Key features of industrial Britain
The years between around 1750 and 1900 were a period of rapid change in Britain. There were big changes to where people lived, developments in science and technology, and a growing democracy. These all had implications for health.
Industrialisation
After 1750, Britain underwent an The process that transformed manufacturing from handmade to machine-made, mass produced goods using water, steam and coal power transported by canal, rail and steamship. Britain was the first country to have an industrial revolution. This transformed the country:
- The invention of steam engines and textile machinery led to A method of producing goods on a large scale and quickly. in huge mills and factories.
- Better farming machinery meant more food was produced, with fewer people needed to work on farms.
- The coal used to power the new machines was mined on a vast scale.
- New railways and steam trains were built to transport people and goods around the country. These improved food supply to towns and allowed town-dwelling ordinary people to access the countryside more easily.
- However, the new factories and railways all caused air pollution.
Urbanisation
Britain’s population dramatically increased during this period:
| 1750 | 1850 | 1900 | |
| Population | 6 million | 21 million | 37 million |
| Population | |
| 1750 | 6 million |
| 1850 | 21 million |
| 1900 | 37 million |
Industrialisation caused people to move from the countryside to the towns. This was due to two related reasons:
- changes in farming meant there was less work, with lower wages, in rural areas
- growing industrial towns in the north, such as Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester, offered new jobs in the factories
In 1750, only 20 per cent of the population lived in urban areas. By 1850, for the first time in Britain’s history, as many people lived in towns and cities as in the countryside. By 1881, 68 per cent of the population lived in towns and cities. This rapid growth in urban areas placed housing under considerable strain.
Working conditions
Work in Britain’s factories and mines was hard and dangerous:
- Working hours were very long for the men, women and children who all worked in these settings. In some places, they would work for over 12 hours a day.
- Accidents were common.
- The working conditions were smoky and dusty, causing Disease affecting the lungs and/or other parts of the respiratory system.
New ideas
There were important scientific discoveries during this period. People were still religious but the influence of the Church was in decline. The The ability to read and write. rate was improving and more people were reading newspapers. By 1900, many people had accepted Charles Darwin’s theory of The process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. In 1861, the French scientist Louis Pasteur published his Louis Pasteur published this theory in 1861 to prove that bacteria caused disease. The theory was widely accepted by the 1880s. which proved that it was germs that caused disease.
People
Social mobility - moving from one social class to another - was improving. However, there was still a big gap between the lives of the rich and poor. The middle class was growing and many moved out of town centres to live in the The outskirts of a town or city. Working-class people lived closer to the factories, often in overcrowded conditions.
Parliament and democracy
In 1832, some middle-class men were granted the vote. This meant that an extra quarter of a million people could now elect Members of Parliament. to The law-making body of a country. However, no women could vote, and few middle-class people had any idea about the lives of the working class. Most had a Translated as ‘leave well alone’ or ‘let the people choose’. A government policy of interfering as little as possible in social and economic policy. attitude. This meant they did not think it was the government’s role to interfere in people’s lives or businesses.
In 1867 and 1884, the vote was extended to working-class men. This was important because it meant that, in order to win power, MPs had to appeal to the new voters and pass laws to improve their lives.
