Prompt: The Industrial Revolution has had more negative effects on the world community than
positive effects.
It cannot be disputed that the Industrial Revolution brought with it negative affects both
in the short term and in the long term. However, overall the world, and the world population,
have clearly benefitted from the improvements that were born from the Industrial Revolution.
Some people might say they wish they could return to a simpler way of life. They yearn
for a life before machines, technology, noise and pollution. The truth is that most people did not
enjoy a high quality of life in the pre Industrial Revolution, agricultural society. Only a few
landowners enjoyed any degree of wealth. …show more content…
They could elect representatives who were
responsive to their needs.
Of course, it is impossible to say that the Industrial Revolution did not also bring about
negative changes in the world. In the short term, the negative effects were significant. As more
people streamed to the cities looking for work, living and sanitation conditions were worsened.
Factory owners took advantage of these workers who would do whatever they had to do to earn
money to buy food. People were forced to work arduous hours, in dangerous conditions for
pitifully low wages. Children and women, who were often the ones with the least power, were
particularly abused and exploited. They were given the worst jobs, in the worst conditions, for
the lowest wage.
Along with power and money came greed and the urge to build even more power and to
earn even more money. Factory owners joined together to form monopolies so they could fix
prices and not allow natural competition to keep prices low. Despite earning tremendous profits,
the business owners did not share those profits with their workers.
The process of mass production virtually erased the handmade creative process of …show more content…
With the growth of business and factories came the side effect of pollution and the
depletion of natural resources. Business owners just grabbed for more and more resources to
make more products to make more money. Little thought was given to what would happen when
those natural resources ran out. Even less thought was given to how the increased production
was ruining the environment. Fumes and smoke from factories billowed into the air. Industrial
waste products were dumped into nearby water supplies. Although the world is more aware of
these environmental dangers, horrible manufacturing processes continue today in many parts of
the industrialized world.
It was not just the business owners that wanted more resources, more power and more
money. This became the desire of entire countries and their governments. The rise of
imperialism was a direct result of the industrial development of many nations. These nations
wanted more resources to fuel more production and had to look to other countries to find those
resources. They also wanted new markets in which they could sell their goods. Instead of