What can I learn about the society that produced this document? 

The Philosophy of Manufacturer written by Andrew Ure is based on his life story and about the times surrounding the industrial revolution and the changes going on at this time. Andrew Ure was a chemist born in New Street Gaslow on May 18th, 1778. He graduated MD from Glasgow University in 1801 and after graduating went on to briefly serve in the Scottish army as an army surgeon. During this time the industrial revolution was at full force around the world. The industrial revolution helped catapult Britain to become the wealthiest and most powerful country at the time. Britain benefited immensely from the introduction of machinery and factories, these machines made more money to the owners of the factories and it saved a great amount of time. 

Andrew Ure was fascinated by the industrial revolution. He was interested in the benefits the new technology brought to society. The factory owners were able to introduce machines into their factories. This not only made things cheaper to make as it reduced the amount of people needed to work in the factories, but it also saved a lot of time and this was very beneficial to Britain as it was able to make more products compared to the countries that were competing with them such as France. However this made the working class extremely worried as they were getting pushed out and being replaced by machines. Ure rejected these ideas and argued machines were actually beneficial for society. He mentioned that those who worked in the factories earned more than those in agriculture and the conditions in factories were better than those in coal mines. Ure also commented that the new factory system no longer allowed for the immemorial rural custom which was when people would go work when they pleased. Ure mentioned the idea of all people going into work at a fixed time and leaving at a fixed time. This idea revolutionized how people would work and it still carries on to this day (9-5). As much as society was advancing in Britain Ure claimed that “trade union leaders were evilly disposed while employers were usually long-suffering philanthropists”. He highly rejected the idea of the creation of unions and thought they would be more harmful than beneficial. 

Ure’s biography gives an insight of what the society was like at the time. In this society the divide is between the people. The workers who fear machines will leave them without jobs and the owners of factories who want to be more profitable. This divide not only affects the workers but the country as a whole as it leads to ideas of unions and safer working environments which at the time were not considered to be deemed as something needed in factories. It also reconstructed a society that was coming out of an agricultural era and transformed it into an industrial society, this not only changed how many people lived (from the countryside to the cities) but it changed how they worked (reorganized the working schedule). Ure’s biography truly illustrates what society was like during this time by giving us insight of the changes that society was undergoing.