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diseases from the mines, cholera from polluted water and typhoid were also common.
Clothing and consumer goods
Consumers benefited from falling prices for clothing and household articles such as cast iron cooking utensils, and in the following decades, stoves for cooking
and space heating.
Population increase
According to Robert Hughes in The Fatal Shore, the population of England and Wales, which had remained steady at 6 million from 1700 to 1740, rose
dramatically after 1740. The population of England had more than doubled from 8.3 million in 1801 to 16.8 million in 1850 and, by 1901, had nearly doubled again to
30.5 million. As living conditions and health care improved during the 19th century, Britains population doubled every 50 years. Europes population increased from
about 100 million in 1700 to 400 million by 1900. The Industrial Revolution was the first period in history during which there was a
simultaneous increase in population and in per capita income.
2.5.3 Labor Conditions Social structure and working conditions
In terms of social structure, the Industrial Revolution witnessed the triumph of a middle class of industrialists and businessmen over a landed class of nobility and
gentry. Ordinary working people found increased opportunities for employment in the new mills and factories, but these were often under strict working conditions with
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long hours of labor dominated by a pace set by machines. As late as the year 1900, most industrial workers in the United States still worked a 10-hour day 12 hours in
the steel industry, yet earned from 20 to 40 percent less than the minimum deemed necessary for a decent life. However, harsh working conditions were prevalent long
before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruel—child labor, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were just as
prevalent before the Industrial Revolution.
Factories and urbanization
Industrialization led to the creation of the factory. Arguably the first highly mechanized was John Lombes water-powered silk mill atDerby, operational by
1721. Lombe learned silk thread manufacturing by taking a job in an Italy and acting as an industrial spy; however, since the silk industry there was a closely guarded
secret, the state of the industry there is unknown. Because Lombes factory was not successful and because there was no follow through, the rise of the modern factory
dates to somewhat later when cotton spinning was mechanized. The factory system contributed to the growth of urban areas, as large numbers
of workers migrated into the cities in search of employment in the factories. Nowhere was this better illustrated than the mills and associated industries of
Manchester, nicknamed Cottonopolis, and the worlds first industrial city. For much of the 19th century, production was done in small mills, which
were typically water-powered and built to serve local needs. Later each factory would have its own steam engine and a chimney to give an efficient draft through its
boiler.
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The transition to industrialization was not without difficulty. For example, a group of English workers known as Luddites formed to protest against
industrialization and sometimes sabotaged factories. In other industries the transition to factory production was not so divisive.
Some industrialists themselves tried to improve factory and living conditions for their workers. One of the earliest such reformers was Robert Owen, known for his
pioneering efforts in improving conditions for workers at the New Lanark mills, and often regarded as one of the key thinkers of the early socialist movement.
By 1746, an integrated brass mill was working at Warmley near Bristol. Raw material went in at one end, was smelted into brass and was turned into pans, pins,
wire, and other goods. Housing was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood and Matthew Boulton whose Soho Manufactory was completed in 1766 were other
prominent early industrialists, who employed the factory system.
2.5.4 Child Labor
