Changing Britain (1760-1900) Flashcards
POPULATION CHANGE
In 1811 the population of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland was 18 million.
By 1851 this had increased to 27 million.
London had grown in size from around 1.5 million to 2.5 million people. At the same time the number of people emigrating from Britain grew hugely from 2,000 to 300,000.
By 1850 more than half the British population lived in towns and cities and worked in factories and mines.
LIVING CONDITIONS IN CITIES
Pollution - coal was used to heat houses, cook food and heat water to produce steam to power machines in factories. The burning of coal created smoke, which led to terrible pollution in the cities.
Overcrowding - due to large numbers of people moving to the cities, there were not enough houses for all these people to live in. Low wages and high rents caused families to live in as small a space as possible. Sometimes whole families lived in one room.
Disease - typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera all existed in the cities of England. Cholera reached England for the first time in 1830, and there were further major epidemics in 1832 and 1848. Overcrowding, housing of a low standard and poor quality water supplies all helped spread disease.
Waste disposal - gutters were filled with litter and the streets were covered in horse manure, collected by boys to sell to farmers. Human waste was discharged directly into the sewers, which flowed straight into rivers. In London, Parliament had to stop work because the smell from the Thames became too much.
Poor quality housing - houses were built very close together so there was little light or fresh air inside them. They did not have running water and people found it difficult to keep clean. Houses often suffered from damp due to their thin walls and roofs made out of cheap materials. Many households had to share a single outside toilet that was little more than a hole in the ground.
Lack of fresh water - people could get water from a variety of places, such as streams, wells and stand pipes, but this water was often polluted by human waste.
CHANGES IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Before the 1830s nothing had been done about public health for many years. Two important reasons for this inactivity were that:
- most governments felt they should not interfere too much in people’s lives.
- any large scale public health improvements would be very expensive, and taxes would have to be raised
The Industrial period
In the industrial period many factories were built and towns grew up beside them. The housing conditions were often very poor. The government was forced to intervene due to:
- an increase in diseases such as typhoid and cholera
- the work of Edwin Chadwick which showed the connection between health and hygiene
Summary
Public health provision was completely transformed as the 19th century progressed. Overcrowding, dirt, poverty and disease went hand in hand at the century’s start, but by the 1900s energetic social reformers had comprehensively turned things round.
In the early 19th century, the growing towns of Britain were characterised by:
1. overcrowding
2. poor housing
3. bad water
4. disease
In 1842, Edwin Chadwick argued that disease was the main reason for poverty, and that preventing disease would reduce the poor rates.
In 1848, a cholera epidemic terrified the government into doing something about prevention of disease - through both public and individual health measures.
EDWIN CHADWICK
In the 1840s attitudes began to change. Edwin Chadwick was a civil servant employed by the Poor Law Commission. He was asked by parliament to investigate living conditions in Britain.
His 1842 Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population concluded that much poverty and ill-health was caused by the terrible living conditions and not by idleness. It shocked public opinion.
Chadwick concluded that three main things were needed to improve health:
1. refuse removal
2. an effective sewage system and clean running water in every house
3. a qualified medical officer appointed in each area
For a few years little happened. Chadwick’s report was strongly opposed by many MPs who were nicknamed the Dirty Party. Chadwick’s recommendations meant that councils would have to increase the rates and this would be unpopular with the better-off citizens. It was the cholera epidemic of 1848 which led to a change of mind by Government.
The 1848 Public Health Act set up the Board of Health - the first time that Government had legislated on health issues. Local authorities were given the power to appoint an officer of health, who had to be a legally qualified medical practitioner, and to improve sanitation in their area, eg collect rubbish, build sewers and provide a clean water supply.
DR JOHN SNOW
In 1854, cholera struck again. In London, Dr John Snow studied the spread of cholera in the Broad Street area. He noticed that the victims had all drank water from the pump in the street. He persuaded local officials to stop people using the pump and the number of cases fell rapidly.
By observation Snow had shown the link between bad water and cholera – the Broad Street water had been pumped from the Thames. If people had clean water then the disease would be reduced.
In 1858, London was affected by the Great Stink. Soon after work began on the London sewage system. By the time it was completed, 1, 300 miles of pipes had been laid, under the direction of Joseph Bazalgette, the chief engineer. However, relatively few councils followed London’s example. By 1872, only 50 councils had Medical Officers of Health. The huge cost of carrying out improvements was the biggest obstacle.
1875 PUBLIC HEALTH ACT
Pressure began to mount on Government. Finally the Public Health Act of 1875, forced councils to carry out improvements.
These included the provision of clean water, proper drainage and sewage systems and the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health in every area.
