The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution allowed tasks to be done in a much quicker manner than in the years that preceded it. With all the positives that came with the Industrial Revolution it also brought with it negative aspects for the poor. The factory system made their workers work long hours for meager pay, and therefore the poor generally sent their kids to work in the factories to help the family. Many jobs were done away with because of new technology which caused overcrowding in the cities. Therefore the infrastructures were not able to handle the rapidly growing populations. All of these conditions caused many of the writers of this time to look back upon the past as the golden age.

Fanny Kemble's Record of a Girlhood explained her first ride on a Steam Engine. She was a famous young actress who was the first woman to ride on the steam locomotive. Her explanation is very interesting because of her description of something that would seem to be commonplace to us. She is interested in every detail of this experience and even explains how the pistons work on the engine. "She goes upon two wheels which are her feet, and are moved by bright steel legs called pistons; these are propelled by steam, and in proportion as more steam is applied to the upper extremities of these pistons, the faster they move the wheels.." (490)

It was also interesting to think about how amazed Kemble was to be going 35 miles an hour. "You cannot imagine how strange it seemed to be journeying on thus, without any visible cause of progress other than the magical machine." (491) It is just interesting to think about how far we have came to where 35 miles an hour is thought to be a pedestrian speed.

Although most writers wrote negatively against the Industrial Revolution, writers such as Thomas Macaulay saw it as a form of progress. "We firmly believe that, inspite of all the misgovernment of her rulers, she has almost always been becoming richer and richer." (492) Although there might have been negative consequences for some people, he believes that the Industrial Revolution has played a positive role in England.

Charles Dickens on the other hand believed that Industrialization had taken the identity out of the modern worker. The modern worker had become simply a cog in the machine, and the machines had destroyed the uniqueness of the cities. The cities had all become one in the same, all controlled by their machinery. "All the public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and white. The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction." (498) This idea had some merit as many of the factory workers were forced to work long hours without much reward.