British Industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

British Industrialization - Essay Example Historians have pointed in great detail the changes which occurred in the heights of British population since the 1800s to the improvement in the standard of living of the whole population and groups within it. This is mainly because welfare of the population reflected the ability to produce both agricultural goods on which it can feed and the industrial goods and services which it can sell. Between 1750 and 1850, the population of England and Wales virtually trebled, rising from about 6.5 to about 18 million as the population rose at the rate of 10 percent each decade. (Hall et al., 133) Another result of industrialization which worked in tandem with population growth was the growth of cities. In 1750, there were only two cities in Britain with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants – London and Edinburgh - but by 1801 there would be eight of such cities and by 1851, twenty-nine. (Hall et al. 1996, 133) People, especially disposed agricultural workers, naturally trooped to the cities with its increased opportunities for work. In slightly over one hundred years, the urbanism moved through a cycle of expansion, restructuring and decline, driven by shifts in the capitalist economy and by changing sources of power. Large-scale industry moved along with steam engines into an array of British cities. Manufacturing cities first reaped the benefits of industrial growth because they captured a major share of capital investment. Monumental factories sprang up everywhere to house the huge stationary engines and machines. The new urban working class was relegated to the role of machine minders. Cities were bursting to the seams. For instance, the population in Liverpool reached a density of 3000 people per hectare – people lived anywhere they could, even cellars were packed full. (Girardet & N’Dow, 50) With this kind of urban development came some consequences as