The expansion of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century led to the proliferation of

cities/towns near canals and railroads such as in Manchester, England (Document 1). The growth of the
Industrial Revolution accelerated advancements in technology and medicine. Evidently, such growth of
cities such as Manchester raised issues to the conditions primarily towards the working class. While
some notable figures attribute the growth of Manchester as an improvement upon the economic and
social conditions, others view such as degrading the health and environmental conditions of the lower
class.
Among the individuals that view Manchester as a positive progression of the health and living
conditions of the working class include Thomas B. Macaulay, Wheelan and Co., and William Alexander
Abram. According to Macaulay, he states, people live longer because they are better fed, better lodged,
better clothed, and better attended in sicknessimprovementsowning to the increase in national
wealth which the manufacturing system has produced (Document 3). Being a member of the
Parliament, Macaulay accurately depicts the attitude and perspective of the British government in terms
of manufacture and industry. In this period of the industrialization, the British government actively
advocated for increase in factories and mills, which supported a flourishing economy, and thus reflected
the economic power/wealth Britain wielded over the European nations. Moreover, Wheelan and Co., a
business directory, pointed out that such remarkable and attractive featuresenergetic exertions and
enterprising spiritcommerce and manufacturehabitable globe (Document 9). It portrays Manchester
as a model of a successful industry and manufacture. Similarly, William Alexander Abram emphasizes,
the condition of the factory laborers has been vastly improvedsickness and mortalityalmost
incredible (Document 10). From this quote, he reflects and discusses about the improvements
implemented in manufacture. He includes examples ranging from reducing working hours,
advancements in machinery, and increased wages to the construction of public parks, baths, and
libraries. As a journalist and historian who wrote a journal in 1868, Abram presents a valid perspective of
the improving conditions. After all, in 1868, several acts such as the Hours of Labor in Factories Act of
1844 and Factory Act of 1833 focused on reducing the number of working hours and raising the
minimum age of workers.
In contrast, others such as Robert Southey, Frances Anne Kemble, Flora Tristan, and Alexis de
Tocqueville view the industrialization and manufacture as detrimental towards people, particularly for
the working class. According to Southey, he views Manchester as destitutecrowded together in
narrow streets, houses all built of brick and blackened with smokewithout their antiquity,
beauty.everlasting din of machinery (Document 2). He believes the environment of Manchester is
bleak and foul from the gas exhausts of the factories, with little to no traces of beauty. This is depicted
in Document 11, where the smoke from the factories billow into the sky, the river polluted, and
black/ashen buildings, and wilted grass. Not to mention, Robert Southey is a Romantic poet and his
perspectives are influenced by the ideals of Romanticism, one of which includes nature. Furthermore,
Kemble mentions the misery and discontentment of the working class, emphasizing grim and grimy
crowds of scowling facestattered, starved looking weaver (Document 4); in the meantime, Tristan
discusses the physical suffering that the workers endure: their lack of clothing, food, furniture, breathing
in polluted air, lack of medical attention, etc (Document 7). Both Flora Tristan and Frances Anne Kemble

are middle class women; the middle class focused on basing a culture on improving the conditions of
daily life. Thus, it is valid that these two historical women are genuinely concerned and interested in
improving on the conditions that the working class endures. Tocquevilles book Journeys to England
and Ireland explains how the growth of industries and factories reversed the progress of human society
and transformed it into savagery and brutality with its only concern for money and gold (Document 5).
Some medical reformers such as Edwin Chadwick and Thomas Wakley also raised concerns on
the health conditions and mortality rates of the lower class. In reference to Edwin Chadwick, he believes
that diseasesatmospheric impurities produced by decomposing animal and vegetable substances, by
damp and filth, and close and overcrowded dwellingsannual loss of life from filth and bad ventilation
(Document 6). As a public health reformer, he is aware of the causes of diseases and death as well as the
medical problems faced by the working class; thus, he advocates for improving the conditions to reduce
the number of deaths and ailing individuals. This claim is further supported by Wakley, who presents a
chart that compares the average age of death in rural areas to industrial districts. According to
Document 8, there is a significant increase in the ages of gentry/professional, farmer/trader, and
laborer/artisans in rural areas with respect to those individuals of the same occupation in industrial
areas. The chart signifies that the growth of Manchester in the increase of factories attribute to the
earlier deaths of people from all occupations due to polluted air.
In conclusion, there were differing viewpoints referencing the issues on health, living, and
economic conditions of the working class. Such viewpoints are mainly influenced by their occupation
and position in society; for instance, Thomas Macaulay and Wheelan and Co. believed that the growth of
Manchester improved the living and health conditions of the working class as they were a member of
Parliament and business directory, respectively. However, medical reformers such as Edwin Chadwick
and Thomas Wakley found that growth of cities such Manchester is degrading the health and living
conditions of the inhabitants. However, as the number of factories and cities continued to increase
dramatically, the rise of concerns of working conditions in factories ultimately culminated in a several
government reforms and is facilitated through improvements on machinery.