Development Of Education, Science, And Religion During The British Industrial Revolution

During the British industrial revolution, education became one of the most important topics discussed amongst everyone. Back then, “provision of formal schooling virtually everywhere was scarce-dependent on tuition and fees, voluntarists, and usually limited to males. ” This means that schooling was limited to certain people and even those people couldn't afford it due to money issues or the people didn't meet certain criteria for public education. For example, Adam Smith argued that people should be educated because “An instructed and intelligent people, besides, are always more decent and orderly than an ignorant and stupid one”. Adam Smith's argument brought about a debate all around if public education should exist for all. In 1902, the education act was formed to protect the rights of education the people in Britain have. This act stated, “For this Act, the council of every county and every county borough shall be the local education authority. ” This shows that the act of education is in place to protect everyone's right to free public education. Education affected the people back then because the people not being educated caused them not to be able to speak their minds and allowed them to be controlled easily. Having debated about this topic publicly back then helped the people realize what they believe in without having people force them to believe it. This allowed people to rebel and revolutions to start which sometimes brought about positive change.

Along with education, new scientific ideas that were brought about during the British industrial revolution impacted the people and the period back then. For instance, when British naturalist Charles Darwin published his book titled On the Origin of Species, new controversial ideas changed the way people looked at how humans and all other life forms came to be. Darwin adopted Thomas Malthus's idea which was that all life forms produced more offspring than their food supply could bear. In his book, On the Origin of Species, he states “Can it, then, be thought improbable, seeing that variations useful to man have undoubtedly occurred, that other variations useful in some way to each being in the great and complex battle of life, should sometimes occur in the course of thousands of generations?” When Darwin says this he means that natural forces chose those to adapt in certain environments and develop certain traits that would be helpful and useful for them in their environment. Darwin then continued to call this process “natural selection,” however, people began to call it “survival of the fittest. ” Later, his theory began to start many altercations between scientists and religious figures. The development of new scientific ideas impacted the people back then because it allowed them to think outside religious beliefs and it allowed them to be apart of controversial arguments.

Religion continued to be a major attribute to British society despite all the new inventions and scientific ideas created. Christian churches remained one of the most precious places and different religious leaders influenced political, educational, and social developments to others. The industrial revolution opened the eyes of many people and it restored feelings of compassion and consideration. This realization caused many Catholics to react in rebellious ways such as stated in Father Figures the people “refused to pay their rates for the upkeep of Church Schools. The passive resistors thought the issue of principle paramount and annually surrendered their goods instead of paying their rates”. These acts caused many people to push for reforms and everyone around tried helping the poor. Many started shaming the Catholic Church as stated in “Christianity and Social Crisis”, “These institutions are the pride and the shame of Christian civilization: the pride because we so respond to the cry of suffering; the shame, because so much need exists. ” This made people more motivated by their religious values, people started forming many organizations and groups to help those in need. Change in religion affected people because it made the way they viewed life differently and religion had an enormous impact on people's lives back then.

Education, new scientific ideas, and religion developed and changed over time due to different environmental factors and new ideas. Even though people may argue that these factors changed for the worse, documents prove that they changed for the better. For instance, education has changed for the better because they allowed people to understand and develop their ideas and opinions. New scientific ideas allowed new technologies and inventions to be created and developed. Religion was significant because it gave people morals back then and they lived their lives accordingly to them. Overall, all three of these attributes are significant and play an important role in the development of British society back then.