Chapter 18

Chapter 18 starts out talking about Mahatma Gandhi and how he criticized industrialization as economic exploitation. The Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant elements of Europe’s modern transformation that happened from 1750–1900. The industrial revolution was similar to the Scientific Revolution and transformed European society. The industrial revolution was the most fundamental revolution since the Agricultural. The Revolution pushed Europe into a position of global dominance. At the heart of the Industrial Revolution lay a great acceleration in the rate of technological innovation, leading to enormous increases in the output of goods and services. use of new energy sources like steam engines in Britain, output increased some fifty fold in the period 1750–1900 based on a “culture of innovation”. Prior to 1800, the major Eurasian civilizations were about equal technologically. The revolution's greatest breakthrough was the steam engine which soon spread from the textile industry to many other types of production and agriculture was transformed. The revolution spread from Britain to Western Europe, then to the United States, Russia, and Japan and became global in the twentieth century.  The middle classes had the most obvious gains from industrialization. The upper middle class became extremely wealthy, and middle class women were mothers, homemakers and wives. I felt like they could have done more than just be wives, mothers and homemakers but clearly the woman's evolution did not start at this time. The lower middle class was 20% of Britain's population and they were clerks, secretaries and other occupations. 70% of Britain's population were working class citizens who benefited least from industrialization. industrial factories offered a very different work environment which included long hours, low wages, and child labor were typical for the poor workers. Trade unions were legalized in 1824

and saw a growing numbers of factory workers joined them. The unions fought for better wages and working conditions and the upper class people were terrified of them. During this time, a great Philosopher and socialist by the name of Karl Marx, spoke about argued that capitalism can never end poverty