Debolina Kanjilal AP European History Stuewe 4 13 January 2013 DBQ In the nineteenth century, Europe saw its cities

reshaped by science and empiricism, affecting the lives of the working class. While the American and French Revolutions took place, the European Industrial Revolution began in late eighteenth century England and continued on to the nineteenth Century spreading throughout the rest of Europe. It was a time of drastic change. In England it became a transformation from hand tools and handmade items to machines and mass-produced goods. The growth of factories replaced the cottage industries and spawned the development of cities. Growing cities and factories led to changes in transportation, labor, and working conditions. Science and empiricism reshaped European cities through the new inventions created to spur the growth of the industry and make the jobs of factory workers easier, but in reality the lives of the factory workers were worsened. Before the Industrial Revolution, Englands economy was based on its cottage industry. Workers would buy raw materials from merchants, take it back to their cottages, hence the name, and produce the goods at their homes. This industrys productivity was quite low. Consequently, goods were high in price and exclusive to only wealthy people. The Industrial Revolution meant factories could mass-produce items at much lower costs than the cottage industries, making goods more affordable to consumers. This changed the society to where all classes could afford most goods. Also

the changes in the citys streets could be visibly seen through the new developments in the sewage system as described in Victor Hugos Les Miserables (Document 4). Victor Hugo, a brilliant French writer is a highly credible source because he is known for writing the realities of the society during the nineteenth century. In addition to the new sewage system, the cities of Europe saw a major change in transportation, which had a major role in industrialization. The developments in transportation played an important role in industrialization. Growing cities demanded investments to be made in improving infrastructure, including roads, bridges, canals, railroads. This paved the way for industrialization which needed an efficient system to transport mass amounts of goods from factories to markets. According to the Increase in railroads during the period 1840 to 1900 in 10 countries, Great Britain created the most railroads in the 1860s (Document 6). These railroads changed the cities appearance, and were very good for transporting goods. In addition to the transportation developments, technological advancements such as gas lamps also shaped the cities. As shown in the drawing by Eugene Lami of the intersection of the Boulevard Des Italiens and the Rue Lafitte, the light of the gas lamps enabled the people to socialize late at night (Document 8). The Rate of Industrial Growth in Five Selected Countries says Great Britain saw the greatest increase in industrial growth from 1845 to 1854 (Document 1). Increase in industrial growth meant factories production needed to increase causing problems for the factory worker. The new technological advancements affected the working class more negatively than positively. With the invention of the steam engine, a shift from rural waterwheels to steam engines as an industrial power source facilitated the emergence of factories and

industrial cities. Factories started the process of urbanization by causing people to leave rural sectors and move to the cities looking for a better life. This caused a huge increase in population in the cities as shown in the drawing A Court for King Cholera, in which the overpopulation can be seen easily (Document 9). According to a report by Edwin Chadwick the increase in population in the cities caused overcrowding, pollution, and thus became a breeding ground for infectious diseases (Document 7). Since Chadwick, a law commissioner wrote this report to shine light on the conditions of the working poor, his report is likely believable. Factory workers were living in germ infested, crowded and very unhealthful conditions, much like their place of work. Professor Faraday described the nauseating smell of the Thames in his Observations on the filth of the Thames (Document 10). Because Faraday is a professor and he is writing this in a letter addressed to an editor of The Times, a highly acclaimed Newspaper, his descriptions are plausible. The pollution of the river goes on to show how filthy the living conditions of the working class were. But aside from the living conditions, to say the working class worked like slaves is not a far cry from the truth. Children and women labored in harsh conditions, working long hours with little pay. Much of the British working class was worse off. Real wages stagnated while workers sacrificed freedom, health and family. In addition, Observations on the Loss of Woollen Spinning found that factory female workers werent able to take care of their children, leading to the childrens malnourishment (Document 3). Even though the factory workers worked for hours, they received little pay, and to top that off they could not afford time for their children. P. Gaskell, a medical observer, could realistically describe the medical status of the workers because of his medical background. He

described the terrible states of the workers, Their complexion is sallow and pallid-with a peculiar flatness of feature.Great numbers of girls and women walking lamely or awkwardly, with raised chests and spinal flexures. A spiritless and dejected air, a sprawling and side action of the legs, and an appearance, taken as a whole, giving the world but little assurance of a man. (Document 5). Aside from their obviously horrible conditions, factory workers also faced the risk of unemployment. As more inventions were made, machines took over the place of manual labor and thousands were put out of jobs. According to the Leeds Woollen Workers Petition the Scribbling-Machines put thousands of people out of employment, depriving their means to support their family: eight thousand hands are deprived of the opportunity of getting a livelihood (Document 2). With a factory job, the workers had to live under horrible conditions, but without the job they could not bring food to the table. It was horrible either way. In conclusion, it is safe to say science and empiricism had an enormous effect on nineteenth century Europe, revolutionizing the industry of goods. The technological advancements made in this century reshaped the European cities, and worsened the lives of the working class. The cities became overpopulated as more people attempted to get a factory job, and railroads also became a popular mode of transportation. Although the poor could now afford what only the affluent could afford a few years back, the lives of the factory workers were completely changed for the worse.