Emergence of Mass Society across the World

During the 1800s, a large number of people migrated to cities. The increasing urban population led governments to improve public health and sanitation services. Women began advocating for their rights, leisure time increased, and many Western governments began to finance public education.

Growth of Urban Populations

With few jobs available in the countryside, people from rural areas migrated to cities to find work in the factors, or later, in blue-collar industries. As a result of this vast migration, more and more people lived in cities. Cities grew tremendously in industrialized nations. Between 1800 and 1900, the population in London grew from 960,000 to 6,500,000.

 

 

Improvements in Public Health and Sanitation

Cities also grew faster int he second half of the nineteenth century because of improvements in public health and sanitation. Because of this, more people could survive living close together. Improvements came in the 1840s after a number of urban reformers demanded something be done about filthy living conditions that caused deadly diseases in the cities. City governments, in response, created boards of health to improve the quality of housing. Buildings were now inspected for health hazards. Running water and draining systems were required to be installed in new buildings.

Clean water and an effective sewage system were also critical to public health. Dams and reservoirs began to store water and newly created tunnels carried the water into the cities. Sewage was improved by building underground pipes that carried raw sewage far from the city for disposal. This allowed for much cleaner conditions across many cities around the world.

New Social Classes and Structures

In this new society, between the few who were rich and the many who were poor, several middle class groups existed...

THE NEW ELITE	THE DIVERSE MIDDLE CLASS	THE WORKING CLASS
-Made up 5 percent of the population   -Controlled about 40 percent of the wealth   -Consisted of merchants, bankers, industrialists   -Became leaders in government and military	-The wealthier members of this class included lawyers, doctors, members of civil service, architects, accountants, and business managers   -The medium-income members of this class system included salespeople, bookkeepers, department store workers, and secretaries   -Believed in hard work, which was open to everyone	-Made up about 80 percent of the population   -Included peasants, farmers, and sharecroppers   -Conditions for this class system improved by the 1870s   -Began earning enough money to buy things beyond just food and shelter

Women's Experiences

Before the Industrial Revolution, women were mainly defined by their roles in the family and in the household. Most women didn't have a legal identity apart from their husbands. During the Second Industrial Revolution, women struggled to change their status.

 

NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES: The Second Industrial Revolution opened up new opportunities in terms of jobs for women. There were not enough men to fill the low-paying jobs being created. Employers began to hire women to fill jobs, including clerks, secretaries, and typists.

 

Women were beginning to see changes in ideals in the following three areas:

THE MARRIAGE IDEAL

Throughout the 1800s, marriage remained the only honorable and available “career” for most women.  There was also one important change. The number of children born to the average woman began to decline—which led to changes in the modern family. A decline in the birthrate was tied to improving economic conditions, as well as increased use of birth control. The first birth control clinic was founded in Amsterdam by the mid-1800s.

 

THE FAMILY IDEAL

Family had become the center of middle class life. Because families were having fewer children, mothers could devote more time to child care and leisure. The middle class family began to spend more time together as a family. As far as working class society went, some women had to earn money to help support families. Because of this, childcare became a concern. Often times, older siblings, older relatives, or neighbors would provide childcare for families that needed it.   Families were striving also to buy new consumer products with more money that was being earned. Families could now purchase things like sewing machines and stoves.

 

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

In the nineteenth century, feminism, which was a movement for women’s rights, began to spread. During this time, women advocated equality for women based on natural rights.   Women began to demand the right to own property, the right to go to college, and perhaps most famous, the right to vote. Women moving for the right to vote was called suffrage. Women believed suffrage was the key to improving women’s rights. Eventually after World War I, many governments and states in the U.S. finally granted women the right to vote.

 

Education and Leisure

 

 This new society promoted the right to education for all regardless of race, gender, or social class. By providing children with free education, they would learn the skills and knowledge necessary to being successful later on in their jobs. Also, since many more people were now granted the right to vote, politicians thought that voters needed to receive an education to be informed on who they were voting for.

One of the quickest results of public education was an increase in literacy, or the ability to read. By promoting education and reading, several began to become more informed on current events through the reading of newspapers and journals.

New Forms of Leisure
The following forms of leisure began to spring up all across the world with the spread of industrialization, rights, education, and new family roles.






In addition, people were now working shorter hours and able to spend more time freely doing things for fun. People were able to take more vacations and bring families along to activites. Dances, picnics, and town fairs became more and more popular, and team sports participation also increased as people found more free time.

CONCLUSION:
Through the Industrial Revolution, several changes took place all across the world in the form of new class systems, increase in women's rights, and a rise in education and leisure activities. The old way of life was slowly changing to allow people more opportunities for fun and enjoyment.