Lady Montague's Role In The Industrial Revolution

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The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the advent of gross urbanization of factory towns and cities. Due to advancements in areas such as textiles and machinery, many people flocked from the country sides of Europe (particularly Britain) to cities where they sought work was factory operators and machinists. To accommodate the tremendous influx of people, cheap and cramped housing was built, with communal wells provided for water. However, as there were few facilities for removing sewage, and the living conditions were deplorable, disease became rampant. Typhoid fever, cholera, tuberculosis, smallpox and rabies were infectious agents which followed the bubonic plague, and found easy hosts in the unclean slums…show more content…
She had great influence within the aristocratic circles in England, and used them to her advantage when describing the benefits of inoculation. Lady Montague had previously encountered smallpox - an experience which left her face heavily scarred and without eyelashes. She was determined not to have her children suffer the same fate, and traveled to Istanbul where inoculations were performed. The process was primitive and crude (it involved taking the matter from a smallpox scab and spreading over an open wound), yet it's purpose was served in protecting the receiver from the full dose of smallpox. Lady Montague was able to persuade friends, who were doctors in England, of the benefits of inoculation. She was a leading member of London high society and was thus able to successfully campaign inoculation in England. Her influence led to the inoculation of many people, and mortality rates decreased dramatically; from 50.2% before inoculations to 4% after inoculations. However, these mortality rates were to further decrease when Edward Jenner of England discovered a vaccine for…show more content…
Due to the effects of large-scale urbanization, the medical world was pressed to find solutions to life-threatening diseases such as smallpox and rabies. Improvements upon existing preventative medicine, such as inoculations, was also an important part of the Revolution; although the Industrial Revolution brought many improvements in transport and machinery, it heightened the misery of thousands of people living in poor living conditions with no proper sanitation. It was due to the lack of sewage systems and sanitary conditions that disease became endemic, and was synonymous with the Revolution. The advent of vaccinations reduced mortality rates drastically, improving the quality of life for
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