For some 19th-century Britons, the “March of Intellect” was a slogan for everything utopian about technological progress: economic growth, rational governance, and universal education. For others, it was an ironic way to refer to all the Industrial Revolution had destroyed: aristocratic privileges, the tranquil countryside, and the docile peasantry.

A generation of political cartoonists jumped into the debate, vividly illustrating the country’s dueling views on the impact of technological change.