Industrial Revolution Research Paper

THE DIRTY FACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:

SANITARY CONDITIONS IN URBAN AREAS IN ENGLAND DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

HALIL IBRAHIM CEVIK

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. 3

Industrialisation and City Growth…………………………………………………………3

THE DIRTY FACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: SANITARY CONDITIONS IN URBAN AREAS IN ENGLAND DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

WHY WAS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION BAD FOR THE WORKING CLASS?

I. Introduction

The Industrial Revolution, one of the most significant events in world history, began in Britain. The industrial development was at a very high pace, so was the growth of cities in England. This rapid urban development brought many problems to people’s daily lives.

The drains which were built to convey rain water to the Thames River also carried sewage to the river. As a result of this, the water, also used as drinking water, was contaminated. A lot of people not only from the working class, but also belonging to the middle class got infected and fell sick. Members of the middle class were able to afford water closets and used them instead of privies and cess pits. The smell coming out of the river was so repulsive that the curtains of the House of Commons were drenched in chemicals so that the MPs did not pass out. It is not surprising that the parliament rushed a bill in just three weeks to build a new drainage system for London. (Wyatt 63) This was one of the most striking examples of lack of adequate sanitary conditions in London. It can also be said that the working class were definitely in the worse situation, as using the same toilets as many other people was an invitation to deadly infections. In spite of the public outrage after the Great Stink, there were no consistent attempts at an urban reform, as existing streets and areas of accommodation grew more dense, rather that opening new terrain for an urban extension. For instance, more than a quarter of Londoners lived in yards, and around ten per cent lived in cellars. Fifty people belonging to eight different families lived in a four-room house in

When it was cold, the workers burnt coal, which emitted a huge amount of smoke, and when this smoke merged with the enormous smoke coming out of factory chimneys, Manchester’s air became so polluted that it led to an acid rain. A range of respiratory illnesses emerged, such as bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia. Commonly used cess pits often overflowed after rains, people failed to consistently empty them despite the city regulations. Cholera outbreaks took place, many decades after London’s Great Stink, due to lack of a proper sewage system. As an inevitable consequence of these conditions, members of the working class were observed to be much thinner than those of middle and upper classes. During the late 1870s, life expectancy of working class men might have been as low as 17 years. Efforts were being made to alleviate these ill conditions. Hospitals were opened to deal with some grave epidemics such as scarlet and small pox which had damaged especially the working class. An attempt was made to educate people through pamphlets, although most poor people were illiterate. Reservoir water started to be used as drinking water. (65-66) The illustration of the realities of Manchester is definitely a bitter one, a death caused by an epidemic triggered by the unsanitary urban settlement was inevitable. The working class were not only slaves sacrificing their bodily strength, but also giving up their