Causes Of The Boom Of Manchester

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Manchester, England became a dominating textile manufacturing center in 1780 after its first substantial mechanical cotton mill was built. During the 16th and 17th century Manchester grew at a slow and steady rate, until the 18th century. Agricultural and rural population became industrialized and urban, which caused a sudden boom in Manchester. This boom of the city was not only in size but in population as well. The growth of the city caused many issues to appear, including overpopulation, public health, and sanitary concerns. There were many negative reactions that affected people’s lives at the time, humanity was miserable, people were working constantly, and average life expectancy rates were low. Although many reactions were negative, some were positive, laws were passed to achieve better living/working conditions, and some people believed industrialization improved one’s life.

The sudden growth of manchester is indisputable, the cities population increased from 18,000 to over 300,000 in the span of 100 years (hist. background). When comparing a map of Manchester in 1750 to 100 years later in 1850 the sudden boom of the city becomes obvious (doc1). This overpopulation affected Manchester greatly. It was common for very large families to live in tiny homes that lacked sanitation. People dumped there waste in the streets due to their inability to bathe from lack of clean water. This caused the city of Manchester to become extremely dirty. The city was described by an English romance poet as having lost all of its beauty. The poet described the city as streets being narrow and over crowded and houses being covered with smoke (doc2). According to a French visitor Manchester was in poor condition it was uncivilized, and looked abstracted and sombre, (doc 5.) Other people have a different view on the issue, according to Thomas Macaulay the growth of the city came from wealth, he believed people are living longer and better lives because of the increase in national wealth (doc 3). Thomas was a liberal member of parliament, which explains why he had a different view than others on the matter. Being a member of the government caused Mcauley to have a biased view on the growth of Manchester.

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Another main issue was public health, disease was rampant, the city was polluted, and death tolls rose. A public health reformer named Edwin Chadwick described disease to be caused by the poor atmosphere throughout the city, and the overpopulation of the city as well. Factories generated an immense amount of smoke that polluted the city, and houses/tenements were overcrowded with people causing the disease to spread easily (doc 6). Flora Tristan a French socialist and women’s rights advocate described the public health of the city in a journal entry, she claims that workers were starved and were in physical suffering due to poor living and working conditions (doc7). Workers worked 12+ hours in factories where they would inhale smoke filled with particles of wool, flax and even lead or iron. These workers were filthy, weak and malnourished. Tristan described their bodies as looking fragile, thin and their limbs lacking strength. With poor public health conditions such as these, deaths are bound to arise. According to a medical journal called The Lancet, the average age of death for people of the working class was 17 years old. Even folks in the upper class didn’t live the longest lives either, with an average life expectancy of 38 years old. Many people died from deadly diseases like cholera or smallpox and others died while working in extremely dangerous factory conditions. In the movie “Germinal” it becomes apparent that workers did not have much protection from the conditions. Laborers worked through constant smoke and pollution of factories while wearing nothing to protect them from taking in the smoke. Small hats were worn as the only form of protection to protect the workers head. When death occurred in the coal mine it did not phase fellow workers, reason being it happened all the time and they were used to it. Reactions to the issue of public health were described by, William Alexander a journalist and historian. He said that conditions throughout the city improved, as a result of new legislation reform. Laborers were not allowed to work over 10 hours and wages were increased. The city gained its beauty back and working conditions were a lot safer and cleaner. (doc10.)

Sanitation of Manchester During the Industrial revolution was another main concern. A public health reformer named, Edwin Chadwick recognized how poor sanitation of the city really was. The atmosphere was filled with diseases and contamination from dead animals. Dwellings were overcrowded, dirty and polluted. (doc.6) Chadwick also examined a reaction to the issue of sanitation stating that adult population was short-lived. Clean water was an issue that led to poor sanitary conditions. The lack of clean water was due to people using waterways throughout the city as a place to dump their waste, causing the city to smell and be filled with sewage. This lack of clean water kept people from bathing, with led to disease spreading even more rapidly (Todhunter lecture; class notes). Alexis De Tocqueville stated: “civilized man turned back into savage,” (doc 5.) Robert Southey examined the issue of sanitation in relation to pollution. Houses were covered with smoke; blackened in color (doc2.) The same issue was explained by Flora Tristan who stated that workers were breathing in polluted air, leading them to become extremely ill (doc7.) In document 11 a picture is shown from “The Graphic” here you can see the factory buildings pouring out an immense amount of smoke into the air and into the nearby canal. Laborers were stuck in these factories for 12+ hours, inhaling the polluted air.

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