The Industrial Revolution upended traditional ways of working. In its early stages, farmers and weavers who had once sold their goods locally found themselves undercut by machinery that churned out more at lower prices. With fewer customers and dwindling earnings, these people became part of a restless mass whose livelihoods had been overturned in the pursuit of efficiency. It’s crucial to remember that the new factory jobs which eventually replaced older roles did not appear overnight. Rather, they arrived slowly, in dribs and drabs, while the displaced workers struggled to pay rent or even secure a hot meal. That gap – between the promise of future prosperity and the immediate reality of being unable to make ends meet – created a tinderbox of public anger. Coupled with inadequate social support and a rapidly expanding wealth divide, the situation lit the fuse of protest and, in some instances, revolts. The lesson is that disruption on this scale rarely proceeds without resistance from those bearing its harshest consequences.
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