Research Paper - Rey Writer

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The dawn of Industrial revolution brought about changes in various aspects of a man’s life, being conveyed more towards urbanization. In turn, this prompted some to ask how the pre-industrial ages were like. In this case, the paper focuses on the 1500s up to the 1700s. This was a time when man underwent several stages before finally entering the industrial world that led to today’s urbanization. The 1500s and periods before that saw times when communication was a problem and the population largely adopted farming lifestyle. By the 18th century, there was waning of the feudal system. This led to the espousal of a new system in which people now depended on each other and their masters.

It is during the Middle Ages that the guilds were established. These were exclusively created regiment organizations created to partly preserve their members’ privileges and create a distinction from the civic government. It was however hard to tell the difference apart as the functions of the two separate bodies mostly overlapped each other, with many prominent guildsmen being part of the civic government. The two kinds of guilds in existence were the merchant and craft guilds, both of which required one to go through the three stages of apprenticeship, journeymen and finally becoming a master.

Essentially, the guilds came into being after the failure of previous systems which took great toll on the civilians through high taxations and generally unfavourable living conditions. The system managed to protect both its members and the consumers. Through it, there was increased stability of the society as its many achievements rather than aspirations made the society more conducive for persons to flourish. The new authority relations ensured that each member of the guilds was protected, an issue that was made possible through the overlapping factor of guilds and the civic government.

Going through the three stages was mandatory for any guild member, with the lowest being the apprentice. A teenager, mostly male, would go and live with a master where his parents would pay for this to happen. The apprentice was principally subject to the master and had to do as told and learn what was being done. This may run between 2-7 years, of which one was not allowed to marry.

The next was journeymen who were similarly under the master’s watch but were entitled to a salary in return for their services. They had the task of presenting a masterpiece that would impress the masters or exhibit characteristics of having gained the much needed experience, knowledge and capability in the merchant field. Completion of this step led to a voting process to decide whether or not to accept the journeymen before being considered a master.

Due to insufficient education, the Putting Out System was not able to work in the 1500s. Being the first method to be used in making clothes during the industrial revolution, the machines in use didn’t run on coal or fuel and were generally small. The method was also slow but on the positive side, it was a safe way of industrialization as the workers were not subjected to harmful material. The first part required one to cover all expenses in production while in the next step, it was making of profits to make up for the expense.

18th century saw increased improvements in industrialization, leading to the cut of unreliable workers. The workforce was progressively turned into a factory with increased diversity through Cultural Heterogeneity. The Protestant Work Ethic was also adopted during this period, as people now ventured in production for exchange and not simply for individual use. As instigated by the adopted theory, they were to work emphasizing on zeal, discipline, thrift, reinvestment and prosperity.