The Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, and the African Slave Trade

In both the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, there was a change in meaning of the highest class. Having supreme control, the landowners had the ultimate say in daily life and politics, as did the first and second estates. But as the Industrial Revolution progressed, the wealthy landowners found that they no longer were the most influential, as businessmen grew much more important. In the French Revolution, the change was much more sudden but still similar. The high class was wrenched from power because of growing anger from the lower classes due to inequality. Also, I get the impression that the Industrial Revolution caused a boom in jobs, giving more people opportunities to make their living. Like the French Revolution, this empowers the common man, who in the case of the French Revolution would be the Third Estate. With the new form of society, they were granted an equal chance to make whatever they wanted of themselves.

The African Slave Trade and the Industrial Revolution have less immediately apparent similarities. From my first impression of the Industrial Revolution, it also seems like with a more modernized world, leads to people taking advantage of the labor force. Mahatma Gandhi argued, "Industrialization on a mass scale will necessarily lead to passive or active exploitation of the villagers." While not many listened, as evidenced by the world's readiness to embrace industrialization, he had a valid point. Industrialization must have caused those in power to abuse the freedoms of a giant potential working force. The African Slave Trade was also very much about taking advantage of other humans and using them as laborers for financial gain. Although the slave trade is a much more serious example of this, both involve some level of exploitation of the potential of other human beings.