Political Ideologies of the Industrial Revolution

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Political Ideologies of the Industrial Revolution
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What is an ideology????
It is an organized collection of thought or a
comprehensive vision as a way of looking at
things. It is an ideal way of life for
society. Its main purpose is to offer change to
whatever is happening socially.
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The Age of the isms
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Romanticism (1790-1850)

• 1815 Began to dominate
• Believed in the celebration of individual
  freedom.
• The age of passion and emotion
• Imagination is superior to reason.
• Meaning and purpose of life found in spirituality
  and nature.
• Belief in the supernatural
• Promoted the arts poetry, music and novels.

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Important Romantics
Victor Hugo (1802-1883)

• French poet and novelist.
• Champion of human rights
• Famous for writing Les Miserable's and The
  Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Writings criticize the social injustices of
  Industrial Revolution (i.e., poverty, human
  suffering, ostracism, alienation of poor, working
  class.)

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Mary Shelley(1797-1851)

• Wrote classic novel Frankenstein.
• Novel is a jab at the industrial revolution,
  capitalism and societies dependence on science
  and technology
• Frankensteins character mirrored societies
  disregard for human dignity in the pursuit of
  science, money and power.
• Giving a warning about the consequences of
  science when there is a lack of social
  responsibility.

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Romantics Cont.

• Lord Byron (1788-1824)
• Famous Poet
• National Hero-fought for Greek independence from
  Turks.
• Like, Shelly uncertain of mankinds knowledge and
  obsession with capitalism

• Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
• Represented the idea of artistic freedom.
• Important composer and pianist.
• Music about exotic places and revolution.

Note read text book on other Romantics (George
Sand, Hector Berlioz and Eugene Delacroix)
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Womens Issues

• Revolution in part fueled by economic necessity
  of many single and married women.
• Women found jobs in domestic service, textile
  factories, work shops and even coal mines.
• Some women found better standard of living.
• However, most worked in extremely poor working
  conditions.
• Very poor wages.
• Women treated unfairly and were not considered
  equal to men on any level.

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Liberalism

• Dominant political theory in the 19the century.
• Strong belief in individual liberty, private
  property and freedom from government
  interference.
• Favor parliamentary government.
• People can pursue their own self-interest.
• Society is a collection of individuals.
• The right to vote should be limited to property
  owners and those who could read during Industrial
  Revolution.
• Strong supporter of Capitalism.

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Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

• The mother of Mary Shelley
• Often referred to as The Mother of Feminism
• Famous Book Vindication of the Rights of Woman
  (1792)
• Called for the equality of the sexes.
• Spoke out against the injustices and unequal
  treatment of women in society and the stereotypes
  of the day.
• Believed education was the key to gaining
  self-respect and a new image.
• Wanted women to be equal under the law as well.

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John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

• Famous Book On Liberty (1859)
• Most influential philosopher on liberal democracy
  in 19th Century.
• Strongly promoted individual rights and freedoms.
  
• Believed liberalism could lead to human
  happiness.
• Promoted the use of economic theory in political
  decision making.
• Capitalism allowed people to pursue their own
  interests.
• Supported the Principle of Utility.
• Called for women being allowed to vote.

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Jeremy Bentham(1748-1832)

• Godfather of John Stuart Mill.
• Founder of the Principle of Utility or
  Utilitarianism, which is the
• Greatest happiness for the greatest number of
  people.
• All humans want to maximize happiness.
• A law is good if it promotes happiness, bad if it
  decreases it.

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Adam Smith (1723-1790)

• The Father of Capitalism
• Famous Book The Wealth of Nations (1776).
• Liberals during Industrial Revolution, used his
  writings in support of capitalism to support
  their views of freedom, liberty and economics.
• Called for laissez-faire or let alone
  economics. No interference from the government.
• Market can decide on its own.
• Invisible Hand theory those who seek wealth by
  pursuing their own interests are inadvertently
  helping the community and the poor.

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Liberalisms View Towards Industrial Revolution

• Government should allow capitalism and its free
  market economy so people can pursue their own
  interests and individual happiness.
• Support industrialism and technological change.
• All lead to liberty and freedom.
• Oppose Socialism and Communism

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Conservatism

• Modern conservatism emerged in the late 18th
  Century
• Society is hierarchical and therefore could never
  be equal.
• Believe in maintaining status quo
• Change should not be drastic, but evolve over
  time.
• Tradition should be preserved as they help to
  maintain social order.
• Less optimistic about human nature than
  liberalism

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Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

• Father of Conservatism
• Famous Book Reflections of the Revolution of
  France (1790).
• Book criticized the French Revolution
• Revolution not democratic but chaotic, violent
  and murderous.
• Saw revolutionaries as radical and disrespectful
  of tradition institutions, such as Church and
  state and ignored their own constitution.
• Foresaw the implications of the revolution (i.e.,
  execution of Louis XVI, Reign of Terror and
  Napoleons regime.)

