Improvement of health and living conditions

• By 1850, factory owners and gov’t realized that the workers would crumble due to abusive conditions

• Cholera epidemic was caused by filthy overcrowded slums and unsanitary conditions in industrial towns

• Public Health Act of 1875 mandated that every town pave, maintain and clean their streets, appoint a Medical Officer of Health and a Sanitation Inspector

• Urban life improved with sewer systems, public bath houses and wash rooms, food safety laws and the establishment of the Metro Police Department

What do you see here?

Where is this taking place?

Who do you see in this picture?

What do you think is happening?

What are these people thinking?

Child Labor• 1832: committee was set up to collect evidence

about the treatment of children in factories• Results shocked many members of the upper and

middle classes• 1833: Althorp’s Act: banned the employment of

children under age 9– Limited workday to 9 hours for children 9-13 and 12

hours for those 13-18• 1842: Parliament prohibited mine owners from

employing women, girls and boys under 10

Working Conditions and Wages• Urbanization enabled workers to share ideas, discuss problems

and identify as a group• After 1824, labor unions began having meetings and formed

trade unions• 1868: five large unions came together to form common polices

and the Trade Union Congress• 1870: British unions finally won the right to strike• Unions provided workers with strength through unity; an

organized group had the power in the threat of a strike• Unions also provided members with security measures like

unemployment and retirement benefits– They fought for better wages, decreasing hours and improving

working conditions– By 1871: 290K union members, by 1900: 2million by 1913: 4m

What are some of the different types of people you see in this image?

Where is this taking place?

What are the people on top doing?

What are the people beneath doing?

What is happening on the surface of the floor?

What is the artist trying to say? What evidence do you have to support that?

Class Structure• England did not have the release of noble lands and

fortunes (like they did in much of Europe after the French Revolution)

• Instead, British nobility merged with the new wealthy industrialists– Wealth came from commercial and industrial sources– Consistent economic growth allowed some from much poorer

backgrounds (usually those with some education) to rise through the class system

• However, for the vast majority, for the working class, their lot in life was cast in stone– They had no opportunity for wealth or to rise through the classes– The rich became richer on the backs of the workers, setting the

stage for radical, revolutionary thought– By 1900, 25% of the population was living in dire poverty