British Working Class Conditions in the Nineteenth Century

The advent of machinery, particularly the steam engine in the cotton industry, marked the beginning of the proletariat in England. Because of the invention, there are now temporary employment in cities and towns. Following the advent, people moved from rural to urban areas in quest of employment opportunities in the industries. The 19th century, thus, witnessed a change in the civil society as the working class begun to work in factories as opposed to their homes. Workers entered into a monthly wage sequence as they sort to rent new houses in towns. Congestion soon caught up as numerous industries necessitated more worker to move into the town centers. While the living standards if the proletariat relatively improved, the working conditions were wanting. Ranging from long working hours to hazardous environments, the working class had little, if any, praise for their workplace. However, their wages improved their purchasing power which enhanced their living standards and lifestyle.

Background

According to Crossick (2010), families and communities are always classified into social standards dictated by their economic capability. The case of Britain is not an exception. Like most societies, Britain has been divided into three layers namely; lower class (working class), middle-class (intelligent class) and the upper class (Crossick, 2010). The division dates back to the beginning of civilization. In the 19th century, the lower class constituted of the laborers, while the middle class was made up of the educated men and women such as teachers, doctors, and businessmen. The upper class was made up of the elite and the royal family.

Introduction

The 19th century marks the development of Industrial Revolution after it was initiated in the preceding years. During this time, the lifestyle of most British citizens was changing. According to Benson (2003), years after industrial revolution witnessed a change in the civil society after the swelling of the proletariat. Most of the families were moving from the countryside in search for better jobs in the cities. On a general scale, the ordinary people had an improved lifestyle compared to those living in the rural areas. Industrial revolution proved to offer countless job opportunities for the moving masses. More importantly, people shifted from working at home to employment in the workshops. However, the beginning of the 19th century was characteristic of the unequal distribution of resources under its leadership of the elite (Tarn, 2001). This research paper will aim at discussing the working and living conditions of the Britain’s working class during the 19th century.

Working Conditions in the 19th Century

Britain was known for having the largest working class society in Europe. In the 19th century, it had close to 80% of the population as working class. According to Archibald (2008), their standards which classified the standards of a family. For instance, a family was to be considered as “working class” if it had employed at least one worker serving in the homestead. The need for a servant was inevitable since the working class had large families. The high infant mortality rate resulted to this measure so as to guarantee survival to the next generation. Following the English traditions, therefore, most of the homestead workers were female. The trend ensured that the “service industry” employed more women as compared to their counterparts. Strong men were tasked with the labor-intensive tasks in the shipping and iron industries.

Corporal Punishment

As it will become clear throughout the paper, the managers were cruel and cared little about the well-being of their workers. It was, therefore, common that some of the supervisors were instructed to strap “lazy workers.” Due to the dire need for employment, most workers persevered through the harsh treatment (Thompson, 2010). Strapping involved being struck with a rubber on bare hands, legs or back. Other modes of punishments included hanging of iron chains on the hands and neck during work period among the children. The adult women were also doused in cold water baskets to prevent them from dozing off. These measures were taken to improve production to meet the growing demand in the market.

Low Wage Rate

Since industrial revolution was still a developing concept in the 19th century, the operational conditions for the working class were dreadful. Overpopulation meant that the wage rate was low for the average worker (Johnson, 2005). The industry had a wide range of alternatives to get labor. As a result, the skilled laborers had no real advantage over the rest of the population. Child labor was also on the rise which was a gateway to cheaper labor.

Few Labor Rights

The work conditions and agreements were undisclosed in the industrial society. The owners were, therefore, strict and abused some of the employment rights. For instance, the proprietors altered their watches so as to fine the workers for lateness. Strict fines were also incurred for committing minor mistakes in the workplace. For some supervisors who also constituted the working class, it was an advantage as they collected a significant amount of money over and above their salary from the unfair fines on their subordinates.

Poor Working Conditions

According to Pollard (2009), increased employment had its negative impact on the welfare of city dwellers. With time the working environment was more mobilized, a condition which saturated the factories. Work safety was considered but not strictly monitored. With the example of the Shipment Yard, laborers engaged in strenuous activities without protection like gloves and helmets. Some laborers were forced to crawl under working machines to clean them. The extreme conditions often led to serious accidents and even deaths. In the case of a polite employer, the workers were allowed to service and clean their apparatus during lunchtime. In addition, the workers were forced to work long hours with no overtime pay.

Living in the 19th Century

As highlighted by Vicinus (2004), the living conditions were relatively better compared to the working conditions. In Britain, life was solemnly dictated by the conditions and events that took place in the society. The introduction also points out that the British society was under the leadership of the elite. In essence, it means that only a classified number of men would vote for political change during the time. As highlighted by Archibald (2008), the change was inevitable given the growing population of Britain from the rural to urban migration. As such, developments were made to allow all adult men to vote for their leaders. With this came representation of numerous industrial towns which had been left out in the political and social process. Soon after, women began campaigns to enable them to vote as well. From the formation of National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), women got the right to be involved in social matters as well (Martin, 1996). Gender equality was soon to be realized.

