PHP&S - Impetus For PH Reform Flashcards
Problems for public health created by industrialisation
The term Industrial Revolution was popularised by English economic historian Arnold Toynbee
- described the transition to new manufacturing thta began in GB
As the IR mainly began in GB, the leading commercial power in the 18th century, its most profound effects were first felt on the isles
As population numbers grew exponentially in the late 18th and 19th century, it was difficult for even rapid industrialisation processes to keep up with the increases in demand for food and housing
Characteristics of the IR
- new materials such as iron and steel
- new energy sources including coal, petroleum, electricity and steam engine
- new inventions such as the power loom
- introduction of factory system and division of labour
- developments in transportation and communication
- growth of cities and the working class movement
The IR directly led to the population growth in towns and cities
From about 5 million people in 1700, population increased to about 9 million in 1801
Many people from the countryside sought job opportunities in industrial cities
Moreover, the influx of migrants from Ireland, Scotland and Wales also contributed to population
By turn of 19th century, about 1 in 10 of entire population lived in London, making it most populous city
In addition to London, migrants also moved to industrial cities of Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow
Why did people migrate to industrial cities?
Existence of factories
Establishment of market centres catering for new goods
Emergence of banking and commerce
Other impacts of IR
Industrialisation in Britain didn’t only caused the migration of rural workers or towns and cities
This demographic change also shifted political influence from rural areas to urban centres
As a result of many workers seeking jobs in industrial cities, the old landed aristocracy declined
The use if land for agriculture finished, this lowered the influence of the wealthy landed class
Then rapid movement to cities created a new working class, as well as a new political consciousness
Political impact of IR
The new working class believed that they should have influence in politics
Aside from poor living conditions in filthy slums, they were also exposed to unprotected working conditions and long working hours
Such political ideas rapidly spread in dense industrial cities
Prior to the Education Acts of 1870 and 1872, members of the upper and model class viewed the new working class as less civilised people
With the emergence of skilled workers or the artisan class, the degrading view began to change
In 1832, Whig leader Charles Earl Grey led a campaign to make Parliament more representative of the people
Despite the Conservative opposition and rejection of the House of Lords, the Reform Bill was passed on 13 April
This gave industrial cities such as Liverpool and Manchester representation in Parliament
But even so, only 14% of British males were given the right to vote
Those working in factories were still not allowed since they had a limited amount of property
Women were not allowed tgo vote
Despite the failure of the Reform Bill to give factory workers the right to vote, this change in legislation led to another politico-economic issue
The Sadler Report
In 1832, Michael Sadler, a member of the House of Commons, held a hearing on child labour
They report was published the following year and stated the following results:
- long hours of work (12 hours or more)
- low pay
- dangerous working conditions
The Factory Act of 1833
In support of the Sadler Report, Lord Ashley Cooper led the passage of the Factory Act, which set standards for child labour, particularly those working in textile factories
The act specified the following:
- children aged 12 to 18 could not work for more than 12 hours a day
- children aged 9 to 12 could not work for more than 9 hours a day
- 90-minute meal breaks should be provided
- no child should work between 8:30pm and 5:30 am
Effects of urbanisation
England was becoming increasingly industrialised, which meant the rapid growth of towns comprised of crowed and poor housing, little sanitation infrastructure and dirty water supplies
Diseases such as TB, typhoid and cholera spread quickly
(More detailed)
Factories popped up in towns and cities
Redundant farm workers moved into towns to find unemployment
As a result, the population in cities like Preston, Bradford and Glasgow grew between 6 to 8 times
Britain’s population grew from 6 to 9 million between 1750 and 1800
Overcrowding in cities meant vulnerability
With poor living conditions and lack of space, disease spread quickly
Death rates were high from frequent outbreaks of smallpox, typhus, TB and cholera
Prior to the IR, the market town of Manchester was home to about 27,000 people
Due to its local coal deposits and rapid growth of factories, thr population grew to about 95,000 in 1802
As the population grew, people needed houses to lived in
In response, builders who hated to maximise profit built cheap housing that could accommodate many dwellers
Industrial settlement was designed in rows of back to back terraced houses
According to Friedrich Engels, housing in Liverpool was really overcrowded
Based on his accounts, about 45,000, a fifth of the entire population, lived in the filthy, narrow, dark and damp streets of the city
Industrial cities used communal privies built into the ground and only covered by wooden sheds
If not regularly cleaned, cesspits tended to overflow into the streets
The poor condition of the sewers was the same in other industrial cities like Leeds, Edinburgh, Nottingham, London and Manchester
In addition to overcrowded swellings, communal privies and no sewers at all, clean water was one of the main problems in industrial towns
Some collected rainwater in buckets, while many used dirty water from waterways
The widespread use of coal to power factories and heat houses creates serious air pollution that damaged people’s respiratory system
The rapid growth in population created a scarcity of food in Industrial Britain
Oatcakes, pies, Yorkshire Parkin, boiled bacon and cabbage, breaded eggs, cheese, pudding, gruel and crumpets were the food for common workers
Since workers were low paid, they could only afford to pay rent for a small room and buy low-quality food
Availability of fruit and vegetables depended on the season
Since the majority worked in factories, people began packing food for their midday meal
Moreover, eating an early meal before going to work set the tradition of breakfast
Impact of epidemics and reports on the state of towns and increasing understanding about causes of disease
