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In the late 1700's, most people worked in
the fields on land they did not own.
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Those who owned the land,
called aristocrats,
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lived refined lives in elegant
manor houses.
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Servants raised their children
and did their house work.
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The landowners and the people
who worked for them
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depended upon each other.
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It was a system that had
existed for centuries.
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In towns across England and
the United States,
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a series of extraordinary innovations
would alter the way
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people lived and worked for the
next 150 years.
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Inventors had found new ways
to harness nature's energy.
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They built new kinds of machines powered
by water, steam, and coal.
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The new machines replaced
hand-powered tools.
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They did the same work only
cheaper and faster.
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Much of the work was done
outside the home in
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specially designed buildings -
the first factories.
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Mechanization began in the
textile mills of England
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where one machine attached
to a spinning wheel
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could do the work of 50 people.
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Fuel, clothing, and food all
became more affordable.
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With the development of locomotives
and steamboats,
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manufactured goods could now be sold
half way around the world.
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Families moved from the villages of
their ancestors to new industrial towns.
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And a new class of people emerged -
workers who produced goods.
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Industrialists, the people who
owned the factories,
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employed hundreds, sometimes
thousands of people.
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And they made enormous profits
in their industrial centers.
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But while the industrial revolution
brought wealth to some
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and jobs for others, it came with
a price tag.
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Pollution from coal-powered factories
turned the cities black.
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Lack of housing created the
first urban slums.
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And the demand for more and more
goods and higher profits,
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brought the exploitation of workers
including children.
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Some of the worst conditions were seen
in the textile mills of New England.
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In the 1830's, a ten-year-old mill girl
described her life.
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"We are paid two dollars a week and the
working hours of all the girls extended
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from five o'clock in the morning 'til
seven in the evening with one half hour
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for breakfast and for dinner.
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It was the hiring of children,
some as young as five years old
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throughout the 1800's and early 1900's
that outraged the public.
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Workers and reformers protested.
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They formed unions and associations
and fought for government regulations
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to limit the work day and
protect children.
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These laws helped address many
of the abuses brought on by
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the industrial revolution.
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Today, we are in the middle of
another revolution -
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a technological revolution.
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We live in what's called,
The Global Village,
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because we can connect with
people around the world
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as if they lived next door.
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And we can now work anytime
and anywhere.
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We will have to wait and see
where this new revolution leads.
