Themes inU.S and Wold History - Essay Example

Themes in U.S and World History Rationale for the choice of the two most significant social consequences of the First Industrial Revolution (circa 1780–1850) Before industrial revolution came to place 1780-1850, people relied heavily on farming and skilled craft to make their living. The revolution made the large scale production to be possible. This led to more people to join and work in factories to earn a source of income (Fischer 1996). This led to a capitalist system, where the power and impact to produce goods was left in the hands of smaller group of people.

This can be said thus, industrial revolution led to capitalism. This brought about two significant social consequences. They were breakdown of the family unit and urbanization. Before the era of industrialization family units had more freedom for times of relaxation and family contact. The factory owners craved for more profits, this prompted them to employ more workers and women and children were incorporated as it was easy to control them. The working hours were up to 18 hours, reducing the family bond.

Days entailed of mostly work and sleep (Fischer 1996). The society was affected by the other consequence that was urbanization; this is the manner in which people migrated to areas where the factories were set. The labor force was large and could not suffice all the people and urbanization crimes like prostitution, theft came to existence affecting the society adversely.Contribution of the First Industrial Revolution to the rise of capitalism Rise of capitalism can be related to the first industrial revolution.

This because the increased use of surplus money for investment in ventures to make profit. This made the middleclass to provide leadership for the economic revolution. From the definition of capitalist by Karl Marx, ‘capitalists’ were the venture entrepreneurs of the day who often risked their wealth on newly formed companies and industries through investment. From this the idea of capitalism can be traced to the first industrial revolution. The factories set with new found machinery that made production faster and cheaper.

The wealthier individuals set up factories in form of partnerships or individuals and pay wages to the employees. This then becomes the economic system of capitalism. The rise of capitalism and the development of communist theory Without capitalism there could be no existence of such term as communism. Before industrialization there was no capitalism and work was done on one’s convenience and stride. Industrialization then brought about capitalism, few factories were set up, and a lot of people were working for the owners of this factories.

The capitalist were the owners of these factories, the employees working in the factories begun experiencing oppression from the owners (capitalists) this prompted the employees to join together. This union then led to the birth of communism, it can thus be said that communism is as a result of capitalism. This is what led to Karl Marx (founder of communist theory) to come up with communism philosophy. Workers benefited from this unionization as labor movement began to rise, this made them receive equality and good representation from exploitation of the supervisors and the owners of the factories.

The first difference between capitalism and communism is that, in communism, the community solely owns the resources or means of production. On the contrary, in capitalism, the means of production lies with few individual or the private sector. The other major difference is that for communist the society is above individuals while for capitalism, individual freedom is above the state or society. The best justification I can issue for the two differences is that capitalism is individualistic while communism is not an individualistic ideology.

Work citedFischer, David Hackett. The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History. New York: Oxford University Press: 1996. Print.