Thursday, July 18, 2013

How did capitalism impact the working class in the early Twentieth Century?


"At the bar of world opinion, I charge the English middle classes with mass murder, wholesale robbery, and all the other crimes in the calendar."  --Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England



Unbridled capitalism of the early Twentieth Century had a terrible effect on the working class people.  The unquenchable thirst of the industrialists for profits allowed for the exploitation of workers in the factories. Factory workers were forced to work long hours doing very difficult work. There were not laws to regulate the number of hours worked per day or week.  Overtime pay was unheard of.  The conditions for workers in the factories were dangerous in every industry.  If a worker was hurt, they were still expected to perform and could not be compensated for time off to heal.  While performing their job, the workers had to work at a hurried pace to increase productivity and profit. The jobs were menial and boring.  


The greatest injustice of capitalism in this era was the uneven distribution of wealth.  While industrialism created enormous revenue, only those at the top benefited.  The working class wages were meager and plunged workers into deplorable poverty and despair.  Laborers struggled mightily to provide for their families.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 is sometimes called the Revolution of 1800. Why could it be described in this way?

Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 can be called the “Revolution of 1800” because it was the first time in America’s short history that pow...