The Industrial Revolution:
Class Solidarity Meets Racial Division Meets Women’s Aspirations

 

The industrial revolution really was a revolution - fueled by a dramatic increase in the number of inventions and technological advances - and coinciding with a huge move in populations from the farms to the cities and from one country to another. Industrialists in Europe and the United States began to accumulate more money than anyone outside of royalty had ever seen. These Robber Barons, as they were called in the second half of the 19th century, became immensely rich as they sucked up ownership of railroads and mineral resources. The names Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Frick today convey foundations and museums, but in the 19th century, these super-rich industrialists were as polarizing as Halliburton is today.

 

The industrial revolution spawned mass production and a new class of wage labor...

Meanwhile, the industrial revolution spawned mass production and a new class of wage labor, as previously independent farmers moved to the cities, joining a growing mass of immigrants. These migrations gave birth to a working class consciousness and a host of new philosophies and movements to counter the power of the owners.

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