectancy was low. In, pre agricultural Europe men were subsistence farmers which meant that more and more people needed to farm to sustain just their family. They owned small plots of land which they shared with others. Human power along with animals were used to farm. Farming techniques were poor and yield was low. The villages were small, mostly communities built by a group of farmers. Along came technology and Agricultural revolution. Agricultural revolution was one major factor for the Industrial Revolution largely because of the effects and changes in society an d people moving cities. Important
Subsistence Farmers used season's crop
developments were made in the field of technology. One such change was the Enclosure system where farmers had private ownership of the land and had the right to fence it so that there were no trespassers. This also allowed the farmers to experiment with farming techniques. These improvements made farming easier and more efficient. Jethro Tull (1674-1741), an English inventor, invented the seed drill, which allowed farmers to work much faster. It dug a hole, put the seed and covered it up with soil at the same time. This also introduced the idea of planting in rows. Crop Rotation was also introduced. Before the introduction of the new technique a field was left fallow for it to get its nutrients back. With this technique, farmers could now grow a different type of crop that would use a different nutrient and allow time for another nutrient to grow. Selective breeding was also a new idea that was tried. This allowed bigger and better varieties of a crop or farm animals.
Subsistence Farming
As told earlier, the Agricultural Revolution was one of the major driving force that caused the Industrial Revolution. Due to all the new technologies and farming methods, especially the enclosure system, allowed one farmer to do the job which previously took several. Now there were less jobs for all those farmers who lost their land. They either became tenant farmers or went to the city to look for jobs. As more and more people were moving into cities there were factories being build. Overcrowding soon became an overgrowing problem. There were more people than the city could probably contain. The consequences of overcrowding like this are inevitable. There were housing problems.
House similar to those during industrial revolution
England was of course the center of the Revolution. The population of the English city, Manchester grew from 25,000 in the year 1772 to 303,000 in 1850. Similar stories also occurred in another English city of Liverpool whose population rose from 80,000-nearly 400,000 in the first fifty years of 19th century. Cheap housing was needed to allow cities to grow. There were no building regulations like today. Whatever there was, was followed by none. Builders began building just for their profit. The industrial revolution began what is called back-to-back terrace housing. These houses had no gardens, and the only part which was open and not connected to other houses was the main entrance. The builders used the cheapest building material possible. Wales’s slate was commonly used. The houses were not build with a bathroom or had access to running. People washed themselves rarely or never. There would be a barren piece of land in the middle of the houses where all the people used to throw all sorts of house wastes, there used to be these night men that used to collect the waste at night. Toilets were nothing but pits, and when they were filled, they used to be taken by a cart before being thrown into the nearest river. It was very expensive to empty the toilets, which meant that literally the whole courtyard beteen the houses would be full of sewage.
Overcrowded and Growing city
Slums soon began to develop and they were the breaking grounds of the spread of cholera and other epidemics. There were also other negative aspects of rapid urbanization. One very important was the lack of proper housing and sanitation. Each family had around 5-6 children. There were not enough houses for everyone to live. Obviously, it brought about increase in crime rates and murders. Pollution was also another one of those major problems as it was expected of an overgrowing city. The rise of the middle class was a change that was seen as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The middle class first made its appearance in Europe in the late middle ages during the age of trade and development. These people could turn money into power. The "middle class" underwent huge changes in the 19th century. All the people in the middle class though were not the same, at the lower end of this class were poor shopkeepers, however, in the other end there were rich capitalists who owned large companies. Although the difference between the people in this “middle class” was appalling, their main goal was to expand their economy. The proper definition for the "middle class" would be,"
A group of middle class men
If the person belongs to the middle class, he should have extra money to spend on his leisure activities." In other words, He did not have hand to mouth earning. The new middle class had ideas about how government should work to improve a country's economy. Another important thing that changed between the middle class and the lower class was the education. Most, if not all believed that they should be educated. So, the industrial revolution did not only change the way things were produced, it also changed the way people lived. The housing changed, people moved from farms to cities. The industrial revolution brought about a new lifestyle and a new a way of living. We can now predict what will happen to unindustrialized countries in near future when they go through their industrial revolution? WORKS CITED:
The Causes of Urbanization and life in early industrial cities
Before the Industrial revolution, life was slow. People did not know more than what they could see. They were limited to a certain area. This limited social growth. In Europe’s pre-industrial society people did not live long lives. Life expectancy was low. In, pre agricultural Europe men were subsistence farmers which meant that more and more people needed to farm to sustain just their family. They owned small plots of land which they shared with others. Human power along with animals were used to farm. Farming techniques were poor and yield was low. The villages were small, mostly communities built by a group of farmers.
Along came technology and Agricultural revolution. Agricultural revolution was one major factor for the Industrial Revolution largely because of the effects and changes in society an d people moving cities. Important
The rise of the middle class was a change that was seen as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The middle class first made its appearance in Europe in the late middle ages during the age of trade and development. These people could turn money into power. The "middle class" underwent huge changes in the 19th century. All the people in the middle class though were not the same, at the lower end of this class were poor shopkeepers, however, in the other end there were rich capitalists who owned large companies. Although the difference between the people in this “middle class” was appalling, their main goal was to expand their economy. The proper definition for the "middle class" would be,"
So, the industrial revolution did not only change the way things were produced, it also changed the way people lived. The housing changed, people moved from farms to cities. The industrial revolution brought about a new lifestyle and a new a way of living. We can now predict what will happen to unindustrialized countries in near future when they go through their industrial revolution?
WORKS CITED:
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