Capitalism

An economic system where businesses are privately owned, and competition and supply-and-demand determine prices and production.

Laissez-faire

A government policy of not interfering in business; letting the economy run on its own with little or no regulation.

Marxism

A political and economic theory created by Karl Marx that argues that history is shaped by class struggle and that workers should overthrow capitalism and create a classless society.

Proletariat

In Marxism, the working class—people who work in factories or do labor for wages.

Bourgeois (Bourgeoisie, in Marxist context)

The middle/upper class that owns factories, land, and businesses. In Marxism, they are the group that exploits the workers.

Utopian Socialism

An early form of socialism that imagined creating perfect, peaceful communities where people share property and cooperate instead of competing.

Richard Arkwright

Inventor of the water frame, a machine that made spinning thread faster. He helped start factory-style production.

James Watt

Improved the steam engine, making it more efficient. His invention helped power factories, trains, and ships.

Adam Smith

Economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations. He supported capitalism and laissez-faire economics.

Karl Marx

German philosopher who wrote The Communist Manifesto. He criticized capitalism and created the ideas of Marxism and communism.

Friedrich Engels

Co-author of The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx. He helped explain how workers were mistreated during the Industrial Revolution.

Robert Owen

A Utopian socialist who tried to build model communities with good working conditions, education, and shared responsibility.

Thomas Malthus

Economist who believed population grows faster than food supply and predicted that famine and poverty were unavoidable unless population slowed.

John Snow

A doctor who discovered that cholera was spread through contaminated water, not “bad air.” His work improved public health in cities.

Michael Sadler

A British reformer who investigated child labor in factories. His “Sadler Report” helped lead to new child labor laws.

Monoculture

Growing only one type of crop in a large area. This can be risky because if that crop fails, there is no backup.

Potato blight

A plant disease that destroys potatoes. It caused massive crop failure in Ireland in the 1840s.

Famine

A severe shortage of food that leads to widespread hunger and death.

Emigration

Leaving one’s country to move to another. Many Irish emigrated to the United States during the potato famine.