Manchester During The Industrial Revolution

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Rohan Vinaik January 21st, 2011 AP European History Manchester DBQ During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, many changes, both social and economic, occurred. A direct result of these changes was the rapid urbanization of the British countryside, causing intense population growth in previously lightly populated areas. A clear, textbook example of this rapid urbanization is Manchester. From the years 1750 to 1851, the population of Manchester rose from 18,000 to over 300,000. As this rapid population shift continued to intensify throughout the early 19th century, social problems began to manifest themselves upon the working class of these ‘new’ cities. The Industrial Revolution, and the rapid urbanization…show more content…
Numerous outspoken individuals, notably literary persons, brought this situation of an increasingly dilapidated lower class to the psyche of Europeans, replacing the glamour of industrialization with the plight of the lower classes. Frances Anne Kemble, Robert Southey, and Flora Tristan, all visitors of Manchester, described the horrors faced by the lower classes in their literary works. In The Lancet, a British medical journal founded and edited by Thomas Wakley, it was reported that the average lifespan of a laborer/artisan in Manchester was only seventeen years, due to the inhospitable conditions that these members of the lower classes were placed in. However, as the situation in the city improved as the century wore on, writings about Manchester reflected this change. William Alexander Abram, in a journal article, described the ‘vastly improved’ situation of the citizens of Manchester, stating how the ‘excessive hours of labor’ were reduced, wages were increased, amenities were provided, and the once rampant illnesses and mortality were…show more content…
Social problem caused as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution were suffering of the lower classes of poor sanitary conditions, long and arduous work conditions, and their alienation from the magnificent wealth that was, in reality, the fruit of their labors. These conditions persisted throughout much of the 19th century. However, as time wore on, social stratification became less and less, and the lower classes were able to break free from their bondage and miserable conditions to enjoy the coming of the new age in human
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