5.8 Reactions To The Industrial Economy

Question: Describe factories in the 19th century:

Answer: Dangerous and unsanitary working conditions, low wages, and long hours.

Question: What was the Sadler Report and what effect did it have on Great Britain?

Answer: It described factory working conditions. It made many people in Britain, particularly in Parliament, aware of the need for reforms.

Question: What is a labor union and why were they formed? How did the government initially feel about labor unions?

Answer: A labor union is an organization of workers that advocated for the right to bargain with employers and put the resulting agreements in a contract. The government initially treated them as enemies of trade.

Question: How did Labor Unions improve workers lives?

Answer: 1. Winning minimum wage laws

2. Limits on the number of hours worked

3. Overtime pay

4. Establishment of a five-day work week

Question: How did Unions eventually lead to expanded voting rights?

Answer: Unions sparked a larger movement for empowerment among the working class. In 1832, 1867, and 1884, the British Parliament passed reform bills to expand the pool of men who could vote, thereby giving more representation to British cities…

Question: Describe the laws passed in the follwing years in regards to children and their effect on child labor:

❖ 1843 -

❖ 1881 -

Answer:

Question: What was the goal of utopian socialists?

Answer: To create new communities to demonstrate alternatives to capitalism.

Question: Who was John-Stuart Mill and what did he champion?

Answer: He was a British philosopher who criticized laissez-faire capitalism as in humane to workers. He championed legal reforms to allow labor unions, limit child labor, and ensure safe working conditions in factories.

Question: Define utilitarianism:

Answer: Greatest good for the greatest number of people. They wanted to address the growing problems they saw with capitalism. They viewed themselves as moderate, rational advocates of gradual reform.

Question: Who was Karl Marx and what system of economics did he promote?

Answer: A German scholar/writer who argued for socialism. He promoted “scientific socialism.”