Politicians and Social Reformers: Their Roles during the Industrial Revolution, and an Analysis of the Revolution's Effect on Them
Politicians and Social Reformers: A Comparison of their roles during the Industrial Revolution and an analysis of the effect of the Industrial Revolution on these key groups in society:
During the Industrial Revolution, each socioeconomic class in society was tremendously altered and the roles and living conditions of the members of those classes were revolutionised. Nowhere were the alterations in roles in society of greater magnitude than in the cases of the politicians and social reformers of the period. These groups were arguably the greatest agents of change in society during the Industrial Revolution, and were both fiercely opposed and mutually dependent.
During the mediaeval period (and until the late eighteenth century) the political scene was dominated by the monarch. Only the monarchy and aristocracy held real power over the Government of Great Britain. There were, of course nominal ‘law-makers’, the politicians, but the system of election was clearly corrupt. Members of Parliament had to be land-owners with estates worth at least £600 (equivalent to approximately $1,000,000 today.) Politicians were usually members of the aristocracy, or connected to aristocrats or other influential members of society. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the only way politicians the “lackeys of the Monarch” (Trevelyan, 1924 p.307) could gain any clout in political decision making was to gain favour with the Monarch of the day, and the only way of achieving such favour was to become the protégé of a politician already in power (that is, one already in favour with the Monarch.) It is therefore obvious that the Monarch was the dominant figure in Government prior to the Industrial Revolution.
The circumstances of Social Reformers are more difficult to analyse, because social reform is not a profession, nor a class into which one is born. It is, rather, a social phenomenon, evolving over a period of many years in response to many different sociological conditions.
During the Industrial Revolution, each socioeconomic class in society was tremendously altered and the roles and living conditions of the members of those classes were revolutionised. Nowhere were the alterations in roles in society of greater magnitude than in the cases of the politicians and social reformers of the period. These groups were arguably the greatest agents of change in society during the Industrial Revolution, and were both fiercely opposed and mutually dependent.
During the mediaeval period (and until the late eighteenth century) the political scene was dominated by the monarch. Only the monarchy and aristocracy held real power over the Government of Great Britain. There were, of course nominal ‘law-makers’, the politicians, but the system of election was clearly corrupt. Members of Parliament had to be land-owners with estates worth at least £600 (equivalent to approximately $1,000,000 today.) Politicians were usually members of the aristocracy, or connected to aristocrats or other influential members of society. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the only way politicians the “lackeys of the Monarch” (Trevelyan, 1924 p.307) could gain any clout in political decision making was to gain favour with the Monarch of the day, and the only way of achieving such favour was to become the protégé of a politician already in power (that is, one already in favour with the Monarch.) It is therefore obvious that the Monarch was the dominant figure in Government prior to the Industrial Revolution.
The circumstances of Social Reformers are more difficult to analyse, because social reform is not a profession, nor a class into which one is born. It is, rather, a social phenomenon, evolving over a period of many years in response to many different sociological conditions.