The first industrialization and the increasingly popular enlightenment movement were considered influential and changing the lives of eighteenth-century Europeans. The industrial revolution ultimately brought changes in the economics, population, family structure, labor, and consumption patterns. With the introduction of new technologies, smoke-stack industries rose to replace the agricultural economy of most European nations. Before the onset of the industrial revolution, agriculture was the dominant industry and large parcels of land belonged to wealthy families, and the land was leased to tenant farmers. Non-agricultural products were dependent on individuals or families who specialized in making and producing them. With the industrial revolution, mass production became possible.
The industrial revolution was attributed to the growing European economies. Many European nations’ economies expanded globally. The colonization efforts of European nations opened new markets in other parts of the globe. Hence, the demand for goods also increased. Another rationale was the increase in population. It was undeniable that to propel an economy dependent on manufacturing would require substantial labor. The national economy, formerly dependent on family productions shifted to become a surplus economy – the output of a manufacturing-oriented economy.
Industrialization first came to Britain. Between 1760 and 1860, technological advances transformed the British economy and made it the “workshop of the world.” Debates ensued whether industrialization improved or devastated local economies. One side of the debate would view industrialization as evil and detrimental to the development of the people. To many academicians, most affected were ordinary citizens who were subjected to the “dark, satanic mills” as described in many popular literature and opinions. However, from an economist’s point of view, the rise in income (a consequence of industrialization) had been observed. In N.F.R. Craft’s estimates, “British income per person (in 1970 U.S. dollars) rose from $333 in 1700 to $399 in 1760, to $427 in 1800, to $498 in 1830, and then jumped to $804 in 1860.” The more recent Lindert-Williamson study supported the view of better income but their research also showed that growth was slow between 1781 and 1819. It was only after 1819 did the wages of ordinary workers increased by fifty percent in thirty-two years (from 1819-1851). To some extent, industrialization did have a positive effect on the economic and living standards but was also affected by the frequent wars engaged at that time. At best, economists could conclude that before the 1840s, increase in income were felt slower than after the 1840s.
Focusing on Great Britain where industrialization was thought to have originated, it had several implications on the population. While there were more jobs created through the building and operating of new factories, the traditional sources of employment suffered a decline. In the early eighteenth century, most of the population was engaged in agriculture. An 1811 census revealed that 40 percent of the employed population in 26 of the 42 counties of England were employed in the agricultural sectors. By the first half of the nineteenth century, two million remained in agriculture while others were engaged in mining, manufacturing, and building industries. Women participated in the workforce but some would remain unrecorded because they were engaged in domestic services. Women, young and single dominated the domestic occupation across all regions in Britain. More women also worked in the cotton and silk industries like in Cheshire where 27,000 were recorded and 170,000 in Lancashire. Overall, about 31.4 percent of all occupied women were engaged in the different textile and clothing industries and 35.0 percent were employed as domestic servants.
Although more people were employed in the industrialized period, the English structure of society experienced two major changes. The first was in the division of labor where occupations were becoming increasingly specialized particularly in towns. The second was in wealth distribution among social classes. In 1700, 15 to 20 percent owned lands. By 1800, 20 to 25 percent became landowners. The disparity between the rich and poor widened. The rich became more affluent at the expense of the poorer sectors of society. The wage-dependent population rose from one-third during the reign of King Gregory to four-fifths of the population in 1851.
In eighteenth-century Britain, the family was the basic unit of “production, consumption, socialization, and welfare. Over the period of several centuries, the English family composition remained small. The nuclear family was more important to the Britons with the occasional kin living with the family. Outside the nuclear family, relatives played minimal or insignificant roles.
With the onset of industrialization, rapid urbanization was experienced by Britain with more and more people preferring to go into main urban centers in search of better work and living conditions. Britain was also the first country to experience rapid urbanization that began in mid-eighteenth century and culminated during the First World War. With the population becoming increasingly concentrated in the urban areas, more problems developed like social and health problems. Britain was ill-prepared among the European nations that experienced rapid urbanization. The existing infrastructures were not ready to accommodate an increase in population in a short span of time. London was of principal importance to the emerging industries. Other areas like the North-West, the West Riding of Yorkshire, the West Midlands, the North East, South Wales, and East Midlands were principal industrial areas.
A growing population may have benefited the growing British economy in the industrialization period. H.J. Habakkuk suggested three positive outcomes of a robust population:1) a growing population provided abundant sources of labor at competitive wages; 2) a growing population stimulated investments; 3) a growing population had the tendency to spend a higher proportion of their income on transportation and housing.
As the most powerful nation during the pre-industrialization period, Britain led other European nations in changing the lives and economic structure of nations. While technology may have been a primary driver to the change, one must not ignore other influences that engineered the industrialization of European nations. Better education, the Enlightenment movement, and the expansionist motives of many European nations propelled the world to change.
Works Cited
Brown, Callum, Urbanization and Living Conditions in Atlas of British Social and Economic History since C.1700. (ed) Rex Pope, Routledge, London, 1990: 170 – 182.
Brown, Richard, Society and Economy in Modern Britain, 1700-1850. Routledge, New York, 1991.
Hooker, Richard, “The European Enlightenment: The Industrial Revolution,” (1996). Web.
Houston, Robert A., British Society in the Eighteenth Century, The Journal of British Studies, 25(4) (1986): 436-466.
Law, C.M. The Growth of Urban Population in England and Wales, 1801-1911, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41(1967): 125-143.
Nardinelli, Clark, “Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living,” (2003) The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2007.
Pope, Rex, Employment and Unemployment in Atlas of British Social and Economic History since C.1700. (ed) Rex Pope, Routledge, London, 1990. 134 – 169.