5.11 Continuity and Change in the Industrial Age

Continuity Amid Change

Despite massive industrialization, many aspects of society remained continuous. Patriarchal social structures persisted, elites retained power, and most economies still relied on agriculture. Rural life continued for many even as cities grew. Old forms of labor exploitation, like serfdom and slavery, transformed into new systems such as wage labor and indentured servitude rather than disappearing entirely.

Transformations in Class and Labor

Industrialization created a new middle class (bourgeoisie) and an urban working class (proletariat), reshaping social hierarchies once dominated by land-owning aristocracies. Trade unions emerged to fight for workers' rights, while child labor and poor working conditions sparked reform movements. Migration to cities accelerated urbanization, changing family structures and daily life dramatically compared to earlier agrarian patterns.

Global Economic Shifts

The global division of labor intensified: industrialized nations produced manufactured goods while colonies and less industrialized regions supplied raw materials, reinforcing economic dependency. This deepened inequality between the Global North and South, even as new technologies like railroads and steamships connected the world more tightly than ever before, accelerating globalization.

Key terms

Continuity in patriarchy

Despite industrial change, male-dominated social and political structures largely persisted.

Proletariat

The urban working class created by industrial capitalism, often laboring in factories under harsh conditions.

Bourgeoisie

The new middle class of factory owners, merchants, and professionals who gained wealth and influence from industrialization.

Global division of labor

System where industrialized nations manufactured goods while colonies/less industrialized regions provided raw materials, deepening economic inequality.

Evolution of forced labor

Older systems like serfdom and slavery transformed into new labor forms such as wage labor and indentured servitude.

Try an AP-style question

A key change from 1750 to 1900 was…

1. the end of global trade
2. the return to feudalism
3. the collapse of cities
4. the shift to industrial economies