Better Standards of Living

Out of industrial revolution, the lower class enjoyed the ease of availability of goods. The increased number of manufacturing factories meant that products were not only available but were also cheaper. Despite their low purchasing power, they employees were able to buy products locally for a better living (Pollard, 2009). A better life also ensured an improved health and lifestyle altogether. A negative forced emerged from the poor housing and sewer system that crowded the street with garbage.

Overcrowding

Most cities and towns in the 19th century were characterized by countless developments in the societal platform. As a result, more people looked forward to working in such areas. This was followed by an influx of the urban population from 8 million to a staggering 41 million in a period of fewer than 10 years. Inevitably, this constituted to overcrowding in the urban centers as far as the East End of London. From the law of demand and supply, house rent escalated which forced large families of the working class to squeeze into small houses. In some scenario, an entire family would live in a single-roomed house due to the prevalent low wages I some job descriptions (Vicinus, 2004). For local developers, business prompted them to build more houses. Eventually, residual homes were built back-to-back leaving no air circulation. Ventilation became poorer with time.

Pollution

Coal was the most popular source of energy to the working class living in Britain. It was used to cook food, heat water as well as warming the house. Due to its ease of availability and affordability, most homes opted to use coal where applicable. Its use caused air pollution as coal produced a high content of sot when burned. More so, coal was used by the industrial plants located in the towns to power the machines in the manufacturing and production process. Air pollution, therefore, was a menace in the city-a condition that affected the poor, working class as well as the elite.

Poor Health

Due to pollution, the air was full of dust from the industries as well as the homesteads. From this, cases of pneumonia were prevalent. The cotton industries spun the cotton threads during the night, a condition that exposed the threads into the residential areas since they were blown by the wind. Other respiratory diseases such as Tuberculosis were also common due to poor hygiene in the houses and along the streets. Young children were more susceptible to the diseases which lead to high infant rate. As a countermeasure, the families opted to have many children for survival.

Religion

According to Johnson (2005), the religious platform in the contemporary world has changed since the 19th century. The British society was highly religious than it is in the modern day. As a result, Christianity was spread across the city as it was the effort of the Clapham sect. The Sect was a group consisting of evangelistic Christians who stirred the political and social arena. A majority of its members lived in Clapham where they got their name from. The abolishment of slavery and slave trade can also be attributed to their name. In the 19th century, it was unheard of to place a worker on a duty he/she was not willing or able to do. In the same fashion, the Clapham Sect also eliminated competitions which involved cruel sports. While the sect preached the gospel, only 40% of the working class were in touch with the activities in the church. The seventh day, Sunday was respected and businesses, as well as workshops, were closed. However, the sick were pardoned and remained in their home.

It is easy to point out that industrial revolution had no significant economic effect on the working, non-skilled population. The evidence came with the social change where all members of the family were tasked with jobs in the city. People no longer worked from their homes but engaged in contract jobs in workshops and large industries. Additionally, the population became less religious with time as the moral standards became to dwindle in the late 19th century. More importantly, the working class designed measures of finance, saving, and credit to better their lives. Development projects also brought national cohesion and increased the welfare of its members (Johnson, 2005).

Conclusion

Even though the 19th century preceded the birth of the industrial revolution, its benefits were not enjoyed by the working class. The increase of industries saw a large number of families migrating from their rural homes into the towns and cities. As a result, there was uncontrolled development and housing which led to overcrowding and breakout of diseases. Additionally, the increased number of people led to low wages. In fact, bosses preferred to employ young children and women to men. This was because men were paid more than their counterparts. From this, boys were fired immediately they got to adulthood. For the longest time, women and children were working for their husbands and children respectively. The condition reveals the cruel nature of the owners during the time who had little or no care about the welfare of the laborers. According to Pollard (2009), the general living and working conditions in the 19th century for the British working class was, thus, deteriorated and insufficient.

References

Archibald, A. (2008). “Principles of population and their connection with human happiness,” two vols. Dallas, University of Texas.

Benson, J. (2003). The working class in Britain, 1850-1939. London: I.B. Tauris.

Crossick, G. (2010). Working-class culture and contemporary culture in 19th-century Britain. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified.

Johnson, P. (2005). Saving and spending: The working-class economy in Britain 1870-1939. Oxford: Clarendon.

Martin, H. (1996). Britain in the nineteenth century. Walton-on-Thames, Surrey: Nelson.

Pollard, S. (1999). Labour history and the labour movement in Britain. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate.

Tarn, J. N. (2001). Working-class housing in 19th-century Britain. London: Humphries.

Thompson, F. M. L. (2010). The Cambridge social history of Britain, 1750-1950. Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press.

Vicinus, M. (2004). The industrial muse: A study of nineteenth century British working-class literature. London: Croom Helm.