Context Flashcards
(7 cards)
Who was Charles Dickens?
An English novelist and social critic
When did Dickens live?
Victorian period
1812-1870
When Dickens was 12, where was he sent? Why?
A factory because his father was in debtor’s prison.
Who was Thomas Malthus?
He believed that there will never be enough food to keep up with the population
He thought the poor should just starve
He thought poor people were ‘lazy’ and others were too charitable
What was the 1834 Poor Law?
Reduces amount of financial help a poor person could get
Instead sent to workhouses
What were workhouses like?
Where they had to work in exchange for unutritional, bland food and cold, packed lodging.
Families were separated
What was poverty like in the Victorian Era? Why?
Industrial revolution-> pop goes from 1mil to 6 mil
Streets were crowded and many people lived in slums with little access to water and no sewage system -> diseases spread quick
Farming -> manufacturing
Unregulated jobs, no sick pay, factory owners kept wages low
