During the Industrial Revolution, workers were treated very poorly despite the

fact that they worked the hardest. Workers, especially in factories, had to work long days
from early morning to late at night and working condition were almost always less than
suitable. In Document 5, Flora Tristan is telling workers not to let these mistreatments
go unpunished. She says; “The workers, the vital part of the nation, must create a huge
union to assert their unity! Then the working class will be strong; then it will be able to
make itself heard…” She wants the working class people to come together and make sure
their voices are being heard and that their demands are being met.
Although almost all working class people were treated very poorly,none were
treated more poorly than women. A woman’s role was seen as not in the workplace but
rather in the home caring for the children and doing various household chores. Some
women, and rightly so, had a problem with the boundaries society was putting on them.
Pauline Roland, a political activist, was one of those women. In Document 8 we see a
letter she wrote to the editor of the French Newspaper Universal Well-Being in it she
said; “Woman is entitled to work as is Man, and to have productive, independent
employment which will emancipate her from all dependence.” She goes on to say; “She
has the right to choose her work herself as well as a man and no one can legitimately
confine her to the house.” What she is saying here is that it’s okay for a woman to break
away from “norms” that society wants her to follow. It’s okay for a woman to be in a
position that may be unusual to the people of the time.
During this time there was also the spread of many new ideas. In Document 12
we see one of these ideas and what some of its basic principles are. “Socialism aims to
assure to every human being these two advantages: liberty and property, of which men
are deprived by the capitalist regime.” When people had an idea that they held to or
believed they were going to argue their is right, and we get a very good example of this is
Document 12.