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Introduction
Industrial revolution had several impacts on the western civilizations. First written in German, the book Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels discusses social, education, economic, political, and religious effects as some of these impacts. Essentially, the book was meant to address the German audience. Indeed, Engel was the son of a very prosperous German industrialist who specialized in textiles. At his early twenties, Engel was engaged in radical journalism.
When he was sent to England, the effects of industrialization that he saw at Manchester prompted him to write about the Condition of the Working Class in England, a book that was published first in 1884. This paper discusses religion, social, and economic impacts of industrialization as argued by Friedrich Engels.
Social Impacts
Firstly, Engel documents unimpressive social impacts of industrial revolution among various cities in England. This documentation is based on his direct observations while living with the poor people who worked at the factories. It is also based on contemporary reports about the issue.
In the book, he paints pictures of overcrowded housing, child labor, drunkenness, abject poverty, sexual exploitation, and cities with immense dirt. These social impacts had the overall effect of hiking mortality rates within the industrializing cities of England. For instances, he exemplifies the fact that, in large industrializing cities, deaths due to diseases were higher in comparison to similar causes of deaths in the countryside.
In Liverpool and Manchester, the death toll due to whooping cough, measles, small pox, and scarlet fever was four times the death tolls due to similar diseases in the countryside (Engels 57). Interestingly, in Carlisle, “4,408 children out of 10, 000 died before attaining the age of five years when mills were not introduced” (Engels 58).
Upon the introduction of mills, the number hiked to 4,738. In the case of adults, “1,006 persons in every 10,000 persons died before mills were introduced while 1,261 persons out of 10,000 persons died upon the introduction of mills” (Engels 58). Consequently, industrial revolution made workers socially worse.
Economic Impacts
Economically, industrial revolution had far-reaching impacts on people. According to Engel, industrial revolution had the effects of making the textile industry have substantial improvements technically. Individually, small amounts of improvements were experienced. However, in collective terms, there was a profound economic impact on financial conditions of people. For example, Engel explains that inventions of the industrial revolution resulted to increased number of yarns that were delivered.
He continues to argue that, even though prior to industrial revolution weavers had employed many spinners, yarns were never adequate. Hence, weavers had minimal choices other than waiting. This situation changed upon the onset of industrial revolution. Yarns for weaving were made more abundant than they could be woven by the number of workers who were available.
Therefore, industrial revolution enhanced the productivity of workers thus resulting to increased earnings in the textile industries. However, Engel notes one problem with these impacts. He says, “now that the weaver could earn more at his loom, he gradually abandoned his farming, and gave his whole time to weaving” (Engels 18).
Arguably, industrial revolution resulted to the disappearance of a class of weavers who were small-scale-based. He amplifies this economic impact by asserting that the classes of weavers were replaced by a “newly arising class of weavers who lived wholly upon wages, had no property whatever…and so became working men, proletarians” (Engels 18). Therefore, industrial revolution made many people dependent on employments at the industries rather than being self-employed in their farms. Thus, a shift of occupation took place.
Religious Impacts
Lastly, from the contexts of religion, industrial revolution fractured the morals of people, which were based on religious teachings. The working person in the industry was essentially guided by commands and instructions from the employer.
Engel argues that erosion of morals guided by religious beliefs among people working in the industries was a negative impact associated with industrial revolution since “it is sufficiently clear that the instruction in morals can have no better effect than the religious teaching, with which, in all English schools, it is mixed up” (Engels 144).
Furthermore, he argues that, upon the negation of religious beliefs to guide the morals of the workers, the English bourgeoisie took over through its egotism. However, English bourgeoisie “does not even take the trouble to impress upon the workers the morality of the day…it has patched together in its own interest for its own protection!” (Engels 144).
The consequence of negative impairment of religion arising from industrial revolution in Engels’ view was the creation of a workforce that was stupid, short sighted, and short minded. This workforce often engaged in vices such as drunkenness and sexual immorality within the highly populated poor dwellings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper has deployed Engels’ arguments, as brought out in his book Condition of the Working Class in England, to discuss the impacts of industrial revolution. The impacts considered are social, economic, and religious impacts. In this extent, the paper has held that, according to Engels, industrial revolution had undesirable social and religious impacts. On the other hand, it resulted to the creation of a society that was economically unequal. It also changed people’s occupations.
Works Cited
Engels, Friedrich. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.
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