Chapter 17 - Documents

In today's reading it was on documents about the Industrial Revolution. A document is a written, or a printed primary source that provides information or evidence. I enjoy reading documents more than reading the text because I get to have a better understanding of the people's situation in the past. The documents focuses on a certain topic and expands useful evidence and information throughout the reading. One of the documents that caught my attention is the Visual Sources: Art and the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution not only changed in politics, literature, and economy, but also in the work of visual artists. Not many people appreciate and notice the art work. The pictures that are shown in the documents are about the Industrial Revolution technologies. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution and a growing global empire had generated for many people in Great Britain feelings of enormous pride and achievements. The exhibition, held in London, was housed in a huge modernistic structure made of iron and glass and made within nine months. This exhibition attracted more than six million guests and contained 14,000 exhibits from all around the world. The first art is called "The Machinery Department of the Crystal Palace". This illustration illustrates the iron rail factory and the high class families are being educated by the teacher. In the second picture, "The Railroad as a Symbol of the Industrial Era". This shows a middle class family in a railroad compartment, returning home from a vacation. The view out the window shows a telegraph lines and St. Paul's Cathedral, a famous feature of the London landscape. There is a reason to why the artist put the background as that and I believe the artist wanted to illustrate that the family is on their way back home to Britain. The last picture is called "Inside the Factory". This is a great illustration because it basically sums up the lower class lifestyle inside the factory. It presents a strongly contrasting image of factory life in this photograph of women and children at work. I noticed how there are only one men in the factory and he is the instructor. Lewis W. Hine was the one who took this photo and interviewed the children. When he asked one young girl her age, she responded: "I don't remember. I'm not old enough to work, but do just the same." A twelve-year-old boy told Hine that he wants to learn, but can't because of work. Compared to the children in the Railroad they look a lot happier than the ones working in the factory. The women and children look depressed and forced to work like they have no options. When looking through these pictures I feel heartbroken towards the children and women because they are being treated poorly. Young children should get their education but they are too busy work at a young age in order to help with their families. Not to mention that they get paid half of what the men are getting. Overall, the Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing process but also a changing lifestyle towards the women and children.