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Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I find it most interesting in this chapter how the industrial revolution affected different classes
of people in different ways. The Industrial Revolution changed old ways of living drastically.
Mass production became common with the new inventions popping up everywhere.
The aristocracy suffered only little. With a rapidly growing population, there was a higher
demand for food products, so the landowners profited and still dominated the parliament. As
a class, the aristocracy suffered because urban wealth became more highly valued than land.
They had the same profit, but received less respect for it.
The middle class benefited the most from the industrial revolution. The upper middle class of
mine owners, bankers, and merchants, got rich quickly and lived the life of aristocrats. The
middle class was filled with liberals, liking private property and enjoying a free market. Their
interests resulted in the Reform Bill of 1832, which gave most men of middle class the right to
vote. The middle class’ central value was “respectability”. They believed they could achieve
anything through hard work, and that the lower classes were poor due to voluntary and self-
imposed circumstances. Employment represented a claim in the middle class.

The laboring classes made up 70% of Britain. They were manual workers who benefited the
least from the Industrial Revolution. Many people chose to move to the cities, which became
overcrowded. These cities had insufficient sanitation and periodic epidemics, bringing the life
expectancy down to 39.5 years. As industrial workers, they worked long hours with a small
wage. Child labor was also common. Women started to work in the textile mills.

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