Main ReadingThe Industrial Revolution began in England but seemed destined to start somewhere else, or even at another time. Where might it have started instead of Europe? (10 pts)Why did Europe lead the way in the Industrial Revolution? And why Great Britain especially? Give generous details. (20 pts)How would you describe the ideology (belief system) of the growing middle class? What common beliefs did people in the middle class share? What did they believe about themselves? About the poor? (20 pts)Why did Marx's predictions not come to pass? What did he not see? Related to this, why did socialist ideas not stick in the United States? (20 pts)Why did Marx's ideas actually take root in Russia? What aspects, events, and groups of people brought about the world-changing event of the Russian Revolution? (20 pts)Primary SourcesBefore you get started on the primary sources, I want you to pause and consider the drama that you are part of, just by living in our day. We have already discussed the nexus and how it draws people -- strangers! -- into a commercial relationship that is often anonymous and exploitative; but it is a nexus that promotes wealth, brings pleasure to millions, and that seems to have no end to its complexity. The nexus, especially the industrial nexus, brings cheap goods to the world. There can be no argument about it: capitalism has raised the living conditions of almost every place it has made its presence felt. But it has also disproportionately exploited certain peoples. It is really easy for us, as we sit in a chair made in Honduras, eating some processed food we heated up in a microwave made in China, typing on a computer that communicates with satellites in space --- it’s easy for us to call industrialists and factory owners evil. Yet, as we do we must confess how entangled we are in the benefits, exploitations, miracles and frustrations of the modern market. I want you to read the sources closely and take seriously the voices in them. Source 1: Child labor was nothing new, for children had long worked in the fields and workshops of pre-industrial Europe. Drawing from source 1, what was different about the conditions under which children worked in early industrial factories? (give details from source). When asked about an alternative, what is William Harter’s response? (10 pts)Summarize the argument and analyze one of the following sources: Source 2 or Source 3. (10 pts)In Source 4, we hear a voice that represents the middle-classes, and the emphasis on personal responsibility, hard work, delaying gratification for some future reward and controlling one’s passions. (This is why middle-class people often experience financial success but are accused of not fully living life!) Why does Samuel Smiles find urban poverty so ironic, or surprising? For Smiles, what is the root cause of this poverty? (be careful, he blames various groups, and behaviors, etc.) Do you think he really has the best interests for the poor? Explain. (10 pts)Source 5: Karl Marx’s work is, well, world changing! Few thinkers mattered so much for the 19th and 20th centuries. If you have any connection to political struggles within places like Cuba, Vietnam, China, Korea, Afghanistan, Greece, Angola, Cambodia, Congo, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Russia, and many, many more nations, then you have been directly affected by Marx’s thinking. In this sample from The Communist Manifesto, Marx becomes the historian. He claims that ALL OF HUMAN history, all human conflict, boils down to one thing. What is that? Also, be careful! Marx thinks that the bourgeoisie is the enemy! But he is in deep awe of what the bourgeoisie has done. What has this new economic group (the middle classes) achieved that Marx admits is so great? And lastly, if this group is so great, what does Marx think is going to happen to them? And why? Use details from the reading!!! (20 pts)Bonus Question: In Source 6, what is Ure arguing? It may be shocking, but why does he believe that this is a good thing? By what justification? Even if you are saddened about the misery that is created by this world that Ure hopes for, does he have a point? Is any of it valid? What is not valid? (10 pts) [Show Less]