Industrialization The Influence of the Railway in Britain

Rural Life 1810 – 1895: British Literature: from peasant country life to urban poverty to time machines Little change for centuries: rural life dominated by agriculture Social life restricted to local village and nearest market town Horse was fastest means of transport – 100 miles a day at most

Rural Life Slow pace of life ruled by sunrise and seasons Steam power changed everything – fast, powerful, independent of natural sources such as water Faster famer work and growth of industry anywhere Expanding cities Famers made redundant by steam moved to cities to find work

Railway Mania Steam locomotive and railways made migration easier Reduces transport time and costs Consuming raw materials, stimulating investments By 1851, 6,800 miles of track laid

Railway Mania Travel between cities took hours not days Top speed of 60 mph Horizons stretch from local to national Local times gave way to national times

Railway Mania Miracle of the telegraph By mid 1860s London was connected with New York Marked the start of global markets and news Irreversible acceleration in the pace of commercial and everyday life Telephone, X-rays invented towards the end of the century

Time is Money Time was money, so efficiency was important Division of labour – conceived by Adam Smith Specialisation of labour skills in contrast to rural tradition of whole families involved in production, consumption and socialisation

Time is Money Need to factories to make more and make more quickly Steam engines not controlled by weather or seasons Factories had foreman, life was regimented Clocking-on machine invented in 1885

Time is Money Time and motion studies created to increase proficiency and productivity Secure and predictable incomes, but long hours Worked stopped about noon on Saturday, resumed Monday morning Division of work and labour emerged

Time is Money Led to cricket, football, music halls for new working class New loyalties were created, outside of traditional church-based community Amongst working class, only 50% attended church

The New Rat Race Decline of Anglican church but rise of Methodism Commerce and business brought a sense of self-help

The New Rat Race Methodism stressed hard work and self- discipline Evening classes for working classes “Heaven helps those who help themselves”

The New Rat Race New opportunities for those who would work hard enough to take them Cut-throat capitalism society Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species – survival of the fittest – the ultimate rat race

The New Rat Race Free markets, free trade, laissez-faire government Opposition to public health and poor laws Every man for himself

Rural Decline Rural areas attracting less interest Corn laws, once set to protect the corn market, were repelled in the interest of free trade Comic strips of agricultural workers as backward,

Rural Decline Children left their rural farm life to work in city factories Every decade new inventions such as trains and telegrams The world was growing smaller and spinning faster