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Effects of the Industrial RevolutionThe Experience of the Working ClassConsulting Primary Sources:The following are Primary Sources that help illustrate working conditions and day-to-day life in both pre-industrial and early-industrial European society. Read each document first, highlighting sections that you might think are important for comparing the differences between these two times. Afterwards, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper, in full sentences and to the best of your ability.Sources:Agricultural Labor Described by Vauban, About 1700Testimony of an Agricultural Worker’s Wife and Former Factory Worker, 1842: “Mrs. Britton”The Work Year in 17th-Century Lille, FranceReport of the Sadler Committee, 1832: “William Cooper”Working Conditions of a Female Textile Worker in Germany, 1880s and 1890sAll sources are from: Ruff, Julius, William Wheeler, and Merry Wiesner. 2004. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. Vol. II: Since 1500. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Questions:A useful way for comparing the experiences of workers is to look at the quantity, or how much work they did, and then the quality, or the nature of work. The following questions are thus organized this way.Read what Vauban says about the importance of the working class people at the beginning of his statement. How might the value of working class people have changed between pre-industrial and industrial times? Compare how the working class in both periods were viewed by those above them on the social scale.How might a pre-industrial working-class family supplement (add to) their earnings? How else might they earn money?Do you think Mrs. Britton had many opportunities to improve her life? Explain why or why not.On the number of workdays: both old and new labor generally required a six-day work week. But re-examine the holidays at Lille, remembering to punctuate the work year with a liberal number of “holy Mondays” (when people were just too hungover to work). On how many days per year did Vauban estimate his workers were employed in agriculture? Was the pre-industrial workday much different in length from the early industrial age workday?Following this, what effect did the Industrial Revolution have on the annual amount of work for many laborers?Those employed in both old and new styles of labor certainly worked hard. But the quality, pace, and discipline of their respective work situations certainly varied. Let us first consider the quality or nature of the old labor. What sort of variety characterized the work of agricultural workers like those described by Vauban and Mrs. Britton?Where was much of their work carried on?Where did most industrial-age labor take place?Compare the quality of agricultural work that Vauban and Mrs. Brille describe with that demanded of William Cooper and the German girl working in the textile industry.Why do you think Mrs. Britton testified that she preferred physically taxing agricultural work to factory labor?Why do you think William Cooper would have preferred the craftsman’s work of his father to industrial labor?Closing Task:In a paragraph, summarize the basic differences between old and new labor.Reflection:Consider the following question for class discussion:What are the benefits of using this type of source material? What kind of information is missing? Or, what else might we want to find out in order to compare pre-industrial work and industrial-age work? ................
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