Archivo del autor: Peter Van der Heyden

So what was the reason that the weavers’ incomes went down, particularly starting in 1817? The principal cause was the large-scale export of “twist” (cotton yarn). This export had been subject to a duty, which was reduced gradually from 1810 to zero in 1820. At the same time (1814), the Wars with France had terminated,Sigue leyendo «7.2. Reduction of Wages in 1817 and the Export of Twist»

The grave problem of poverty, in contrast to the generally good situation of the textile workers, was that of the domestic hand-loom weavers, whose incomes fell catastrophically, starting in 1817. The generally accepted idea is that the decrease in the wages of the hand-loom weavers, was caused by the introduction of the power-looms, which were fasterSigue leyendo «7.1. Extreme reduction of income and living standards»

7.1. Extreme Reduction of Income and Living Standards https://history.pictures/2020/02/07/7-1-extreme-reduction-of-income-and-living-standards/ 7.2. Reduction of Wages in 1817 and the Export of Twist https://history.pictures/2020/02/08/7-2-reduction-of-wages-in-1817-and-the-exportation-of-twist/ 7.3. The Business Model of the Cotton Industry https://history.pictures/2020/02/08/7-3-the-business-model-of-the-cotton-industry/ 7.4. Second Depression of Wages 1826 https://history.pictures/2020/02/08/7-4-second-depression-of-wages-1826/ 7.5. Lack of Negative Effects of the Power Loom https://history.pictures/2020/02/08/7-5-lack-of-negative-effects-of-the-power-loom/ 7.6. Low Wages and High Volumes around 1830-1834Sigue leyendo «Chapter 7. The Poverty of the Domestic Hand-Loom Cotton Weavers»

“In examining factories, we have frequently asked, “Where are the old men?” In fact, our towns and manufactures present but a small proportion of the aged,- no such proportion as we can find in the pursuits of husbandry. In the employments, moreover, which do present a considerable number of old workmen – weaving for instance – theseSigue leyendo «6.6. Industrial Diseases and Pollution»

In order to investigate if there was an increase in mortality – and thus a decrease in life expectancy – due to the Industrial Revolution, we have to collect population, birth and death data for the years up to e.g. 1830, and compare these with those of 1830 to 1860. The Census data were collectedSigue leyendo «6.5. Life Expectancy»

Following we have the mortality rates for different types of town, at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, taken from an earlier chapter. Town type   Under the age of 1 Between 1 and 2 Between 2 and 5 Between 5 and 10 Total under 10           Sigue leyendo «6.4. Child Mortality»

The better classes, when they talked about “the poor”, did not mean “the totality of the working class”. For them, “the poor” were those persons who were objectively poor, that is, did not earn enough to eat properly, or were unemployed, or had very bad living conditions. The majority of workers were referred to asSigue leyendo «6.3. Poor Areas of the Cities»

As to the living conditions outside the factory, obviously these did not change for those families who were already living in the town. Certainly the streets and alleys were narrow, there was a lot of dirt and excrement, and the living quarters were small; but this was already part of their life. For those familiesSigue leyendo «6.2. Sanitation»

We have the impression that all the districts of Manchester (apart from the mansions of the wealthy, on the outskirts of the town), were uniformly poor, dirty, with dirty water and excrement in the streets, and with houses with small rooms and people living in cellars. But the truth is that there was a greatSigue leyendo «6.1. Housing»

6.1. Housing https://history.pictures/2020/02/05/6-1-housing/ 6.2. Sanitation https://history.pictures/2020/02/05/6-2-sanitation/ 6.3. Poor Areas of the Cities https://history.pictures/2020/02/05/6-3-poor-areas-of-the-cities/ 6.4. Child Mortality https://history.pictures/2020/02/06/6-4-child-mortality/ 6.5. Life Expectancy https://history.pictures/2020/02/07/6-5-life-expectancy/ 6.6. Industrial Diseases and Pollution https://history.pictures/2020/02/07/6-6-industrial-diseases-and-pollution/