Chapter Eighteen Flashcards
What had the population risen to from 1801 and 1851?
From 10.5 million to 20.8 million
Most of the increase can be accounted for in the rapidly expanding urban areas- Urban growth and Urbanisation were major factors in social change. By 1846, almost half of Britain’s population lived in urban rather than rural areas.
What were the living conditions being experienced by roughly half of Britain’s population in the urban areas?
Due to the huge increase in population in such a short amount of time, there was much crowding together of large numbers of people in towns and cities. Mc segregated themselves in leafy suburbs, and respectable middling ranks lived in neat terraced houses, not too far from the town centre.
Majority lived in hastily-built, overcrowded back-to-back terraces or tenement dwellings, close to smoky, black industria centre. Few basic facilities.
What did these overcrowded, unhygenic conditions cause?
Significant health problems.
Incidence of disease was often worse in old districts of towns like Glasgow and York.
Endemic infectious diseases such as typhus, whooping cough, dysenery and measles caused 40% of deaths in industrial towns.
Life expectancy among urban dwellers was short- approximately half of all children died before their fifth birthday.
Belief that Christian burials must take place in hoy ground led to church graveyards overflowing and people being buried in unhygenic conditions
What were the positive living conditions in Britain?
‘City fathers’ commissioned magnificent public buildings such as the Town Hall in Birmingham in 1834.
Wealthy benefactors built museums and laid out beautiful public parks.
Headquarters for professional institutions were built, such as the Liverpool Medical Institution in 1837
Who benefitted from the new developments?
Middle classes- the new elite rather than the working classes. In the smart, residential areas of urban Britain. There was a lack of infrastructure to cater for the needs of the population as a whole.
What is a good example of the two sides of British living conditions at the time?
Glasgow. On the one hand it was referred to as the ‘second City of the (British) empire’- it had a vibrant culture and great commercial and industrial wealth, yet in the 1840s it had sme of the worst housing conditions in Europe. With foul housing backlands, and filthy, unhealthy living conditions bringing diseases such as cholera, which killed thousands every year.
What possibilities of transport was there for the working classes?
The Parliamentary train, introduced in 1844 could be seen as improving lives of workers if not the poor- although there was a development of passenger rail services, this did not have any significant impact on the lives of the majority of workers until later in the century.
Limited transport possibilities for the working people- most of whom walked to wherever they wanted to go. Meant that they needed to live close to the factory- creating the cramped back to back houses.
When were horse-drawn omnibuses first used?
1845 they went into service in Glasgow. They were used by clerical workers and other non-labouring workers to travel to and from work.
What changed lives for those living in the rural South?
Enclosure and agricultural improvements.
In early decades, the incomes of agricultural labourers fell by about 30% over the early decades of the nineteenth century. However, their situation was offset by easier access t fresh food than those in the towns, health benefits of fresh air and some were provided with tied housing. Wages were lower than in manufacturing, but agricultural wages were more reliable.
What psychological effects did living in the towns have?
Close family ties and friendships that had acted as a supprt mechanism in troubled times could no lnger operate and when wages were stopped due to factory lay offs, people really struggled. They could also no longer rely on Outdoor relief. Although in some areas outdoor relief did continue, it was chaotic and overstretched.
What did the periods of unemployment in towns encourage?
Encouraged crime and social disorder. Rise in crime levels and crime was easier to commit in a large overcrowded city- where you could pass unnoticed. The Municipal Reforms Act of 1835 was an attempt to improve the administration of towns and the services they offered. Metropolitan police force was extended. However, development of an efficient, trustworthy police force came slowly.
What report did Chadwick release in 1842?
‘The Sanitary Conditions of the Laboruing Population’, alerted the Government to the urgent need to improve the living conditions of the poor. Although Peel’s Conservative government reected the report as too expensive to initiate.
What was the impact of the Factory Act?
1833- designed to aleviate the worst abuses of labour by outlawing employment of children under nine
1844- curtailing women’s working hours.
Slightly improved quality of life, but also meant a drop in the total wages coming into the household- therefore not all workers supported the idea of Lord Shaftesbury’s campaign for a maximum ten hour working day.
What, regarding wages, caused particular hardship?
Fluctuations in wages, and constant variation in the price of bread.
Roughly three quarters of the weekly wage of a wrker was spent on food, and most of that on bread. It is estimated that wages fell slightly between 1832-1846.
What was the emotional plight of the hand loom weavers?
Their inability to compete with machines and their subsequent fall in status and living standards.
Early 1800s some were earning as much as 25 shillings a week. By 1830s they were earning about 4 shillings and 6d. Caused a loss in self-esteem.
