Dbq Manchester's Movement Essay

Manchester’s Movement

The Industrial Revolution began in the eighteenth century in Great Britain, subsequent to the Agricultural Revolution. Becauses wealthy landowners bought the land of farmers, many farmers migrated to the urban areas of Britain. With the increased population and abundance of natural resources in these urban areas, industrialization began throughout the country. This revolution involved a shift from making goods by hand to producing them by machine. Manchester, an influential and powerful city of the revolution period, is a place that illustrates the ways to which the revolution progressed. The city presents evidence of two initially divided social classes. Also, the environment of Manchester quickly became polluted

Parliament member Thomas B. Macaulay describes his positive outlook on Manchester’s population in Document 3. He explains that, as of 1830, “People live longer because they are better fed, better lodged, better clothed, and better attended in sickness, and these improvements are owing to the increase in national wealth which the manufacturing system has produced.” Because Macaulay belongs to the upper class, he is most likely unaware of the struggling lower class in the early 1800s. That is because, at this point, there were no factory acts or restrictions to protect laborers form long and dangerous work. Although, by the end of the revolution, his words prove to be more accurate because the lower class eventually did work their way up to a better lifestyle. Later, in 1852, Wheelan and Co. writes a business directory on Manchester’s enterprises and production. It communicates that the city’s progress is “beyond any other town in British Dominions or indeed the world” (Document 9). This corporation supports Manchester’s granted royal charter by expressing their content with the production and innovation that other parts of Britain have not yet used. Wheelan and Co.’s preface expresses how many people, even large companies, were impressed by the positive progress of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester City. Finally, after several years of mass production, the industrialization was again improved by the Factory Acts of 1844. In 1868, when Document 10 was written, the author, William Alexander Abram, states the vast improvements that have occurred on working conditions, wages, and public health. The purpose of this document is to prove to the doubtful people that the Industrial Revolution, after all, had many positive results and proved to be important progress for Great Britain as a whole. Due to increased government