People’s Health - Industrial Revolution Flashcards
(29 cards)
Changing Beliefs
• People became influenced by new scientific thinking
• 1859 - Darwin published his book on evolution, which changed the way people think
• Religion declined
• By the end of the 19th century, Britain was mostly a secular society - people believed religion had been disproven
• Beneficial because meant that science could now be used to improve medicine, however Darwin’s beliefs also encourage racism which had a lasting affect on society. For example in the 20th century, Adolf Hitler was inspired by Darwin’s hierarchy
Urbanisation and Railways
• Rapid growth placed huge pressure on urban environment
• Steam train engine (Loca Motive was the first train across Britain) was invented in 1814 by George Stevenson
• First inner city railway in the world was opened between between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830 and were popular by 1850 in Britain
• Increased migration - people came over on trains due to work opportunities
• Added to pollution
• However brought fresh food and let people go to the countryside and coast - escaping pollution of city, good for health
Growth of Democracy
• 1832 Reform Act - vote for men with property
• Before 1832, only 5% of the population could vote
• During 19th century, gov. began to help poorer people more
• In 1867 - 1884, vote extended to WC men
Working Conditions
• Children worked 13 hours a day with only half an hour break
• Breathed in dusty air of factory
• Accidents were common
• Noise from machines was deafening
• Grew up very unhealthy
Class Division
• The rich moved into the countryside with pleasant surroundings
• WC were left in over-crowded slums to live near factories, and middle class people didn’t realise the extent of these conditions
Industrialisation
• By early 1800s, steam engines could be used to power machinery
• Demand for coal increased - soon people used it in houses
• Hundreds of factories opened, producing smog
Food Supply
• From 6 mil in 1750 to 21 million in 1850, and 37 million in 1900
• Despite improved agriculture, wages of WC were too low for an adequate diet
• Poorer families had to buy unsafe meat from diseased animals - could become very ill
Alcohol
• Wealthy men drank large quantities of brandy, port and wine
• Poor people drank in pubs - provided an escape, they became addicted and drank lots of whiskey (strong spirit)
• 19th century - Temperance Movement had limited success
Growing Literacy
1870 - Education Act have schools for all under 10 years old - in the late 1700s charities and churches had begun to provide schools for poorer children
British Empire
• Grows a great deal in India
• By the end of the 19th century, much of Africa also under Britain’s control
• In 1900 - 1/5 of world’s land was Britain’s
• Huge growth in trade brings plants, animals, diseases, ideas
New Discoveries
• 1861 - Louis Pasteur discovered the link between germs and disease
• In the late 19th century, others built on his works
Back to back housing
• Population boom in cities due to Industrial Revolution so this maximised space - overcrowded (6 mil in 1750 to 37 mil in 1850)
• Cheap and poorly constructed
• Leads to increased spread of disease and little space
• Families often lived in one room
• Narrow streets, back to back houses are damp (causing mould)
• Cheapest accommodation was the cellar of a back-to-back house - no ventilation/windows, damp and mouldy - respiratory issues
• Tuberculosis was common because of damp walls in poorly built housing
Earth closet
• Earth closest - bucket where people would go to the toilet (10 families could share one privy- overflowed and lead to waste piling up on streets)
Diet of the Working Class
• Potatoes, bread, butter, beer and tea
• Cheap meat sometimes available but it was often diseased
• Often ate food which was mixed with other products (adulteration)
• In towns/cities, it was difficult to obtain fruit and vegetables but this improved with steam trains
• Machinery in the countryside made supply of food easier
• Improvements to agriculture, but wages received didn’t support and adequate diet
Water
• Early in the period people did not know water caused disease
• Sourced from ponds, rivers and streams
• Typhoid and cholera were prevalent in water
• Water supplies were not treated - caused dypyheria, cholera and typhoid (highly contagious)
• Water pumps were built over sewers
• Often mixed in with river water (waste was thrown into rivers)
Unemployment
• Unemployment and poverty is increasing due to rapid population growth, people migrating to find work and towns become overcrowded
Open Sewers
• Privies couldn’t cope with the amount of waste, so raw sewage piled up on the streets - disease in open air
• Joseph Balzegette was an engineer who invented the London sewerage system in response to the Great Stink of 1858
Smoke Pollution
• In the Industrial Revolution, demand for cheap coal increased as people could use in their houses - increased smoke pollution and led to respiratory diseases
• Hundreds of factories opened, producing thick smog and massively increasing pollution
• By early 1800s, coal could be used to power steam engines and railways were popular by 1850
Impact of 1848 Public Health Act - Positives
Positives:
• A Central Board of Health was established
• Local Boards of Health HAD to be set up in places where the death rate was above 23 per 1000
• Corporate boroughs were to assume responsibility for drainage, water supplies, removal of ‘nuisances’, paving etc.
• Non-corporate towns should set up local Boards of Health to monitor and improve public health
• Finance for infrastructure was to be raised from the rates paid by taxpayers to pay for improvements and maintenance
Impact of 1848 Public Health Act negatives
• The Central Board had no money or a budget to spend
• The problem of public health was not made a ministerial responsibility in the U.K. government’s cabinet
• No measures were taken to ensure the professionalism of the boards
• In 1854, the Central Board of Health was reduced to three members, with only advisory powers
• Central Board of Health had few powers once a Local Board of Health was set up by boroughs or towns
• Local Boards did not need to take responsibility;it was STILL a optional and the Central Board often met resistance to its orders
• London, Scotland and Ireland were excluded from the Act - there was widespread opposition and concern over taxation increase (act wasn’t widespread)
Medical Pioneers - Edwin Chadwick
• Chadwick was asked to lead a report for the cholera epidemic of 1842 - commissioned by gov.
• In report, discovered there was an urgent need to improve living conditions - saw connection to poor health
• However believed in miasma - made cholera worse as waste was put in the river Thames
• Suggested implementing Boards of Health - wanted to clean streets and provide clean water
• 1848 - another outbreak killing 14,000 forced gov. to pass Public Health Act
• Convinces gov. by noting better health = better work conditions = profit
Medical Pioneers - John Snow
• 1849 - published a book claiming dirty water caused cholera - people who believed in miasma were outraged
• Gov and doctors didn’t believe - he needed evidence to prove his theory
• Discovered people in a certain area didn’t die because they were drinking beer
• Removed handle on water pump so people can’t access on Broadstreet - rich woman did die as got servants to bring her dirty water
• The gov. didn’t believe until cholerie was discovered
Poor ventilation
• Lack of fresh air leads to many diseases - respiratory issues, pneumonia
• Cheapest accommodation is a cellar - lots of poor people had to live in these conditions of damp, mould, no ventilation
Privies
In back-to-back houses, one privy was shared between 10 families
• Waste piles up in privies, more infection
• Also Earth closets where people went to the toilet in a bucket
• Due to so many people using privies, this caused open sewage on the streets
