Economics 1851 PDF

# Class Division in Mid-19th Century Britain The class system was a prevailing feature of mid-19th century Britain. People were categorized in relation to their status in society and their economic influence (increasingly, their relationship and nature with regards work). A simple view of the class...

# Class Division in Mid-19th Century Britain The class system was a prevailing feature of mid-19th century Britain. People were categorized in relation to their status in society and their economic influence (increasingly, their relationship and nature with regards work). A simple view of the class system is as follows: - **The aristocracy (and land owning elite)** comprised the upper class. - **The middle class**, perhaps the broadest class, encompassed merchants, manufacturers, professionals, clerks etc. - **The lower class**, increasingly referred to as the working class and was defined as those who laboured with their hands. After the 1832 Reform Act, the desire by the industrious classes to challenge the position of the upper landed gentry was increased. ## The Upper and Middle Classes The upper class relied on inherited wealth - land. Despite making up a fraction of the population, their influence was immense. Industrialisation brought significant change to the social structure. More financially successful middle class = upper middle class. Political progress of middle class gradual. Lack of homogeneity. ## The Working Classes By 1850, 4/5 of the occupied population could be described as working class. There was a similar lack of homogeneity. The definition did not deal with “the poor” - working class weren’t necessarily the poor, but worked with their hands to sustain themselves. Rise in real incomes of most workers, improvement in living standards etc. ## Regional Division Throughout the 19th century, England was the dominant social, economic and political centre if the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Regional divisions within the United Kingdom operated on differing economic and social lines and had varying implications for the local populations. - most obvious being the largely industrial north and the largely rural south. Even the railway networks failed to connect the Highland areas of Scotland to its more industrialised cities. Gaelic speaking crofting families were left behind during the golden age of farming. In 1882, this escalated to the outbreak of civil disobedience known as the Crofter’s War - underlined the economic imbalance between the north of Scotland and the more prosperous south. The situation was similar in Ireland. ## Prosperity and Poverty The concept of Britain being 2 nations, suggested by Disraeli in his 1845 novel Sybil, could be seen as valid for much of the period. There was a clear gulf between the minority upper and middle classes and the majority working classes and poor, whose living standards were often balanced between sufficiency and destitution. Most historians acknowledge that after 1850 there was a rise in living standards, but disagree as to the extent and degree of poverty that continued and the effectiveness of its treatment by the various governments of the time. ### Prosperity Britain was enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity. Entrepreneurial spirit led to some of the profits from industry and trade going into overseas developments. When those met with success much of the capital came back to Britain. It was the middle class manufactures and merchants who benefited from this activity. - part of a growing, prosperous middle class. This class were able to build substantial houses in suburbs and could now afford luxuries such as domestic servants, new furniture and birth control to limit the size of their families. - educated their children privately, ate well and could afford medical care and attention should they need it. ### Poverty The mid-Victorian boom which brought prosperity to so much of the country did not solve poverty and the associated issues, nor relieve the misery of those at the bottom of the economic ladder. There was still unemployment. For those in work, some of the conditions were deplorable - including the unregulated employment of children in small factories. There was no state system for education and poorer working class children could not read or write. The state of housing in the slum districts in towns and cities and the health hazards caused by unsanitary living conditions were an ongoing problem. Post Office Savings banks introduced by Gladstone and other various “self-help” schemes such as Friendly Societies attempted to tackle the issue of saving money for when a worker was laid off – there was little other security. None of these measures could guarantee a solution to the predicament of the working classes. Poor relief and the workhouses came with humiliation and stigma - Economic prosperity could not banish poverty. It can be suggested that poverty was lessening as people began to take a share in the material progress of the nation. Official figures indicated a significant decline in poverty since the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 yet, whatever level of relief given, there would always be people who remained in poverty. ## Conclusion The mid-19th century saw a significant period of economic change in Britain, with both prosperity and poverty on the rise. While the industrial revolution brought about a period of unprecedented growth and wealth, it also exacerbated existing social inequalities and created new challenges for the working class. Overall, the mid-Victorian era was a time of great social upheaval and transformation in British society.