By Fabrício Santos
England, through the Industrial Revolution, caused thousands of changes in the daily life of European individuals from the 18th century onwards. Industrial and technological development, the move from the countryside to the city and the emergence of new social classes were the most evident examples of these transformations. In the field of society, the birth of the proletariat or working class stood out, which was the work force of English industries.
This working class played an important role in the expansion of industrial capitalism in terms of the production system. They were responsible for assisting the machines and controlling the production of goods during working hours. In this way, the proletarians had a fundamental role in the production and profits of companies, since it was from their workforce that the factory system worked.
The workers, despite their important role within the factories, were not well paid and had a high workload. In addition, service conditions were not good and offered health risks, employees were held hostage to work to survive. Due to the precarious conditions, the first workers' demonstrations gradually emerged against the social inequalities, misery and exploitation they faced.
The first workers' revolts in England blamed the machines for the precarious conditions. However, the workers realized that those responsible were the factory owners, who paid low wages and did not offer the rights necessary for a good working condition, such as weekly rest, vacations and a less exhausting journey. Thus, Chartism, which was the best known English labor movement of the 19th century that fought against the exploitation of workers.
Together with trade unions , In 1838, the Chartist movement created the so-called People's Charter , which claimed, among other things, the right of secret universal suffrage , which would give freedom of vote to any adult person, regardless of economic situation; the right of workers to participate in Parliament; the limitation of political mandates and the decrease in the working day. This political movement was led mainly by Bronterre O'Brien, who possessed the ideological influence of socialism stating that all property was theft, as it had been built through the exploitation of the rich to the detriment of the poor.
The socialist and anarchist theories directly influenced the leaders of this movement against the contradictions of the capitalist system, especially the Marxist theses that proposed the revolution of the proletariat to overcome the capitalist stage and move to a communist society where there would not be an economically unequal society.
Take the opportunity to check out our video lessons related to the subject: