THE FORCES OF CHANGE
...ON AGAINST THEM. IN THE EARLY 20¡¦S WORKERS MANTAINED THEIR LOYALTY AND INSTEAD OF MUTUAL AID THEY ORGANIZED THEMSELVES IN TRADE UNIONS WHICH WERE BASED ON THE SPIRIT OF SOLIDARITY. THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS FOLLOWED THE SAME PATTERNS AND REGULATIONS AS THE CRAFT GUILDS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, WHICH REJECTED COMPETITION AND REGULATED QUALITY AND PRICES. THESE UNIONS WERE IN CONTRADICTION WITH THE CAPITALIST SOCIETY OF THE 19TH CENTURY WHICH WAS INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COMPETITIVE. THE WORKERS WERE INFLUENCED BY THINKERS LIKE ROBERT OWEN. ƒæ THE INFLUENCE OF UTOPIAN THINKING ƒá ROBERT OWEN AND CO-OPERATION. ROBERT OWEN, A MANCHESTER MANUFACTURER, WAS UPSET BY THE CONDITIONS ENDURED BY WORKERS DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, AND SO HE BECAME A REFORMER. OWEN SAW EXPLOITED WORKERS LEADING MISERABLE EXISTENCES WHILE MANUFACTURERS PROFITED ENORMOUSLY. HE FELT THAT WITH THE RICH PROFITING SO MUCH, THE POOR SHOULD GET SOME OF THE BENEFITS, SINCE WORKER'S LABOR SUPPORTED THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. OWEN WAS WILLING TO EXPERIMENT: HE BEGAN PAYING HIGHER WAGES THAN OTHER MANUFACTURERS DID, AND HE TREATED HIS WORKERS WELL, COUNSELING THEM AGAINST DRINKING AND OTHER VICES. WORKERS MADE DECISIONS IN THE FACTORIES, AND IN THIS WAY THEY PRODUCED MORE PROFITS AND BETTER CONDITIONS FOR THEMSELVES. HE ALSO REDUCED THE AMOUNT OF WORKING HOURS. SALARIES WENT TO A COMMON FUND: THE COOPERATIVE FUND. THIS REQUIRED HONESTY AND PLANNING BECAUSE NOW THE WORKERS CONTROLLED THEMSELVES. COOPERATION WAS ADOPTED BY THE TRADE UNIONS IN ENGLAND. OWEN WANTED TO PROVE THAT FACTORIES THAT WERE IN BETTER CONDITIONS COULD BE MORE PROFITABLE BECAUSE THE WORKERS WERE PLEASED AND SO THEY WOULD PRODUCE MORE. IN FACT, OWEN DID FAIRLY WELL IN BUSINESS DESPITE GIVING HIS WORKERS A HIGHER THAN ORDINARY WAGE AND OTHER BENEFITS. BY 1825, THE WORKERS BECAME A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FORCE OF THEIR OWN. REFORMS IN BRITAIN GRADUALLY BEGAN TO TAKE PLACE. ƒá THE FIRST FACTORY ACTS. BY 1830, THE GOVERNMENT WAS MADE AWARE OF A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS IN FACTORIES: „Y FACTORY PROBLEMS „h EXCESSIVE WORKING HOURS: 6 A.M. TO 7 P.M. AND EVEN LONGER. „h SHORTAGE OF MEALTIMES: 40 MINUTES AT NOON, AND NO OPPORTUNITY TO REST „h POOR CONDITIONS OF WORK: DUST, FILTH, UNGUARDED MACHINERY, HEAVY LIFTING. „h DANGERS TO HEALTH: CONSTANT BENDING, EXHAUSTION, DEFORMITY „h FEAR WAS ENGENDERED IN A 'CULTURE OF VIOLENCE' „h COMPLICITY OF PARENTS THE FACTORY MOVEMENT IN THE 1830¡¦S CONCENTRATED ON A REDUCTION OF HOURS FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AS A MEANS OF REDUCING THOSE OF ALL ADULTS, INDIRECTLY. THE CAMPAIGN HAD STRONG EVANGELICAL, PHILANTHROPIC, AND HUMANITARIANISM ELEMENTS. THE LEADERS OF THE FACTORY CAMPAIGN CAME FROM VERY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND WERE UNITED WITH THE WORKERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE INHUMANITIES OF FACTORY LABOUR. THE ORIGINS OF THE MOVEMENT WERE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS, NOT