Industrial Revolution DBQ Owen Trier Period 5

The Industrial Revolution was a period of time in european history where the production and collection of valuable resources was accelerated due to major improvements in machinery and technology. An effect of this rapid industrialization was the centralization of population to these industrialized areas. An example of this is in the city of Manchester in Britain. The growth in population in Manchester brought upon by the Industrial Revolution cause many issues, such as crippling health concerns and dangerous working environments, which caused the creation of government reforms. Manchester, being an area of major industry, was home to a very large amount of laboring families. This sheer amount of people caused general overcrowding in such a small area, leading to sanitation issues in the cities living areas. As seen in document 1, the amount of people flowing into Manchester caused there to be rapid development to compensate for this influx. Some people believed that this industrialization was actually increasing the life expectancy in workers. As one could see by document 3, an essay showed that a man named Robert Southey believed that the living conditions before the industrial revolution were actually worse. He implies that having a cottage with flower gardens and orchards was not common for people to have, and that living in the industrialized city was a step up. The person who wrote this essay was Thomas Macaulay, a member of the British Parliament. Being in this position, he probably never experienced the hardships and health concerns attached to being in an industrialized city, making his opinion an inaccurate portrayal of the situation. Lastly, as seen in document 6, these health concerns were recognized by Edwin Chadwick, a public health reformer. He describes how decomposing organic material combined with factory smoke and no ventilation caused the health of any worker in these industrialized areas to deteriorate. He also

compares the deaths to modern war, saying they may even succeed the amount experienced in warfare. Although his observations may be true, he still has a bias towards the conditions in Manchester because he is a health reformer. He would probably over exaggerate the conditions because he personally wants a reform to happen. Chadwicks report and several other complaints sparked a reform in health in cities like Manchester. Despite the obvious health issues in Manchester, there were also many concerns pertaining to the work environment. Every member of a family was forced to work, including the children. As seen in Document 2, Robert Southey points out that instead of going to church, the workers are working all day. Then, Document 7, written in a journal by Flora Tristan, a french visitor, points out the harsh working conditions in Manchester at the time. She explains how the workers lacked good clothes and food, and how they were locked in a low ceilinged factory for upwards of 14 hours, and were subjected to inhaling cotton, wool, flax, iron, copper, or even lead. This evidence is also present in Document 4, stating that the workers clothing was tattered and he looked starved. Flora Tristan, being a socialist, has a bias towards equality. This gave her a more humanitarian view, allowing her to state the exact conditions that were present in Manchester. Document 8 shows the average life expectancies of several different positions of people in various places in Britain. As shown by the document, one could see that the lowest of the life expectancies were in Manchesters laborers, being as low as 17 years old. If one looked at Document 11, they could see that the factories running in Manchester created major pollution in both the air and water. All of this shows that the combined issues in Manchester were serious and required reform. Both issues described previously caused Manchester to not be able to reach its full potential as an industrialized city. Many health reformers saw these conditions and wished to change them. In document 10, William Abram describes how the work conditions in Manchester were greatly improved by the Hours of Labor in Factories act, reducing the hours of labor to 10 hours. Also, wages were generally increased due to higher production rate in factories. William

Abram, being a journalist, would probably be truthful in his journal article. He would most likely be unbiased and attempt to state the facts about Manchesters situation for public viewing. Reforms caused Manchester to receive a Royal Charter by the British government, as seen in Document 9. This allowed specific city laws to be passed, in order to fit the needs of the people of Manchester. These reforms generally eroded the bad conditions in Manchester. Overall, the conditions in a city as populated as Manchester could be seldom wholesome for anyone at any point during the Industrial Revolution. The combined issues in health caused by overcrowding and bad work conditions caused staggering issues in the wellbeing of its people, which brought upon a reform that attempted to fix these issues. This cause and effect situation overall advanced the productivity and safety during the Industrial Revolution.