The Industrial Revolution brought many changes that have increased the quality of life for the average person where industrialization occurred, such as Britain. One change in particular was the increase of food production (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.491), which has been a factor of increased population. A major event that changed due to the Industrial Revolution was Imperialism. Before the 19th century, Imperialism provided Europeans with spices from the East and opportunities to exercise missionary developments (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.544). After the 19th century, Imperialism was changed as a result of the Industrial Revolution, known as New Imperialism (p.544). The New Imperialism existed at its core to provide more raw materials for production and as a market for excess goods (p.544). Throughout this essay, reference to Imperialism is in relation to New Imperialism.
Although Imperialism increased the quality of life for some, mainly the colonizers, there were major negative impacts to the colonized societies, including impacts that parallel that of the Industrial Revolution to their industrialized societies. The negative impacts include the destruction of cultures, the deterioration of environment, and the exploitation of people. During the Industrial Revolution, many people moved to the cities to work in factories (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.491), causing a decline in the rural culture. Moreover, the living conditions in the cities were extremely unsafe and miserable due to overcrowding for the many new migrants who previously lived in rural areas (p.491).
Similarly, Imperialism seized the development of the colonized cultures, as if it was part of the imperialist policies (McCulloch, 1995, p.113). The colonized societies’ lives were disrupted, for Imperialist gains, which in turn prevented their own development that would have occurred without the arrival of the colonizers. In addition, the cultures of the colonized were perceived as inferior or primitive, which initiated a culture conversion. For example, the French had a goal to ‘assimilate their African subjects into French culture rather than preserving their local traditions’ (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.562). Consequently, a decline in culture is one that can change a country’s identity and history, especially if long-standing traditions and customs are no longer practiced. Furthermore, both the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism deteriorated the environment. The former was composed of machines and factories, which created hazardous environmental impacts. The type of scientific technology that is implemented today in factories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions did not exist at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and unfortunately has played a part in a major environmental crisis that is currently experienced (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.491).
In addition, Imperialism negatively affected the environment through the extraction of raw resources and materials (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.544). The resources and materials were then used in the factories for production (i.e. cotton) or for operation (i.e. coal).
Of all the negative impacts that were created by the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism, the exploitation of people is one that can be very surprising. During the Industrial Revolution, the exploitation of children was at its highest. Children were advantageous to cotton factories because of their delicate touch, small size that allowed them to gather loose cotton under machines, and they could be trained easier (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.497). The most important reason as to why children were used in factories is they were paid only a fraction of what a man received, creating inexpensive labour (p.497).
Exploitation of adults was also prevalent in Imperialism. One aspect of the exploitation was the use of indirect rule, which was collaboration between the Imperialist European leaders, and local rulers from the colonized country (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.559). In Africa, this caused conflict between those working with the Europeans and other tribes, who never had any conflicts prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Furthermore, through the direct rule of governance in Africa, the local population was rarely provided positions of responsibility (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.562). In addition, the local population was made to work in harsh conditions (p.562). On the basis of the treatment of the local population through indirect and direct rule, the Europeans could have been more fair and understanding of their impacts, but that may have been challenging due to their feelings of superiority (p.562).
In summary, many negative impacts were created by the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism. The impacts include the exploitation of people, and the destruction of the environment and cultures. However, without these two critical events in history, the world would be much different. Given the negative consequences, there have been multiple positive impacts that have been given birth only because of the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism. A very important change created as a result of the Industrial Revolution is the mass education of children, which was fueled in part by an increased supply of white-collar jobs and for political (nationalistic) purposes (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p.530). This in turn also created greater demand for teachers, which provided many women even more opportunities to become part of the workforce (p.530). Considering the negatives, the positive outcomes as a result are what have also made the increased quality of life for many people to this day a reality.

Bibliography

Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. The Essential World History. 7th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;, 2013. Print.

McCulloch, Jock. Colonial Psychiatry and "the African Mind" Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Print.