Steve Ortiz

AP History March 27, 2012

Manchester, Englands growth from 1750 to 1850 sparked many reactions throughout the city as the city encountered many issues and advances. Manchesters growth not only affected the city, but also completely affected its people as their life style changed when the industrial revolution came to the city since much of the population belonged to the working class. As the city continued to grow, many visitors could see how much the city has changed from its humble beginnings as a small town, to a large manufacturing center with representation in parliament. According to document 9, a preface to a business dictionary about Manchester receiving a royal charter as a city by Wheelan and Co., Manchester is the Workshop of the World or in more explanatory terms, it is the most productive manufacturing center in the world. Although this sentence is clearly biased, the document supports the statement by comparing Manchester to London and states Manchester is a seat of commerce and manufacture. Manchesters growth and success have all started when the city obtained its first mechanized cotton mill in 1780. Since then, it has increased tenfold, to where it has a population of over 300,000. Document 10, a journal article by William Alexander Abram, includes that working conditions and the city itself have significantly improved to the point where the citys population is content with their living situations as factory workers to the point where sickness and morality have significantly decreased. But, issues also arose in Manchesters growth as a manufacturing center. Environmental problems became apparent throughout the city as illustrated in document 11, view from the

Steve Ortiz
AP History March 27, 2012

Blackfrairs Bridge over the River Irwell in a magazine. The improper disposal of the mills and factories waste has apparently led to pollution in the cities water and air. This alone has led to the citizens of the city becoming ill and frail as described in documents 2 and 6-8. Document 6, Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Laboring Population of Great Britain by Edwin Chadwick, explains that foul conditions such as polluted air and dirty, overcrowded housing has led to a high probability of contracting a disease and life loss among workers and their family. The working population was also less susceptible to receiving proper education and as a result, tends to make rash, and reckless decisions that can result in life loss. In Document 7, Flora Tristans published journal, describes Manchester as a place where the population is morally degraded and suffer physically. Workers and their families live in over crowded apartments and lack basic necessities such as food, furniture, and clothing. Document 2, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society by Robert Southey, describes the city as overcrowded, blackened with smoke and where, when the bell rings, it is to call the wretches to their work instead of their prayers. Document 8, The Lancet by Thomas Wakley, compares the average age at death for 3 social classes in 4 cities. Manchester has the lowest average age of death out of all cities in all social classes. Not only does Manchester appear to have insanitary living conditions, but also seems to morally degrade the population. Document 5, an excerpt from Journeys to England and Ireland by Alexis de Tocqueville, claims that the citizens have almost become uncivilized, that none of the citizens can enjoy a simple enjoyment such as a leisure walk, and that they all go to their

Steve Ortiz
AP History March 27, 2012

work with nothing else in mind. The working population apparently doesnt even stop to acknowledge their nearby surroundings and visitors on their way to work. A large amount of work, filled with unsanitary and immoral conditions, goes into the mills and factories of Manchester to result in the mass manufacturing of goods that will be received by many places around the world. Thomas B. Macaulay in document 3, Southeys Colloquies, says that living conditions in a city is better if the city is literally visually pretty to the human eye. Although Manchester was a prosperous city by manufacturing standards, Manchester was not a very pretty place to look at. The citys buildings were filthy, crowded with residents in small rooms and poorly ventilated. As expected of any city or country with problems, the citizens of that country or city react to any unfair conditions. Manchester was no different to this situation. According to document 4, account of the inaugural journey of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway by Frances Anne Kemble, the working population of Manchester cane to the inauguration of the railway to protest the Corn Laws or tariffs placed on imported grain. Present at the inauguration, was the Prime Minister and a group of very influential people. The entire crowd was against the present unsanitary and immoral conditions in Manchester. To summarize, very few people saw Manchester as the pride of Englands Industrial Revolution. The rest of the people saw it as a mess of a city, full of pollution, unsanitary living conditions, and moral degradation. Today, it can be viewed as a city made of two conflicting

Steve Ortiz
AP History March 27, 2012

sides, a highly productive city that greatly supported Englands economy, and a poor place to live in. Either way, Manchester greatly affected its people both positively and negatively.