Industrial Revolution Dbq

The significance of improving workers’ pay and working conditions was vital to the success of the ongoing industrial revolution during this period as it helped soothe the demands of the unsatisfied workers. Due to changes and new laws introduced, improvements began to occur. Popular pressure however was only significant in bringing about this change to an extent. The development of specialized skills in the factories and mills, and due to the competition between employers as they repeatedly sought to hire better and better workmen was a factor that contributed in bringing about better pay and conditions for workers. In fact it was a combination of other factors such as the economy, trade, advance in technology, public outrage and political pressure that led to better
In the first few months of that year, manufacturers in the city of Nottingham began to receive threatening letters from the mysterious "General Ned Ludd and the Army of Redressers." Workers of the area, angry at employers who were reducing wages and even replacing experienced employees with unskilled (and therefore less expensive) laborers, began to revolt, breaking into factories and destroying hundreds of stocking frames in the space of a few weeks. The concept became known as Luddism, and over the next year the movement spread throughout the industrial centres of England. The support and spread of the Luddites showed they were gaining significance. They had had a huge impact on society and helped change people’s views. Although the government’s reaction to Luddism was quick and crushing, they were still effective and significant as they contributed in bringing out the rights of workers to the attention of the nation. The Luddites were only effective to a certain extent however, and this was due to the swift and harsh sentencing from authorities who reduced the effectiveness of the