Key features of industrial Britain
Major changes in this period, mainly connected with industrialisation, had important implications for crime and punishment.
Watch historian Alice Loxton give a summary of crime and punishment in 18th and 19th century Britain.
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 the steam engine and textile machinery led to mass production in huge mills and factories.
- Better farming machinery meant that more food was produced, with fewer people needed to work on farms.
- Coal was mined on a large scale.
- New railways (powered by steam engines) were built to transport people and goods around the country. By 1850, most big towns were connected by rail.
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 A growth in the urban population, usually resulting in the extension of towns or cities. This was because:
- Changes in farming meant there was less work and lower wages in rural areas.
- Growing industrial towns in the north (eg Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester) offered new jobs in the factories.
In 1750, only 20 per cent of the population lived in urban areas. However, 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.
People
Social mobility - the ability to move from one social class to another - was improving. However, there was a big gap between the standard of living of the rich and the 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.
Poverty
Urban poverty
Working-class living conditions in the towns were unhealthy:
- Housing was often built Back-to-back houses were double rows of houses. Each house was joined to others at both sides and at the back. around an enclosed yard. Poor families might have had just one room downstairs and another upstairs.
- Single people rented out shared rooms in lodging houses, which were dirty and overcrowded.
Work in Britain’s factories and mines was hard and dangerous:
- Men, women and children all worked. The working days were very long - over 12 hours in some places.
- As a result of the long hours and dangerous conditions, accidents were common.
Unskilled workers’ wages were low, so they struggled to buy enough food for their families. They relied on basics such a bread, potatoes and weak tea.
Drinking alcohol at the pub was popular with many labourers. Drunkenness was a common social and criminal problem. The temperance movement was a social movement that campaigned against drinking. It was formed to try to persuade people from all social classes and professions to give up alcohol.
Rural poverty
Rural labourers also struggled to provide for their families. The 1870s and 1880s were particularly hard years. At this time, Britain faced a number of bad harvests and advances in technology, which led to an increase in the number of unemployed rural workers.
The British Empire
Britain’s empire continued to grow in this period. By 1900, around a quarter of the world's population was made up of people living in colonies under British rule; including India,Australia and much of Africa.
New ideas
Religion
People were still religious but the influence of the Church was in decline. By 1900, many people had accepted An English naturalist (1809-1882). In 1859 Darwin published On the Origin of Species, which outlined his theory of evolution. theory of The process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next.The ability to read and write. within the population, was increasing and more people were reading newspapers.
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a movement that began in the 18th century. It challenged traditional beliefs and promoted Possessing the ability to provide solid evidence for an argument or idea. and The ability to think and to work things out.
One important philosopher of the 19th century was Jeremy Bentham, who developed an idea called utilitarianism. According to this idea, there should be ‘the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people’. His ideas became very influential.
The growth of democracy
In 1832, some middle-class men were granted the right to vote to elect Members of The law-making body of a country. (MPs). However, no women could vote, and few middle-class people had any idea about the lives of the working class. Most did not think it was the government’s role to interfere in people’s lives.
In 1867, the vote was extended to working-class men in the towns. It was further extended to working-class men in the counties in 1884. This was important because it meant that in order to win power, MPs now had to appeal to the new voters and pass laws to improve their lives.
