October 29, 2014

Homework - Over the long-run, the Industrial Revolution held the promise of lifting the urban and rural poor out of poverty.  This becomes clear with the increase in real wages and life spans in the second part of the nineteenth century (see charts the after question).  British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli noted this when he said, “The claims of the future are represented by suffering millions". 

Using the notes as a source and the charts shown below, gather and organize the evidence that would be useful in answering the question, "Would it have been better for the government of England to help the poor workers with better wages, housing and working conditions if the result would have been slower economic growth"?

Also, develop a "rough draft" topic sentence that could be useful in answering this question.

Source # 1 - Life expectancy in British industrial cities

Source # 2 - Real wages in Britain

Source # 3 - Growth of output (amount each worker produced) compared to wages



















Source # 4 - House of Industrial Workers

Source # 5 - House of Factory Owners

Source # 6 - Simulation of managing a cotton mill - Who Wants to be a Cotton Millionaire? (This runs on Flash, so you will not be able to do it on your ipads)