ECONOMIC. IN 1833, A FACTORY ACT WAS PASSED, THAT LIMITED CHILD LABOR. IN 1847, A TEN HOURS ACT WAS PASSED, LIMITING THE NUMBER OF HOURS WOMEN AND CHILDREN COULD WORK PER DAY. ƒá THE REFORM BILL OF 1832. ROTTEN BOROUGHS FURNISHED SOUTHERN ENGLAND WITH FAR MORE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION THAN IT DESERVED GIVING ADVANTAGE IN PARLIAMENT TO WEALTHY LANDOWNERS WHILE NEGLECTING POPULOUS MANUFACTURING CITIES LIKE MANCHESTER. IN THE 1830S, A REFORM BILL CAME UP WHICH WOULD REMEDY THESE PROBLEMS, BUT IT WAS REJECTED BY PRIME MINISTER WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON'S ACTION LED TO RIOTING. PARLIAMENT REALIZED IT HAD TO PASS THE BILL, WHICH IT RELUCTANTLY DID IN 1832. THE REFORM BILL OF 1832 SIMPLIFIED VOTING, ALTHOUGH MAINTAINING A PROPERTY REQUIREMENT, AND GAVE MANUFACTURERS AN INCREASED AMOUNT OF PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION. HOWEVER, MANY PEOPLE WERE DISAPPOINTED WITH THE REFORM BILL. AS A RESULT OF THE PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS, ONLY ONE IN SEVEN ADULT MALES COULD VOTE. „Y THE POOR LAW OF 1834 IN 1834, PARLIAMENT MADE A CONCESSION TO THE WORKERS, PASSING A POOR LAW THAT WAS AIMED TO PROTECT WORKERS FROM STARVATION IN TIME OF UNEMPLOYMENT. POOR HOUSES REPRESENTED THE BEGINNINGS OF A WELFARE SOCIETY, SINCE THEY PROVIDED PLACES FOR WORKERS TO GO IF THEY RAN OUT OF MONEY AND WORK. HOWEVER, BRITISH LAWMAKERS WERE CONCERNED THAT THE WORKERS WOULD STOP WORKING AND FLOCK TO THE POOR HOUSES, SO THEY MADE THEM DEPRESSING AND WRETCHED. INSTEAD OF ENCOURAGING WORKERS TO FIND WORK, THE WRETCHEDNESS OF THE POOR HOUSES ONLY FURTHER ENRAGED WORKERS AGAINST THE "BOURGEOISIE" GOVERNMENT. ƒá THE PROPOSALS OF CHARTISM. BY 1835 AN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION WAS BEGINNING, WHICH DEVELOPED INTO THE 'HUNGRY 40S. THE WORKERS SOUGHT REFORMS WITHIN THE SYSTEM, FORMING THE CHARTIST MOVEMENT. CHARTISM WAS BORN OF HUNGER, DESPAIR, DESPERATION AND FAILURE. A REFORM BILL, THE CHARTER, WAS DRAFTED IN 1838. THE CHARTER WAS A PUBLIC PETITION AIMED AT REDRESSING OMISSIONS FROM THE REFORM BILL OF 1832. THE CHARTER DEMANDED SIX REFORMS: 1. ANNUAL ELECTIONS TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 2. UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE FOR ADULT MALES 3. SECRET BALLOTS 4. AN END TO THE ROTTEN BOROUGHS 5. MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT NOT REQUIRED TO OWN PROPERTY. 6. SALARIES FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, SO WORKERS COULD AFFORD TO SERVE AS MEMBERS. ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT PASS, THE CHARTISTS STARTED COLLECTING SIGNATURES. BY 1839 THEY HAD A MILLION SIGNATURES, BUT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS STILL WOULD NOT PASS THE CHARTIST BILL. BY 1842, THE CHARTISTS REACHED 3 MILLION SIGNATURES, BUT DESPITE THE MILLIONS OF SIGNATURES AND THE POSSIBILITY OF VIOLENCE, PARLIAMENT CONTINUED TO VOTE AGAINST THE CHARTIST REFORMS. CHARTISM FAILED BECAUSE IT DID NOT MANAGE TO GATHER SUPPORT IN PARLIAMENT SINCE IT POSED A THREAT TO THE SELF-INTEREST OF THOSE IN POWER. IT ALSO FAILED TO GATHER SUPPORT FROM THE MIDDLE-CLASSES WHO CONSIDERED THE DEMAN...