During the 1870s, in fact, a series of new laws led to improvements in public health and hygiene.
1875 - Artisans Dwellings Act allowed councils to clear slums and build better homes for working families.
1876 - Sale of Food and Drugs Act banned the use of harmful substances in food, eg chalk in flour.
1876 - Laws against pollution of rivers were introduced.
1878 - Epping Forest in London became a protected open space for local people to enjoy.
PUBLIC MEASURES
At first the government tried - as the Romans had done - to prevent illness among the population by public sanitation measures.
The first public health measures were based upon the idea that miasmas caused disease. Although the idea was wrong, the measures against the miasmas involved a greater focus on cleanliness, and this improved public health.
Further measures included:
- In 1848 the first Public Health Act caused the setting up of a Board of Health, and gave towns the right to appoint a Medical Officer of Health.
- In 1853 vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory.
- In 1854 improvements in hospital hygiene were introduced (thanks in large part to Florence Nightingale).
- In 1875 a Public Health Act enforced laws about slum clearance, provision of sewers and clean water, and the removal of nuisances.
The benefits of these measures soon became clear, and by the late 19th century local councils were competing with each other to provide the best public health.
MUNICIPAL SOCIALISM
Throughout the 19th century local government had been forced to take steps and intervene in the lives of the people in areas of public health and sanitation.
In Birmingham under Joseph Chamberlain who was Mayor of the city from 1873 to 1875, provision was made for gas and water supplies controlled by the government. They also cleared slums and introduced a city park system. These reforms were designed to better the lives of the people of Birmingham.
Public works schemes to improve living conditions and public health had been established in the late 19th century, often set up and run by Liberals. These small, local schemes raised the possibility of similar schemes being a success on a national level.
INVENTIONS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution involved innovation, capital investment and increased output:
Textiles
- John Kay’s Flying Shuttle was a very successful innovation in weaving. Spinning technology needed frequent development over the next fifty years before weaving experienced further major changes.
- James Hargreaves’ Spinning Jenny (1764) and later Richard Arkwright’s Water Frame (1769), Samuel Crompton’s Mule (1779) were spinning machines that all improved upon the quality and quantity of spun yarn. Edmund Cartwright’s Power Loom (1785) was the first steam-powered weaving machine. Many of these inventions were powered by James Watt’s steam engines (1765).
- Large purpose-built factories were a new idea, eg Arkwright’s Mill at Cromford, full of machines.
- Output increased 15-fold in the century 1815-1914.
Iron and steel
- Abraham Darby smelted iron using coke (1709), Henry Cort’s puddling process made wrought iron (1784) and Henry Bessemer’s Bessemer converter (1856) and the Gilchrist-Thomas process (1879) made steel.
- Huge ironworks, eg Richard Crawshay’s Cyfartha works in South Wales and John Roebuck’s Carron Works in Scotland.
- Production of ‘pig’ iron increased 30-fold in the century 1815-1914.
Coal
- Better coal mining techniques allowed deeper mines, eg ‘roof and pillar’ working to support the roof, upcast and downcast shafts to provide ventilation and the Davy Lamp (1815) invented by Humphry Davy to help prevent gas explosions.
- In 1914, the coal industry employed a million men in 3,000 collieries.
- Production of coal increased 20-fold in the century 1815-1914.
Steam power
1. In around 1712, Thomas Newcomen built the first commercially successful steam engine to pump water out of mines.
- James Watt made steam engines much more efficient in the 1760s and 1770s giving huge savings on fuel. His other improvements meant steam engines could replace water and horse power in a wide variety of industries, which in turn allowed factories to be built anywhere.
WORKING CONDITIONS IN FACTORIES
Long working hours - normal shifts were usually 12-14 hours a day, with extra time required during busy periods. Workers were often required to clean their machines during their mealtimes.
Low wages - a typical wage for male workers was about 15 shillings (75p) a week, but women and children were paid much less, with women earning seven shillings (35p) and children three shillings (15p). For this reason, employers preferred to employ women and children. Many men were sacked when they reached adulthood; then they had to be supported by their wives and children.
Cruel discipline - there was frequent strapping (hitting with a leather strap). Other punishments included hanging iron weights around children’s necks, hanging them from the roof in baskets, nailing children’s ears to the table, and dowsing them in water butts to keep them awake.
Fierce systems of fines - these were imposed for talking or whistling, leaving the room without permission, or having a little dirt on a machine. It was claimed that employers altered the time on the clocks to make their workers late so that they could fine them. Some employers demanded that their overseers raise a minimum amount each week from fines.
Accidents - forcing children to crawl into dangerous, unguarded machinery led to many accidents. Up to 40 per cent of accident cases at Manchester Infirmary in 1833 were factory accidents.
