The effects of industrialisation
In the late 18th century and the 19th century, Britain experienced its 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. With it came rapid growth in population as well as huge movement of people from rural areas to industrial towns.
In this period, great progress was made in industry and technology. However, living and working conditions remained poor and were still a major cause of illness and disease.
The growth of industrial towns
Industrial towns, such as Birmingham and Manchester, grew rapidly without town planning and were overcrowded. The government believed in the Translated as 鈥榣eave well alone鈥 or 鈥榣et the people choose鈥. A government policy of interfering as little as possible in social and economic policy. approach, according to which governments should not interfere in people鈥檚 lives. This meant that public health schemes were not introduced until the latter part of the 19th century.
There were no regulations about the basic standards for housing, sewerage and the water supply. In the slum areas of cities, diseases such as cholera, typhus and diphtheria were A disease which is always present in the population, eg chickenpox. Some could be linked to poor sanitation (cholera) and poor housing (tuberculosis), while others were spread by body lice (typhus).
New industrial diseases
In addition, there were a number of new industrial diseases. Many coal miners and slate quarrymen died from a range of lung diseases, such as silicosis and pneumoconiosis. Also, many copper workers suffered from tuberculosis and bronchial conditions. Despite this, employers argued that not only was copper smoke harmless, it was actually healthy.
With dangerous working conditions and little attention to health and safety, industrial accidents also left many dead or injured for life.
There were many reasons why industrial towns were so disease ridden:
- Streets were narrow, often built around An area of ground surrounded by one or more buildings. with little air or sunlight. Families often shared houses, so overcrowding was common.
- Houses had no clean running water and families usually shared standpipes, which provided water but often ran dry in hot summers.
- Families also commonly shared A toilet located in a small shed outside a house or other building. These often overflowed onto the street or into wells from which people drew water.
- There was no refuse collection. Rubbish piled up, attracting rodents.
- Graveyards were overcrowded, especially during An infectious disease which spreads rapidly to a large number of people in a short period of time. Additionally, bodies were not buried deeply enough.
- Houses were often Badly or hastily built with inferior materials. with the aim of making money for landlords rather than providing warm and healthy accommodation for workers.
- Houses were damp inside and were hard to heat. Roofs and window frames often leaked.
- Worst of all were the cellar dwellings where some very poor families lived. These were very damp and sometimes flooded with rain or sewage.
- The diets of the working population remained poor as they could not afford fresh food.
- People rarely washed themselves or their clothes, so they became infested with lice and fleas.