1. What was the impact of Industrialisation on Britain at the start of the 19th Century?

2. Early Industrialisation 1780-1850
From around 1780 Britain quickly became an industrialised nation
WHY DID INDUSTRIALISATION OCCUR?

3. decrease in mortality rate
Population rise
Population of England and Wales
1700
5.8 million
1800
9.1 million
1900
35 million
Why?
increase in birth rate
decrease in mortality rate
Thomas Malthus (1799)
‘famine, disease and war are necessary natural agents to curtail the multiplication of numbers of human beings’

6. Demographic changes – movement into towns and cities
1700
1800

8. Poor living conditions

9. Poor working conditions

10. A new working class
The poor living and working conditions in the new industrial cities meant that thousands of people now lived in close proximity and shared the same experiences…the working class was born…

11. Thousands of people lived in poverty

12. Who were the poor? According to Henry Mayhew… Those who will work
These poor were able-bodied and had jobs
Labourers
e.g. farm servants / miners
Craftsmen
e.g. bricklayers / ironworkers
Skilled artisans
e.g. cabinetmakers / machine tool engineers
Those who cannot work
These poor could not work even if they wanted to
Able-bodied but no jobs available
e.g. millworkers following a failed cotton crop
Disabled
e.g. through injury, disease or illness
The Childless Elderly
Those who will not work
These poor chose not to work
Beggars and vagrants
40,000 to 100,000
Usually men and boys

13. Do you agree that life was hard for the new working class in the early 19th Century? Use sources and your own knowledge (40 marks)