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Jean-Jacques Rousseau Censorship
Page 345 from the "Index of Prohibited Books," (where this version was published by the Catholic Church in 1853) contains all books that were prohibited for containing anti-Catholic ideas. Rousseau, a philosopher who was inspired by Newton's work in astronomy thanks to the telescope, had several of his published works suppressed by the Church in 1766, including "The Social Contract." This was typical of the Church, as they did not want the spread of the Enlightenment to threaten their religion. -
Patent for the Power Loom
This drawing by Edmund Cartwright, the inventor of the power loom in 1786, is a part of his application for a patent. Weaving is a very time consuming task that requires a modest amount of skill. The power loom was able to produce textiles at an incredible rate, and over time it's operations were improved to eventually become completely automatic. This led to the deskilling of workers, and eventually they had to turn to socialism or liberalism to support their livelihoods. -
Child Labour in England
"The life and adventures of Michael Armstrong, the factory boy" is a book published in 1840 and written by Frances Trollope. It exposes the hardships that child workers faced such as their dangerous work conditions. The steam engine caused children to take up menial factory jobs, and people saw how unfair it was for kids to work in such conditions. One of the motives for adults to become socialists or liberals was to fight for equal rights and for children to have a chance at an education. -
German Propaganda Poster
Created by Tomitzel and published in 1915, this is a piece of German propaganda from World War I titled "Protect Home Wife and Child! Report soon to arms!" Due to the mass casualties caused by machine guns, Germany needed to convince more men to join the army. This piece of propaganda instilled a sense of nationalism and urgency to enlist, as no man wants to see their family or country suffer. Many men did not know of the real brutalities of war, so they thought it would be a fun adventure.