Child Labor And Urbanization During The Industrial Revolution

Have you ever wondered how things came to be for human rights? How did unions, child labor laws, and other workforce reforms get set up? During the industrial revolution, there came to be a large population due to advances of the medical field. With a larger set of hands factories and production soared, yet the treatment of employees was terrible. The living conditions which included, child labor, factory setups, and economic issues were sure setbacks for a growing society. With these changes there came a voice of the people. Urbanization, created by the abrupt changes to humanity, was the sole reason why radical social and governmental views of the industrial age came to be.
Most of the people were poor, and therefore many people had
The treatment of workers was overlooked, and the poor lived in terrible conditions. This age was the time when the ability to produce products was done in a way that was faster than ever before, so everyone had a different opinion on the direction the up and coming economies should go in. Adam Smith thought the world market should not be overseen by the government. He even wrote a book called The Wealth of Nations in which he tells the benefits of a free market economy, so trade would be without restrictions from the government (Adam). Perhaps, with no governmental support in trade, the government could focus on helping the middle class, and make other reforms. Some owners of mills and factories such as Robert Owen looked out for the welfare of the people, but there had to be some change, so thinkers such as Thomas Malthus, who criticized the rich that only encouraged having a large population to benefit their industries, realized that having the majority of the next generation be poor, tired, and uneducated was not good for the future. For example he stated, “The rich, by unfair combinations, contribute frequently to prolong a season of distress among the poor.” Thomas Malthus realized other downfalls of having a large population and predicted that in the future we would run out of food. David Ricardo agreed with Thomas Malthus, that too many people would lead the eventual downfall of the economy. Having more people meant lower wages, and cruel treatment of the factory owners. He also thought the middle class should especially not produce so many people, and that this chaos of labor would be the reason for the ultimate end of economies (Ellis). Malthus and Ricardo's ideas are still relevant today for instance, “The vast and growing gap between rich and poor has been laid bare in a new Oxfam report showing that the 62 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the poorer half of