Did the Industrial Revolution Have More of a Positive or Negative Impact on the Lives of People?

"A boy was caught in a machine and had both of his thigh bones broke and from his knee to his hip the flesh was ripped up the same as it had been cut by a knife." What would you do if that was your child? In the beginning of 18th century, in England, there were major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology. That period was called "The Industrial Revolution". During that time there were many children who suffered from accidents in the factories. The Industrial Revolution had a negative impact on the lives of the people. Poor living conditions, disease, dangerous working conditions and being overworked were what most of the people had to live with.

One of the negative impacts of the Industrial Revolution was poor living conditions. That demand for workers increased led to the migration of farmers to the city. As the result, workers had to live in crowded tenements with terrible and filthy conditions. They had no running water, only community pumps (text book). The streets were usually unpaved, full of holes and strewn with refuse. Garbage was everywhere. One described "they didn't have gutter nor drain, so the refuse accumulates in stagnant, stinking puddles" (doc. #7). The workers were living in an awful condition.

Due to the insanitation, disease spread rapidly around the tenements. Cholera was one of them. Another sickness most workers had was lung disease. A worker said "... it was caused by the dust in the factories from overwork and insufficient diet" (doc. #2). The workers work 16 hours a day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. They only had 45 minutes of lunch break (doc. #7). They were also frequently strapped by the employers. Diseases and overwork are some of the negative impacts of the Industrial Revolution because it caused many deaths.

Another thing that also led to many deaths was dangerous working conditions. Beside damaged lungs, the workers also had a very high chance of getting cut or killed by a machine while working. A worker talked about his brother "he was cut by a machine and died of infections" (doc. #2). Most of these accidents occurred because workers weren't alert as the result of overworking and there were no safety devices on the machines. Everyday workers had to deal with the life-threatening conditions. Many people, even children, have had to suffer from the machines.

The Industrial Revolution had a negative impact on the people's life. Poor living conditions which led to spreaded diseases were the results. Also overworking and dangerous working conditions killed a lot of workers. The people's lives in the Industrial Revolution were unpleasant.