The Negative Consequences Of Industrialization In The 18th Century

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain in the late 1700s, was a period of massive growth in technology, agriculture and the economy as a whole. These changes play a major role in where society stands today. Although we may think that our generation lives in a cruel, pernicious world, our issues are not half as bad as they were ages ago. We take for granted what we may call minor things such as fresh drinking water, minimum wage, and education, but people who lived during the 18th century would have been extremely pleased to have anything even similar to what we have currently. Industrialization is one of the most impactful changes in the history of humanity. Although it has caused numerous positive effects, there are many consequences …show more content…
Some of these factors include lack of knowledge and sanitation, malnutrition, poor hygiene, and land, air and water pollution. People would use the polluted water that has many different chemicals and toxins from waste as their drinking water. They did not have the ability to purify their water as we do now. By doing this, people would catch diseases such as cholera and typhoid. These diseases are highly feared and caused by contact with contaminated water or food. The food is contaminated by pollution of the land and crops as well as the many fertilizers that farmers would use on the crops. Other diseases including tuberculosis and diphtheria, which are common bacterial infections, spread easily. People were continuously sick and large percentages of deaths were caused by some sort of disease or malnutrition. Industrialization made spreading of diseases more rapid considering the fact that everyone was being forced to move to the small industrialized cities for employment. The un-wealthy people who lived in the poorest parts of town were more likely to die from diseases. Although upperclassmen were not excluded from disease, they lived in a bit healthier environment in which they were less likely to catch something. Many vaccinations were created during these times which lessens the death rate but definitely does not stop it completely. Disease played a substantial role during the industrial …show more content…
People migrated into the cities to find work. Of these workers, a large amount were children. Child labor was a crucial part of the industrial Revolution. Children were forced to work long exhausting hours in hazardous factories as well as in rural areas. Their shifts would be 10 to 14 hours in hot environments, only to get paid less than half of what men made. The children were small and could reach places on machinery that most adults could not reach, which is why they were used as laborers. They had little to no knowledge or education and did not understand how poorly they were being treated. The torture was habitual to them. There were often major injuries as well as deaths. These kids were placed in the most dangerous working conditions because they were thought of as "replaceable". They suffered constantly and were too naive to realize that this entire process was extremely disgusting and unbearable. With the technology, education and common sense we have today, I highly doubt if the world would ever be able to revert back to these