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Conservative View Towards Industrial Revolution

• Saw freedom as the right to own property.
• Government should not limit this freedom.
• Those who owned property should be given the
  right to vote.
• Supported capitalism and industry.
• Belief in rewards based on merit.
• Oppose Socialism and Communism

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The Birth of Communism

• By 1851, 50 of people in England were living in
  cities leading to bad living conditions such as
• open sewers and pollution.
• sewage in drinking water (cholera outbreaks)
• unsanitary streets
• over crowding
• houses were built near factories- led to slums
• family members were living in one room
  apartments.
• child labor
• millions of poor working class people working
  long hours.

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Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• Father of Communism
• Saw Industrial Revolution and its emphasis on
  capitalism as evil.
• There are two classes of society 1) Bourgeoisie
  (owners of the means of production or capital)
  and 2) proletariats (those who sold their labor
  for wages or working class poor).
• Bourgeoisies exploiting the proletariats.
• Capitalists becoming rich at the expense of the
  poor.

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• Written in 1848, became one of the most
  influential political pieces of writing of all
  time.
• Is the foundation of Communist ideology.
• Calls for the transformation from capitalist mode
  of production system through violent revolution
  to a dictatorship of the proletariat i.e.,
  (Proletariat uprising against Bourgeoisie).
• Seeks to make society classless, stateless and
  with social organization.

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Communist Views Towards Industrial Revolution

• Capitalism is unjust and promotes inequality and
  alienation of working class.
• Elimination of private property is the best way
  to achieve freedom.
• Common ownership of the means of production.
• All should share in the wealth.
• Group decides what is produced based on what is
  needed by all.
• Society should be classless and stateless

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Socialism

• Like Communism, wealth should be controlled by
  the people.
• Abolition of money, markets, capital and labor.
• Nationalization of the means of production.
• Call for equality of the working class.

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New Harmony

• Welch born social reformer, who reacted to the
  excess poverty of the Industrial Revolution.
• Thought distress of workers and poor was because
  of competition of human labor with machines.
• To solve this problem, get rid of machines and
  people unite together.
• Poverty could be eliminated by creating smaller
  co-operative communities like New Harmony in
  Indiana (1825)

Robert Owen (1771-1858)
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The Fabian Society

• British Socialist movement.
• Unlike Communism, believed that they could
  persuade people to adopt cause through
  intellectual argument and not revolution.
• Called for democratic socialism, wanted to
  educate those with political power and in
  government to lead reforms for change for the
  working class.
• Members wrote essays
• Change would come gradually overtime and did not
  need a violent revolution like Marx called for.

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Other Socialists

• Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
• Irish playwright
• Joined Fabian Society in 1884.
• Wrote essays for them and pamphlets for group.
• Argued for the needs of working class poor.
• Helped to form the British Labor Party (1906).
• Believed that no one could be allowed to be poor
  under socialism.
• You were fed, clothed, housed, employed whether
  you liked it or not!!!!

Note read your textbook on other socialists such
as Eduard Bernstein and Rosa Luxembourg
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Socialist Views Towards Industrial Revolution

• Did not need violence to achieve social justice.
• Elimination of private property, competition,
  capitalism, and machinery.
• Only socialism could support true freedom.
• Collective ownership.
• Democratic socialism is best.

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Social Darwinism
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) The Origin of Species

• Not to be confused with the socialism.
• Controversial, often criticized for being racist.
• Ruthless and ignorant way of seeing human
  existence.
• Applied Darwins theory of biology and evolution
  into the political and social realm.
• Emphasized competition between species/races
  rather than competition.
• White mans burden or duty to colonize and
  civilize the savages or other nations.

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Socialist Darwinist View Towards Industrial
Revolution

• Governments should implement policies to ensure
  the advancement of technology.
• White race or Europeans should control the
  technology to ensure domination over the other
  races and countries (who they believed were
  inferior).
• European countries should seek to expand their
  markets globally to ensure dominance.
• They believed it was their DUTY as human beings.