Glossary
Bourgeoisie
The wealthy middle and upper class that gained prominence during the Industrial Revolution, consisting of factory owners, bankers, and merchants who controlled the means of production.
Example:
A successful industrialist who owned multiple coal mines and textile factories would exemplify the Bourgeoisie, accumulating vast wealth and political influence.
Cult of Domesticity
A 19th-century ideology that idealized women's roles as wives and mothers, emphasizing their place in the private sphere of the home as moral guardians.
Example:
A middle-class woman in Victorian England, expected to manage the household, raise children, and embody piety and purity, was living according to the ideals of the Cult of Domesticity.
Factory Act of 1833
A significant British labor reform that improved working conditions for children in factories, setting age limits and restricting working hours.
Example:
Following the Factory Act of 1833, a factory owner could no longer employ children under nine years old, and older children had limits on their daily work hours.
Nuclear Family
A family structure consisting of a married couple and their dependent children, which became more prevalent as industrialization separated work from home life.
Example:
Unlike the extended family structures common in agrarian societies, the typical urban family unit of a mother, father, and their children living independently represented the emerging Nuclear Family.
Proletariat
The working class that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, primarily composed of urban factory laborers who sold their labor for wages.
Example:
During the early 19th century, a textile mill worker toiling long hours for low pay in Manchester would be considered part of the Proletariat.
Strikes
Work stoppages by organized groups of laborers to protest poor working conditions, low wages, or demand better treatment from employers.
Example:
When coal miners collectively refused to work until their demands for safer conditions and higher pay were met, they were engaging in a Strike to exert pressure on the mine owners.
Ten Hours Act of 1847
A British law that further limited the working day to ten hours for women and children in textile factories.
Example:
The passage of the Ten Hours Act of 1847 meant that a mother and her child working in a cotton mill could no longer be forced to work more than ten hours a day, providing some relief from grueling schedules.
Urbanization
The rapid growth of cities and the migration of people from rural areas to urban centers, a defining demographic shift of the Industrial Revolution.
Example:
The massive influx of former peasants into London seeking factory jobs led to severe overcrowding and sanitation issues, a direct consequence of Urbanization.