Health - cotton thread had to be spun in damp, warm conditions. Going straight out into the cold night air led to many cases of pneumonia. The air was full of dust, which led to chest and lung diseases and loud noise made by machines damaged workers’ hearing.
Parish apprentices - orphans from workhouses in southern England were apprenticed to factory owners, supposedly to learn the textiles trade. They worked 12-hour shifts, and slept in barracks attached to the factory in beds just vacated by children about to start the next shift.
WORKING CONDITIONS IN MINES
- Trappers as young as four years old sat all day in the dark, opening the doors for the coal trucks to pass through.
- Young putters pushed tubs and children as young as six carried coal for the hewers. Women hurriers pulled tubs with a chain that went around their middles and between their legs.
- Hewers cut the coal with pickaxes in seams only 18 inches high.
- Wages were so low that there were stories of pregnant women giving birth down the pit one day and being back at work the next.
- There were stories of brutal discipline measures. Miners were paid by the tub and if their tub was underweight, they were not paid. There were fierce fines, and some miners ended a week’s work owing the money to the mine owner.
- Accidents such as roof falls, explosions, shaft accidents and drowning were frequent.
- If a man joined a trade union, he was not only sacked but also blacklisted by all the mine owners in the area so he became unemployable. Many employees were required to sign the Document promising they would not join a union.
- In some mines, especially in Scotland, a miner had to sign the Bond before he was given a job, in which he promised not to leave for another job.
REFORM OF FACTORIES AND MINES
When concerns were raised about the working conditions in factories, especially for children, reformers began to propose changes to improve working environments.
The first supporters of factory reform were caring mill owners, many of them in the Tory Party, who were motivated mainly by their religion. One such factory owner was Robert Owen.
Robert Owen
He owned a cotton mill in New Lanark in Scotland.
He thought that if workers were treated well then they would work harder. This would then make greater profits for the factory owners.
He provided good houses and a school for his workers and their families.
He would not allow a child under ten to work in his mills.
He set up the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union for his workers in 1834.
In 1830 Richard Oastler wrote to the Leeds Mercury newspaper, complaining that the conditions of factory workers in Bradford was more horrid than that hellish system of colonial slavery. Even so, the campaign to reform conditions achieved little attention until Sadler’s Report was published. The report was written in 1832 by Michael Sadler and included testimonies from factory workers to reveal appalling conditions, especially for women and children. The report shocked public opinion.
In 1832 Lord Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury took over leadership of the movement for factory reform in Parliament. He organised campaigns that achieved new laws to improve conditions.
Opposition of reform
The economist Nassau Senior argued that increased costs would ruin the industry, which made a major contribution to the wealth of the country. (This was later found to be wrong as better fed, less tired workers produced more, not less.)
Some people argued that the workers would only spend the extra time and money in drunkenness and crime. (This turned out to be wrong - better conditions led to less crime.)
Laissez-faire - the government believed it was wrong to interfere in the free working of the economy.
Discipline was necessary - domestic workers were not used to the needs of the factory and had to be trained.
The famous economist Adam Smith argued that children had always been employed in the domestic system, and that poor conditions in the factories were exaggerated.
Titus Salt (a manufacturer and politician from Manchester) argued that it was better for a child to work in a factory and earn a wage that provided food and clothes, than to force them to stay outside and starve or freeze to death. The work in factories (like pulling levers or tying threads) was less difficult than manual work and did not harm the children.
HEALTH AND MORALS OF APPRENTICES ACT 1802
This act aimed to give some protection for apprentices who were often orphans and lived and worked in the factories. Apprentices were to be given good accommodation, no more than a 12 hour working day and access to education and religious observance.
Impact
This act was basically ignored as there was at this time no way to enforce it. It was also criticised as it was only relevant to apprentices. It did not cover “free children” who often worked with their parents and they actually outnumbered the apprentice workers. Also the act only only applied to cotton factories not silk wool or flax factories.
COTTON MILLS ACT 1819
The Act required that no child under the age of nine was to be employed in cotton mills, with a maximum day of 12 hours for all those under 16.
IMPACT
Once again there was no formal way to enforce this act as no inspectors were created to investigate factories.
FACTORY ACT 1833
A maximum working week of 48 hours was set for those aged 9 to 13, limited to eight hours a day; and for children between 13 and 18 it was limited to 12 hours daily. The Act also required children under 13 to receive elementary schooling for two hours each day.
IMPACT
Inspectors were created to enforce the act but far too few to be effective- only 4 for the whole of the country. Parents and doctors lied about the ages of children. Schooling was avoided and if factories were prosecuted fines were very low.
