Changed Lives due to Industrialisation in Britain

Industrialisation is the process in which industries, factories and machines are relied more upon for mass generation of products rather than agricultural or manual labour work. The concept of industrialisation is now a familiar one, and it was the 18th century that saw the evolution and growth of Industrialisation.

From the 1780s to 1850s, Britain experienced a major shift and dependency of its economy over the industrial sector. These industrial developments in Britain had some very significant impacts all over the world. Also, they lead to some major changes in the lives of some sections of British society.

In this article, we shall discuss the impact of industrialisation in Britain on the lives of women and children of Britain, how protest methods were used against the Industrial Revolution and how reforms were made by the implementation of various laws.

WOMEN, CHILDREN & INDUSTRIALISATION

• Condition of Women: Before industrialisation, women in Britain usually had domestic chores to perform, or they used to assist the men in their houses in agricultural activities. However, after industrialisation in Britain, due to a major decline in the requirement for manual labour, female workers were preferred over male workers as they were available on lower wages than their male counterparts. Also, it was easier for industry owners to suppress women’s labour and make them work in poor conditionsA huge number of female workers got employment in textile industries based in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Further, women employees were the main contributors to the enormous amount of work of Silk, knitting, and lace-making Industries of Britain. In metal industries as well, female workers were preferred over male workers.Industrialisation in Britain undoubtedly made women self-reliant and financially independent. However, they were forced to work at unhealthy and unhygienic workplaces and had to bear the disgraceful behaviour of the industry officials.
• Condition of Children: Just like women workers, child workers were also employed in large numbers as it was easy to suppress them. They were employed in the textile and metal industries to work with compact machinery. They were also employed at coal mines to reach deep to those caves or narrow places where an adult would not be able to reach. industrialists in Britain considered child labour as training for future industry-related work.

They were made to work for long hours in unhealthy and dangerous work conditions, sometimes without any holiday on Sundays, making them prone to diseases, industrial accidents, and sometimes even death. 

THE PROTEST MOVEMENTS

In the 1770s, a huge number of small farmers chose to work at the industries after the process of ‘enclosure,’ i.e., ‘Merger of a huge number of small farms into a large farm by rich and influential farmers’. However, due to industrialisation, the requirement for manual labour declined drastically, and the workers employed in the cotton industry were left jobless, and thus, they had to switch to pottery.

Therefore, in the 1790s, a protest by weavers started demanding higher wages. However, they were dismissed. Therefore, they destroyed power looms in Lancashire. In Yorkshire, farm labourers destroyed new threshing machines, and some of them were hanged to death.

 The protest movement Luddism was the most iconic protest done by the workers against industrialisation. It demanded minimum wages, good work conditions, the formation of trade unions, dignified working for women & children, and the right to legal representation. The Government had a hard time suppressing this protest movement. 

REFORMS THROUGH LAWS

The Government of Britain had always been ignorant and unbothered about the rights of industrial workers. It was after several protest movements some landmark reforms were introduced through new laws.

Following laws aided to bring reforms in the Industrial structure of Britain:

• In 1883, an Act was passed that permitted children below the age of nine years to work only in the silk factories and described definite working hours for children above the age of nine years. Further, the Act also provided for Factory Inspectors to ensure proper implementation and execution of the new law
• In 1847, a bill was passed that restricted long working hours for children and women in the Industries. The bill also provided that even male workers were not to work for more than 10 hours a day. However, this law applied only to textile Industries
• In 1842, the Mines and Collieries Act was passed, which prohibited the employment of children and women at Mines for underground work

These laws had an intent to reform the Industrial setup of Britain. However, they were not completely successful as there were major implementation issues. The factory inspectors were bribed by industry owners and parents of children who lied about the real age of working children, which implemented the laws faulty and inappropriate. Therefore, the people kept working in poor conditions and low wages in industries of Britain despite having legislation to prevent the same.

CONCLUSION 

Industrialisation in Britain has undoubtedly aided in its growth and development. But the cost civilians had to pay for it was huge. The role of industrialisation in Britain’s social and economic well-being will always be debatable. The era witnessed a promising growth of textile & metal industries and coal mines, but the poor working conditions, ignorance of health and lives of workers, significantly low wages, and poor standard of living of workers has made the whole Industrialisation process worth the ridicule. However, it is also undeniable that the process of industrialisation has contributed a lot to the overall British growth.