Essay/Term paper: Industrial france and england

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities

Andrew Battaini 2/16/00





Industrial France and England



The impact Industrial Revolution was immense on the countries of France and England, which



caused large changes in the social classes. Another class of peoples emerged in England and France; they



were the middle classes. The middle class was made up of intelligent people who made their money



through their smarts and not how they were born. This was clearly proven in France when it's middle class



emerged and being influenced by the philosophies filtered ideas of natural rights (life, liberty, and



property). This in turn created ideas of revolution in France which eventually overthrew the monarch and



set up there own government. Both of these countries however used the Industrial Revolution to there



advantage in terms of new inventions and bettering the economy. This essay will show the impact of the



Industrial Revolution on France and England.







England started its Industrial Revolution at its peak by first having the proper tools available at the



right time. One of the reasons England did so well before the Industrial Revolution was that it had a strong



merchant marine which got the materials that didn't occur naturally on there island. This also allowed them



to gain news of technological advances and soon machines replaced the gape where workers couldn't be



because of the limited work force. And due to England's supremacy of the sea anything they couldn't make



now they could trade for it. This led to a better economy, which fell into the time slot of the industrial



revolution. Through out all of this the classes remained the same except the small percent of peasants that



moved up to the middle class. Family life was very similar through out Europe and there was no exception



in England , the father was the head of the family and worked while the women stayed home and took care



of the children an did most of the household chores. Rural life did not change much but urban life did with



people moving to the cities to work in factories so population in cities grew gradually, but this sudden flood



of people made many of them homeless because there was not enough room for them ,so they ether walked



many miles to work or if lucky enough a person could find a room to live in. This view of the industrial



revolution in England shows that it was beneficial for the economy and upper class but it was horrid for



anyone else who worked in the upper classes factories.



France rather hurried into the industrial revolution by first having new farming methods which



increased the supply of food, but this in turn caused a population boom in the late 18th century. This



population boom urged philosophies to write about the time and inspire people, the largest group of people



inspired by the philosophies was the newly created middle class which had come from the lower class . But



now due to the industrial revolution the middle class in France took advantage of the lower class and



employed them in their factories and fields this increased the profit of the middle class and upper class but



none of these profits went to the lower class. The class structure was the same in France as it was in



England With the upper class and the middle class controlling everything and the lower class doing all the



work for them. But the middle class did filter the ideas of the philosophies to the lower class. The Rural life



of the peasant barley changed at all while many people moved to the cities to work in the factories and the



cities weren't large enough to keep all these people so many people were homeless or had to walk many



miles to and from work each day. Heavy taxes and tithes also burdened these lower class people



and Feudal obligations, which kept them from saving any money and ultimately being left behind by



inflation, still eked by in a miserable existence. The family structure saw little change in the industrial



revolution as the father worked all day and the mother-stayed home to look after the children . This kind of



living was common during the industrial revolution until Frances final government that it has today was



formed.









In conclusion this essay has shown that the industrial revolution was beneficial for the economy of



these countries but its affects on the lower classes of these countries was horrible. During these times the



upper classes took advantage of the lower class and put many people to work in their factoriesand paid



them only enough so they could buy very little food and pay taxes. Therefore it is shown that the impact of



the industrial revolution was mostly good but had its darkish side in the way that it achieved its economic



and social goals.

















References:





Encarta 99