Olivares 1

Priscilla Olivares

History 1301.SP3

C. Davis

13 November 2019

The Changes Brought by the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution first began in Great Britain in the late 1700s; however, it

started to spread to the rest of Europe and then to the United States in the early 1800s. The

Industrial Revolution is considered to be one of the most essential events in history due to the

changes it brought to American lives. Not only did it bring up population and economy, but it

also affected the way communities and families were shaped.

The Industrial Revolution emerged with four main factors being, urban population

growth, revolutions in transportation and communication with the inventions of the telegraph and

the railroad system, the innovation in manufacturing and industry with machine tools and

stronger patton laws, and the development of new systems of business organizations. As it

continued, it changed the way the American people lived.

The Industrial Revolution changed the layout of communities in the first half of the

nineteenth century. Before the Industrial Revolution in the early nineteenth century, the

communities in the United States were homogenous. They had different people, classified by

race, ethnicity, and class, living in the same areas at times. However, the Industrial Revolution

brought on a heterous society, making the cities increasingly fragmented, mainly by class. “By

the mid-nineteenth century, social divisions within American communities could be mapped,

every ring about the center representing a different income group”(Licht 156)
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As the Industrial Revolution began to grow, people began to settle where they could

benefit the most; thus creating a more clear division in social classes. The workers and poor

bought homes and rented apartments near the factories where they worked. This made it easier

for them to commute to their jobs without having to pay for transportation. The skilled workers

that were able to pay for transportation, moved a bit further away from their jobs. Small owners

began to separate themselves more from the other communities and began to form suburbs. The

wealthy, able to afford transportation and realizing that there was more of an advantage in living

the farthest they could from the city, made mansions away from the commercial downtown.

The middle and upper classes reacted differently with the changes brought onto society.

The middle-class became disciplined and enforced education among themselves. They believed

that they still had a chance to become successful, but it would be done through hard work and

dedication. In addition to this, the working class had men of the craft shops, which participated

in radical movements, and others practiced religion and abstinence from alcohol. The working

class participated in union organizations. The religious attempted to stay away from labor

activists. The wealthy, however, were less worried about their behavior. Many people with more

money and social standing saw the loss of control and became afraid that this would go into their

communities.

The middle and upper class focused on different organizations to support. The middle-

class focused on institution building, such as prison and mental hospitals; however, the wealthy

focused on religious institutions, such as temperance organizations and sunday school. As much

as the wealthy tried to impact activist movements, their organizations impacted their own lives

more than the ones they wanted to reform. They focused on these organizations to help them

keep social control.

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Families began to change in the early nineteenth century due to the economic changes

brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Before the nineteenth century, families were thought to

be more public institutions; however, family became a private thing. Home became a place to

destress and stay safe. Families became nuclear families, made up of husband, wife, and

children. They also instituted different values than before. “...a wholly different set of values

reigned supreme: love, mutuality, companionship, selflessness, sacrifice, and self-denial.”(Mintz

Kellogg 183) The changes to families in the nineteenth century were brought on by the

development of the nation. Birth rates began to decline due to the fact that children were not as

needed as they were before the Industrial Revolution. The birth rate during the year 1800 was

seven children per American woman, but declined to five in 1860. Before the nineteenth century

children were needed to help work on the farm; however, afterwards they became an expense for

parents. As the United States expanded and economy grew, so did the families. Individuals

began to focus more on family because this made them feel more in charge in a country that was

rapidly changing. Due to this families became more affectionate.

Families changed after the Industrial Revolution by becoming closer. Men were able to

come home from work and share their suppressed emotions. The relationship between parents

and children became a more lovable, with parents calling their children by their first names and

by taking the responsibility of taking care of them into their own hands instead of wet nurses. In

addition to an affectionate family, spouses were brought together through love.

The relationship between husband and wife also began to evolve. People began to marry

for love instead of economic advantage. Before the Industrial Revolution, marriage was an

arrangement where two people were together to please their parents and to gain wealth.

However, this changed after the Industrial Revolution where love was promoted to be the main
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factor for which two individuals should be married. This was shown through magazines and pre-

Revolutionary authors who expressed that marriages were meant to happen only if it were to be

done through love and bring happiness. Spouses became more lovable towards each other. More

elaborate church weddings were performed. Husbands and wives began to change the way they

talked to one another. Instead of calling each other “Mister” and “Mistress” they began to use

first names and even pet names. They also sought each others advice and company.

As the Industrial Revolution continued the roles of family members were each different.

Before the Industrial Revolution, middle-class families worked in farms, where the men were in

charge of the fields and the women in charge of cows, poultry, spinning, knitting, weaving, and

fabricating clothing. These roles were changed in the 19 century. Men went out to work for a

wage and women stayed home with the children. Men were expected to earn enough money to

support their family even after his death. Women were in charge of running the household, instill

morals in the children, be graceful, and support their husbands. Children were meant to learn the

essential skills to become successful adults.

The role of the father changed drastically. The large amount of authority that fathers once

held declined, with mothers gaining more rights. Married women had the right to have control of

their own property, earnings, and legal contracts. Fathers became more dependable when it came

to raising children with morals and religion and expressing more love towards their wives.

Before the Industrial Revolution, women were thought to have “deviousness, sexual

voraciousness, emotionally inconstancy, and physical and intellectual inferiority.”(Mintz

Kellogg 189) However, after the Industrial Revolution they became known to be purer than men

because of the service they did for others. They were known to have piety, submissiveness,

purity, and domesticity. Women became more independent and experienced more leadership
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positions, such as authors and organizing activist events. Single women were able to do many

things that were restricted once they got married, such as going out without supervision and

getting an education. Women became afraid of marriage, associating it with death and loss of

their liberty. Due to this, unmarried men and women increased throughout the country.

Children and what they were expected to do and how they were treated was altered. The

term “teenagers” became known. Before the nineteenth century children were thought of as little

adults. Children were expected to go work at a very young age and earn a profit for the family.

Things changed after the Industrial Revolution, allowing children to stay home for as long as

twenty years. While at home, they were to grow and develop for adulthood, such as earning a

proper education and learning morals. The discipline and punishment towards children became

less physical and more emotional. Parents, mainly mothers, punished their children by making

them feel guilty.

The Industrial Revolution was the main factor for the changes brought to the families and

the communities in the United States during the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution

affected the layout of communities, social classes, the relationships between family and spouses

and their roles in society. Without the Industrial Revolution, the United States and the people in

it would not be where they are today.