During the time the Manifesto was written, an abundance of economical and social change had taken place. The industrial revolution swept Europe introducing capitalism after the aristocracy had fallen. The wealthy businessmen set up the factories and the working class had to run them. This created an entirely new way of living than the people had before. The working class proletarians were forced to move from the countryside to the cities to work in factories and run the machines. With doing this, their lifestyle had to completely change. They had to wear different cloths, live in the city slums, and eat different food. Factory work was also much different than farm labor. There was continuous work, harsh discipline, and hazardous working conditions. Marx describes the workers as “ …Owing to the extensive use of machinery, and to the division of labor, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and, consequently, all charm of the workman.” (Marx and Engels 43) Here they accurately describe how this work has taken away the man and that he is merely an appendage of the machine. The proletarian is now nothing but a machine and has lost his sole. This begins to show how industrial capitalism is socially changing the ways of the people.
Industrial capitalism is constantly progressing to become more efficient. This means that “the bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations or production, and with them the whole relations of society.” (Marx and Engles 38) To keep up with the tough competition, the bourgeoisie must keep evolving and becoming more productive. They then put more pressure on the proletarians to work harder, faster, and longer so that production stays up and they don’t go out of business. In doing this, the working class slips farther and farther away from their selves. “All fixed, fast- frozen relations, with train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new- formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify.” (Marx and Engels 38) Everything that