1. Patterns of Thought during the Industrial Revolution

2. https://youtu.be/eFboV2m1yuw

3. Problems caused by Industrial Revolution
Child labor
Bad working conditions
Bad living conditions
Urbanization
Pollution
Income inequality
Public Health
Life Expectancy

4. Liberals
Democratic Liberals
Utopian Socialists
Marxists

5. The Liberals:
Believed in “laissez-faire” (little involvement by the gov’t towards business)
Based on Adam Smith’s views in “The Wealth of Nations”
Noninterference was good for both businessmen & community
Bound to be poor people
Working man should blame himself- not the factory owner- for his poor living conditions

6. Democratic Liberals
Liberals that turned against laissez-faire policy and urged government reforms to help suffering workers
Favored higher wages, a reduction in working hours, safer conditions in factories, the formation of labor unions, and the granting of voting rights to workers

7. Utopian Socialists
Charles Fourier wanted to create a “perfect society”
Organized small communities “phalanxes” where no one would be rich and no one poor
Wanted to eliminate the pressures & problems of an industrial society
Most undesirable jobs would be given to children…since they were less likely to complain

8. Followers: Robert Owen
Purchased a mill in Glasgow, Scotland, where he employed workers under the best of conditions (improved housing, low priced stores, founded schools)
Went to USA to start a model community in New Harmony, Indiana

9. Marxists Karl Marx: leading socialist thinker of his time
He & Friedrich Engels wrote the “Communist Manifesto” (today forms the basis of communist thought)
Marx saw history as a struggle between “capitalists” (owners of businesses and industries) and the “proletariat” (wage earners)
Believed that capitalists had always controlled the government and used it to their advantage
Working class (no political power) had a miserable existence

10. Eventually, the proletariat would rise up and overthrow the capitalists in a violent communist revolution
Socialism: new form of government
Factories, mines, railroads, and banks would be owned by the government
Wealth, etc. would be more evenly divided among all people
Unemployment, poverty, hunger, and slave-like working conditions would be eliminated

11. Who do you think had the best ideas for solving the problems of the working class– liberals, democratic liberals, Utopian socialists, or Marxists?

12. Of the many “evils” brought about by industrial revolution, which two do you think are the worst? Why?

13. Of all these patterns of thought we’ve discussed, do you think any of these ideologies still exist today in the USA?