Industrial Rev: French Rev and Slave Trade

The Industrial Rev (IR) ties to the French Rev (FR) as an social and economic aftershock. From the FR, the world became exposed to a total reversal in social class and new way for people to rise/lower on the social ladder. Like the FR, the IR introduced new ways to climb and rest on the social ladder. to Social status based on profession was a principle that became exaggerated during the IR, where one's workplace totally determined his/her wealth, social status, and domicile. During the FR, there existed the high and low ends of society: aristocracy and peasantry. However, in the IR, the high and low end of society relied on work ethic and profession. Therefore, the idea of meritocracy tossed itself around during the IR; the harder one works and the better job one has, the wealthier and more socially equipped he/she becomes. All of these ideas and principles were introduced by the IR through economics, yet strongly provoked by the FR in the first place.

The Slave trade and the IR share many effects and circumstances with one another. Both economic outbreaks, each one changed major aspects of certain societies for the sake of economics and money. Obviously, the IR introduced new means of machinery and economic methods to increase revenue for a vast amount of industry. However, it also created specific divisions within the social classes and made life very difficult for the lower classes. Likewise occurred in the Slave Trade; for money-making purposes, whites (and even blacks) sold African people as slaves. Although a new and very prosperous industry was cerated through this slave trade, the social effects were most certainly devastating for large numbers of African slaves. It presents a universal question: when is it worth jeopardizing social harmony for money-making purposes? The IR and Slave trade both dealt with this issue, as economics were the primary objective with social considerations as a side effect.