The key public public health issues during the IR included widespread epidemics of infectious diseases like cholera, typhoid, typhus, smallpox and TB
These can all be tracked back to overpopulated cities, poor housing and living conditions, mass population and lack of public infrastructure to care for people’s health
Cholera
Cholera was a particularly deadly disease during the IR
With 4 major outbreaks throughout the mid-19th century and having claimed tend of thousands of lives, it was nicknames “King Cholera”
Two types of cholera hit Britain
Before the 1830s, cholera nostra of English cholera
After 1830s, cholera morbus or Asiatic cholera
Timeline overview of the cholera epidemics in England and Wales:
1831-32: first cholera epidemic, which resulted in about 32,000 deaths. Many beloveds that the disease was a divine-given vicious catastrophe in the lives of the poor
1848-49: second cholera outbreak, which caused 53,000 deaths
1853-54: third cholera epidemic, which killed 20,000 people
1865-66: fourth outbreak caused about 15,000 deaths
Other key events:
- reformer Edwin Chadwick published his Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain in 1842
- the first Public Health Act was passed in the second outbreak, which created the General Board of Health in London
- parliament had to stop meeting because of the bad smell of the River Thames in 1858. This became known as the Great Stink
- in 1872, the second Public Health Act was passed which created sanitary authorities
- the third Public Health Act in 1875 set up Local Boards of Health
Causes of cholera
Cholera epidemics were caused and spread by dirty and contaminated water
This as largely due to the fact that raw sewage was being dumped into the Thames at unprecedentedly high rates
The Same water from the river was also the main drinking source
Therefore, major water population combined with a lack of medical knowledge and expertise on cholera made it an impossible disease to tackle until in 1854 Dr John Snow discovered the true cause of cholera (and still wasn’t fully believed)
The first outbreak
It was in 1831 that cholera was first recorded in England
Like the Black Death, they believed that it came via the sea via trading
Cholera causes vomiting and diarrhoea, which resulted in death within hours from dehydration
Once of the most prominent theories behind the cause of this disease was ‘corrupted air or bad smell’, latter known as miasma theory
When a cholera epidemic broke out in 1831, it was suggested that about 32,000 people died across the UK
In Wales, the towns of Merthyr, Swansea, Holywell and Denvig were affected
In 1848, another cholera epidemic broke out, which badly effected the smaller towns of Cardiff, Carmarthen and Neath
By 1854, the third cholera epidemic had causes the deaths of about 20,000 people
What were the people’s responses to the cholera outbreak?
1832
1. In 1832, the Bishop of London prohibited clergies from brining people who had died of cholera to church before internment
2. Upon arrival, trading ships were put in quarantine for 5 days
3. Since the first outbreak took place in Southwark, a drowsed borough of peasantry, members of the upper class believed that they would be spared and that the disease was confined to the ill-fed and ill-clothed people
4. In London, some doctors argued that only the poor people were vulnerable to the disease since they were known to be heavy drinkers
5. The City Board of Health ordered the billing or burning of victim’s clothing and room used by patients were fumigated
6. Many vendors sold quack preventives such as tinctures, powders, seeds and syrups
1849:
1. Many believed that cholera was caused by bad smells coming from garbage
2. Again, members of the wealthy class believed that they would not be affected
3. In August 1849, the paper “On the Mode of Communication of Cholera” was published by Snow that detailed that the cause of cholera was contaminated water. By 1854, the third cholera epidemic had causes the deaths of about 20,000 people
Typhoid
Another highly feared disease during the IR
It was caused by poor living conditions and made worse by a lack of medical expertise on their causes and treatments
Typhoid was spread by infected water and was incredibly common in the poorly built and insulated shacks and slums of the East End of London and its factories
Compared to cholera, typhoid spread more slowly, but was also fatal
Specifically among the poor population, typhoid caused high death rates across England and Wales between the 1830s and 1860s
During this time, people used to bribe the bedding and clothes of the dead, but this did not stop the epidemic
Like cholera, people believed that miasma caused typhoid
It was only in 1884, with the identification of typhus bacillus, that the risk of typhoid was reduced
In the autumn of 1846, a typhoid epidemic, known as ‘enteric fever’, broke out in England an Wales
In the shame year, a new form of typhus appeared in Ireland and was brought to Liverpool and Glasgow by Irish workers
The disease was called ‘Irish fever’
Following the identification of typhus bacillus as the culprit of the disease, better sanitation and hygiene also reduced the fatality of typhoid
In the autumn of 1871, Albert Prince of Wales caught typhoid
The future Edward VII, son of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, recovered a year later
In the same year,Queen Victoria returned to the public spotlight after secluding herself for a decade following her husband’s deaths in 1861
On 6 February 1872, Queen Victoria thanked the nation for praying for her son
From being a disease of the ‘Great unwashed’, the public’s became aware that it was also a ‘royal sickness’
Tuberculosis
Similar to cholera and typhoid, tuberculosis is a disease associated with poor living anf working conditions
It became the greatest killer in Britain during the IR
This disease would attack the entire body, especially the lungs and, although it does not claim as many lives today, back in the 19th century it very often killed
TB can be spread simply by breath, and malnourished individuals are particularly susceptible to it
This made Victorian London a ripe scene for the wide spread of TB
It is estimated that between 1800 and 1850, over a third of all deaths were caused by the illness
By the late 19th century, about 70% and 90% of the urban population in Europe and North America were infected with TB bacillus and about 80% of those infected died of the disease
At the time, it was called a number of names including the robber youth, captain of all these men of death, graveyard cough and the king’s evil
Between 1851 and 1910, an estimated 4 million people in England and Wales died from TB
Most were aged 15 to 34
