The Conditions of the Working Class in England - Engels

The Conditions of the Working Class in England - Engels

The Industrial Revolution is a period of gradual change in England that is best understood through the works of the period’s philosophers and social critics. These gradual changes occurred within England’s agriculture, textile and metal manufacturing, economic policies and society. During the late 18th century and early 19th century many European philosophers took up the role of social critics and offered their views in Europe’s changing society. Many philosophers during the Industrial Revolution, a period which spanned from 1760-1850, spread the ideas of socialism and communism and made them widespread and popular. They offered these ideas as remedies to the social problems of that era. One such philosopher was Friedrich Engels. Engels was also a critic who wrote about the English Industrial Revolution ideals and was a key factor in spreading those same socialist ideals throughout the continent of Europe. One of his most accomplished works was The Conditions of the Working Class in England that was written and published in Germany in 1844. It was written as a book that harshly criticized England’s bourgeoisie and their treatment of the working class, or what he called the proletariat, and laid the groundwork for improving the society of the Industrial Revolution in England. Engels’ The Conditions of the Working Class in England provides insight into The Industrial Revolution in a manner which emphasizes the period’s changes in science and technology, society, and politics.
The Industrial Revolution was a gateway into a new era that was characterized by many technological and scientific advances. In The Conditions of the Working Class in England, Engels explains that these advancements in science and technology do more harm than help the working class, or what Engels called the proletariat. Engels looks at these scientific advancements in disgust and does so because of the fact that the Industrial Revolution relies too heavily on machinery and machinery takes...

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