A Christmas Carol is related to historical and cultural influences in many ways. One of the historical relationships that influenced this story is the panic of 1837. The panic of 1837 lasted until the mid 1840s. This was a time where wages were low which meant unemployment was high. This is related to A Christmas Carol because in the story, the employee of Scrooge, Bob, had very low pay and could barely afford to keep his family, especially his handicapped son. Even though Bob had a very low wage, he and his family were happy. I think that Dickens was trying to encourage all of the people who lived in poverty to try and do their best to be happy. A cultural relationship that influenced the story was family. Many of the main families