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Free Essays - History Essays
Industrial Revolution: A Transitive Period
The document is part of anewspaper article dating to 1842. It served as almost a technological updatefor the greater community, describing the latest in sewage disposal.
The article introduces the new system in afavorable light, as funding for it almost certainly would have cost the localpopulation. Consequently, its purpose and specifications were presented asuniversally applicable, its functionality and efficiency available for all totake advantage. The document presented is one that exemplifies the massiveeffects of the Industrial Revolution and their reach throughout all aspects ofsociety. The article is not only historically valuable, but it also serves as areliable historical source for the student of the Industrial Revolution.
From a historical perspective,the article came at just as the British Industrial Revolution began to grow inmagnitude and pace. 1842 marked a time when the British Empire began toescalate its operations, using its colonies and territories to expand andevolve its domestic economy. With industrialization came the expansion of themiddle class to include not only those between lower and upper classes, butalso to accommodate an explosion in population. The economy wascompartmentalized, changing the face of cities across the nation as technologyboth industrial and medical technologies broadened in scope and availability.From an ecological (not to mention hygienic) perspective, Britain could notsupport the burgeoning population explosion that occurred between the 19thand 20th century. With memories of the Black Plague instilled in thepublic conscience, the impetus of technological application and advancementwould rarely be felt as urgently as in other areas of the IndustrialRevolution. With the population exploding and birth fatalities reducing eachyear, sewage systems were a vital part in the sustenance of sanitation in theexpanding population of British urban hubs. Sewage systems not only alleviatedthe concern of many for the facilitation of industrialization, it alsoreassured the people that they had equal footing in a newly-egalitarian societywhere class was increasingly diminished in importance. New advancements wereusually only available to the upper class, and the sewage system represented aunifying force in the road to industrialization.
Several references in the textsignify the process of industrialization and the advancement of technology. The200 water closets and similar places gives the impression of a societyimplementing modern plumbing, a reflection of advancement and populationexpansion. The allusion to the common drains reflects the mass expansion ofresidences as well as the population explosion, suggesting a population thatgrows faster than commercial construction can accommodate. Common drains alsowere present in factories, agricultural collectives, and mills in which thegrowing middle class worked. That they shared common drains also suggests thatthe amount of people living in close proximity to each other increased. Thesewage system mentioned also serves several different venues, ranging from theinfirmary to slaughter houses and manufactories, reflecting a greatdiversity of industry in one area in a short span of time. Most notable of theservice areas mentioned is the infirmary, a non-industrial compound itself butone whose sewage output warranted use of a significant sewage duct or system.If the sewage output from an infirmary could rival that of pig manure,dung-hills, slaughterhouses, and manufactories, there would have to be a hugegrowth in population and thus an increase in patient input to the hospital inquestion. Of the industrialized sources mentioned, the slaughterhouses and pigmanure makes note of industrialization's spread to the agricultural domain aswell as the centralization of industries in urban hubs as opposed to the ruralsection of the country.
The documentproves to be reliable as an historical source in the depth of the areas itmentions. However, most of the useful facts one may draw from the article arepurely speculative without academic resources or prior knowledge ofindustrialization to corroborate conclusions. The specific numbers listedthe200 water closets and 30,000,000 gallons per annum of the mass filthareindicative of mass expansion both technologically and from a populationconsensus standpoint. However, the article serves less as a historical accountas it does a representative literature focused on the transition between thefeudal age (with reference to the medical leeches) and the Industrial Era.
The document is valuable to the student ofthe Industrial Revolution; however, it should be taken as a reflection of oneaspect of a transitive period more than a description of the IndustrialRevolution as a monolithic whole.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
More, Charles. (2000) Understanding theIndustrial Revolution. London: Routledge.
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