The Impact Of The Industrial Revolution On The City Of Manchester

Manchester’s Movement

The Industrial Revolution began in the eighteenth century in Great Britain, subsequent to the Agricultural Revolution. Since 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 innovative machines. Manchester, an influential and powerful city during this period, illustrates the ways to which the revolution progressed. The city provides evidence of initial, drastically divided social classes. Also, the environment of Manchester quickly became a polluted and

Towards the beginning of the revolution, English Romantic poet, Robert Southey, visited Manchester and wrote his conclusions. Southey explains that the cluttered houses all “blackened with smoke” eliminates the beauty of the once picturesque city that he had once seen (2). The environmental harm done to Manchester by the factories not only impacted the appearance of the city like Southey describes, but also the moods of the citizens. The clouded, unhealthy air put a damper on the industrial spirit and the forms of positive progress. Several years later, after more industrialization and factory production had occurred in Manchester, Alex de Tocqueville came to the city. He expresses the extent of tribulations that he sees describing, both literally and figuratively, that “From this foul drain the greatest stream of human industry flows out to fertilize the whole world” (5). Due to several decades of no restrictions against polluting the environment, the city visually compares to a filthy drain due to the smog and murky water produced from factories. Also, Manchester represents a foul drain because it is where the “dirty” work occurred to produce riches to the rest of the world. Several decades later in 1870, an image of Manchester was shown in a weekly magazine. The article pictured smokestacks releasing pollution into the air, as well as pipes releasing pollution into the river (11). The multiple means of harm to the environment in the image represents the extreme, uncontrolled damage that the industrializing period had on Manchester. In addition, the blackened buildings and air depict the build up of poor air quality throughout several decades. The growing environmental harm in Manchester due to pollution further illustrates the counterproductive progress of the Industrial