- The Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) was primarily a positive development
- New machines made life easier and more productive
- Factories provided jobs and increased wealth
- Technology lifted people out of poverty
- It was inevitable "progress"
Understanding the True Costs of "Progress"
Grades 9-12Yahuah (YAH-hoo-ah) - The Father's name
Yahusha (YAH-hoo-sha) - The Son's name
Elohim (El-oh-HEEM) - Hebrew for "God"
Ruach HaKodesh (ROO-akh ha-KO-desh) - The Holy Spirit
Before accepting this narrative, we should ask:
Before factories, most families owned or rented their own land, grew their own food, made their own clothes, and controlled their own time. The Industrial Revolution transferred this independence to factory owners, landlords, and bankers.
1. The Industrial Revolution began around .
2. Before factories, most families owned or rented their own .
3. We should always ask who most from major changes.
1. 1760
2. land
3. benefited
Before industrialization, most people lived on the land:
| Agrarian Life | Factory Life |
|---|---|
| Families worked together | Family members separated |
| Flexible hours based on seasons | Rigid factory schedules |
| Produced own food | Dependent on wages for food |
| Owned tools and materials | Factory owned everything |
| Multi-skilled (farming, crafts) | Repetitive single tasks |
| Fresh air and sunshine | Dark, polluted factories |
Before factories, goods were often made at home:
1. Before factories, families often worked .
2. The cottage involved making goods at home.
3. Agrarian workers controlled their own schedules.
4. Factory workers became on wages for food.
1. together
2. industry
3. time/work
4. dependent
For centuries, English villages had "common lands" that everyone could use:
Even the poorest families could survive by using the commons. They could raise a cow, gather firewood, hunt small game, and grow vegetables.
The British Parliament passed over 4,000 Enclosure Acts that:
Parliament was controlled by wealthy landowners who passed laws benefiting themselves. The very people who stole the land were the ones writing the laws. Poor farmers had no representation and no voice.
1. lands were shared by everyone in a village.
2. Over Enclosure Acts were passed by Parliament.
3. The Enclosure Acts took land from the and gave it to the wealthy.
4. People forced off the land moved to seeking work.
1. Common
2. 4,000
3. poor/common people
4. cities
Early factories were often brutal:
Children as young as 5 years old worked in factories:
"I have seen them fall asleep, and they have been performing their work with their hands while they were asleep, after the strapping had taken place." — Factory worker testimony to Parliament, 1832
Factory workers lived in crowded, filthy slums:
Before industrialization, even poor rural families lived longer, healthier lives with access to fresh air, clean water, and their own food. The "progress" of factories meant shorter lives, broken families, and grinding poverty for millions.
1. Factory workers often worked to 16 hours a day.
2. Children as young as years old worked in factories.
3. In London's industrial areas, average life expectancy was only years.
4. James 5:4 speaks of crying out to Yahuah.
1. 14
2. 5
3. 25
4. wages/workers
Building factories required enormous capital. Where did it come from?
Major banking families, including the Rothschilds and others, financed industrial development across Europe. They profited from loans to governments, corporations, and infrastructure projects. Industrialization created massive debt, which created massive profits for lenders.
Who were the new industrial elite?
The industrial system created new forms of dependency:
1. Profits from the trade helped finance early industries.
2. families provided loans for industrial development.
3. Proverbs says the borrower is to the lender.
4. The industrial system created new forms of .
1. slave
2. Banking
3. slave/servant
4. dependency
In agrarian societies, families worked together:
Industrialization separated families:
Some historians argue this disruption wasn't accidental. A dependent workforce is easier to control. When families are separated and exhausted, they have less time for community, education, or resistance.
1. Before factories, families together.
2. Industrialization families from each other.
3. Skills were passed from to generation.
4. A dependent workforce is easier to .
1. worked
2. separated
3. generation
4. control
Education was traditionally a family responsibility:
Industrial schools were designed to produce factory workers:
American public schools were modeled on the Prussian (German) system, which was explicitly designed to create obedient soldiers and workers. Horace Mann and other reformers imported this model to America in the 1840s.
Compulsory schooling laws took children from their families for most of their waking hours. Parents lost the ability to transmit their values, religion, and worldview. The state became the primary influence on children's minds.
