Untitled Quiz

Urban Life Changes in the Nineteenth Century

• Urban life was characterized by congestion, dirtiness, and health risks; improvements initiated through public health movements began to reverse these conditions.
• Overcrowding was mitigated by better planning and construction of boulevards, although high mortality rates persisted until sanitary advancements were made.
• The bacterial revolution significantly reduced death rates due to enhanced hygiene and medical knowledge.

Population Growth and Urbanization

• The steam engine liberated industrialists from reliance on natural water sources, fostering increased factory construction in urban areas.
• Urban areas attracted rural populations due to better economic opportunities, contributing to rapid urban growth.

Economic Opportunities and Migration

• Urban centers provided advantageous shipping facilities, drawing labor and facilitating industrial growth amid increasing migration from rural regions.
• Manufacturing benefitted from nearby factories for supply and distribution, exacerbating urban overcrowding.

Health Improvements and Industrialization

• Agricultural improvements, coupled with industrialization, supported population growth, increased life expectancy, and reduced infant mortality rates.
• The public health movement was crucial for extending life expectancy through improvements in sanitation.

Urban Challenges and Government Response

• Overcrowded cities resulted in social issues, while rural areas faced labor shortages and community deterioration.
• Government reforms transformed urban conditions via infrastructure modernization, public health regulations, and creation of police forces.

Poor Urban Living Conditions

• Major causes of poor urban life included severe overcrowding, widespread poverty, and lack of medical knowledge.
• Urban centers suffered from inadequate public transport and the remnants of unsanitary rural living conditions.

Utilitarianism and Public Health Reform

• Utilitarianism, championed by Jeremy Bentham, influenced social policy approaches promoting public welfare.
• Edwin Chadwick emerged as a reform advocate believing that disease was tied to environmental factors, establishing connectivity between public health and economic prosperity.

Theories on Disease and Health

• Miasmatic theory posited that foul air caused disease, later challenged by findings linking contamination to water and physical filth.
• Germ theory, developed by Louis Pasteur, revolutionized understanding of disease causation, emphasizing the role of microorganisms.

Revolutionary Urban Planning

• Baron Georges Haussmann modernized Paris through extensive urban reconstruction, creating broad boulevards and improving sanitation systems.
• His reforms set a precedent for urban planning and public health across Europe.

Transportation Innovations

• The introduction of electric streetcars revolutionized public transport, enabling suburban expansion and easing urban congestion.
• Mass transportation allowed workers to access better housing and improved life quality.

Class Structure and Social Dynamics

• The new urban industrial society produced complex class structures with persistent wealth gaps and diverse social dynamics.
• Bourgeois families adopted the nuclear family model with defined gender roles, while working-class families remained economically constrained.

Consumerism and Economic Changes

• The second industrial revolution fueled heightened consumerism, leading to increased production and demand for goods.
• Improvements in living standards for the working class were linked to protective labor laws and enhanced social welfare measures.

Feminist Movements and Gender Roles

• Feminism grew in response to gender inequality, advocating for women’s rights, education, and improved labor conditions.
• Notions of companionate marriage gained traction, particularly among the middle class, alongside changing familial structures.

Intellectual Shifts and Realism

• The transition to a realist and materialist worldview followed the revolutions of 1848, focusing on practical subjects and human behavior.
• Durable advancements in science and industry fostered societal changes, challenging traditional beliefs.

Key Scientific Advancements

• Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories challenged divine creation concepts, proposing common ancestry for all life forms.
• Developments in chemistry, such as Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table, alongside innovations in electricity transformed industries.

Labor and Economic Structures

• The labor aristocracy emerged as a skilled segment of the workforce, earning more than unskilled workers but less than upper classes.
• Sweated industries represented poorly paid, sometimes exploitative work environments for women, reminiscent of earlier production methods.

Leisure and Religious Trends among Workers

• Working-class leisure activities included sports and social gatherings, but church attendance declined significantly during this period.
• The dynamics of family and labor shifted, with women's roles evolving in response to economic pressures and social activists advocating for equality.### Charles Darwin and Evolution
• Official naturalist on a five-year scientific trip to Latin America and the South Pacific starting in 1831.
• Collected numerous specimens of various animal species during the voyage.
• Influenced by fossil evidence and Charles Lyell, Darwin questioned the belief in divine creation of species.
• Proposed that all life has evolved from a common ancestor through a continuous "struggle for survival."

Theory of Evolution

• Concept emphasizes gradual change and continuous adaptation across various fields.

Social Darwinism

• Ideas from Darwin applied to human society, framing human existence as an economic struggle.
• Introduced the notion of "survival of the fittest" within human affairs.

Sociology

• Critical analysis of social groups, both contemporary and historical.
• Emerged as a significant social science discipline.

Max Weber

• Prominent late-nineteenth-century sociologist known for his influential work.
• In "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," linked the rise of capitalism to Protestant beliefs in northern Europe.

Emile Durkheim

• Prolific sociologist known for his studies on religion and suicide.
• In "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life," he explored the psychological and social underpinnings of religion.
• Identified rising suicide rates as a result of feelings of "anomie," or rootlessness, concluding that only a new moral order could mitigate this issue.

Realism

• Literary movement contrasting with romanticism, focusing on the portrayal of life in its true form.
• Rejected romanticism's pursuit of the exotic and sublime; instead, it sought the typical and commonplace aspects of life.

Realist Artists and Authors

• Advocated for the depiction of life as it truly was, addressing "taboo" subjects.
• Emphasized the influence of hereditary and environmental factors on human behavior.
• Argues that human behavior is shaped by natural laws, rather than being inherently good or evil, which are socially constructed ideas.