1. Before public schools, taught children at home.
2. Industrial schools were designed to produce factory .
3. American schools were modeled on the system.
4. Deuteronomy 6 says parents should commandments on their children.
1. parents
2. workers
3. Prussian
4. impress
Millions of people moved from countryside to cities:
Most didn't move voluntarily:
City slums were nightmarish:
"In one cellar room in Manchester, 18 people were found living. In Liverpool, one-third of the population lived in cellars. Many never saw daylight."
1. By 1850, over % of British people lived in cities.
2. Most people moved to cities because they had no way to in rural areas.
3. epidemics were caused by polluted water.
4. Micah 4:4 describes everyone sitting under their own tree.
1. 50
2. survive
3. Cholera
4. fig
Workers did not accept their conditions passively:
The Luddites are often portrayed as simple-minded opponents of progress. In reality, they were skilled workers defending their communities against forced impoverishment. They were not anti-technology but anti-exploitation.
The ruling class used force to suppress resistance:
1. The were skilled craftsmen who destroyed factory machinery.
2. More troops were sent against the Luddites than against .
3. The Acts made unions illegal.
4. Machine-breaking could result in the penalty.
1. Luddites
2. Napoleon
3. Combination
4. death
Early America was largely agrarian:
America industrialized rapidly after the Civil War:
Many of these same families and their descendants were involved in creating the Federal Reserve in 1913, establishing private control over America's money supply.
1. In 1790, % of Americans lived on farms.
2. Thomas envisioned a nation of independent farmers.
3. John D. Rockefeller controlled the industry.
4. The Reserve was created in 1913.
1. 90
2. Jefferson
3. oil
4. Federal
Before industrialization, most people had many skills:
Industrial specialization eliminated these skills:
Factory owners deliberately broke production into simple, repetitive tasks so workers could be easily replaced. Skilled craftsmen who once controlled their work became interchangeable "hands" with no bargaining power.
The biblical ideal woman was:
1. Industrial meant workers repeated one task endlessly.
2. Factory owners broke production into simple tasks so workers could be easily .
3. Traditional was lost as skills weren't passed down.
4. The Proverbs 31 woman was and skilled in many crafts.
1. specialization
2. replaced
3. knowledge
4. productive
Industrialization caused unprecedented environmental damage:
| Pre-Industrial | Industrial |
|---|---|
| Clean rivers for drinking and fishing | Rivers too polluted for life |
| Clear air and blue skies | Smog blocking the sun |
| Sustainable farming practices | Soil exhaustion and chemicals |
| Forests for fuel and materials | Deforestation for industry |
The Thames River in London was so polluted by 1858 that it was called the "Great Stink." Parliament had to close because the smell was unbearable. The river was essentially dead, with no fish or life.
Scripture teaches we are caretakers, not exploiters:
1. Rivers turned into open .
2. The Thames River event of 1858 was called the "Great ."
3. Genesis 2:15 says we are to work and the garden.
4. Revelation 11:18 speaks of judgment for those who the earth.
1. sewers
2. Stink
3. keep
4. destroy
The Industrial Revolution established patterns we still see today:
Today we are told we're entering a "Fourth Industrial Revolution" with AI, automation, and digital currencies. The same questions apply: Who benefits? Who decides? What is lost?
1. Self-sufficient people were made into dependent .
2. means decisions are made far from those affected.
3. Those who control control society.
4. We should pursue -sufficiency where possible.
1. consumers
2. Centralization
3. technology
4. self
Scripture provides the framework for understanding:
1. The Acts took common lands from the people.
2. Factory children as young as years old worked long hours.
3. The system was designed to produce obedient workers.
4. The were skilled workers who fought against the factories.
5. Thomas Jefferson envisioned a nation of independent .
6. Industrial specialization led to the loss of .
7. Micah 4:4 describes everyone under their own and fig tree.
8. The borrower is to the lender.
9. We are called to be of creation, not exploiters.
10. Hosea 4:6 says people are destroyed for lack of .
1. Enclosure
2. five (5)
3. Prussian/school
4. Luddites
5. farmers
6. skills
7. vine
8. slave/servant
9. stewards
10. knowledge
Students who complete this workbook should understand that:
Encourage students to apply these lessons by learning practical skills, building community, and trusting in Yahuah rather than systems of men.