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Was the Impact on Public Health the Worst Effect of the Industrial Revolution in 1750-1900?

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Was the impact on public health the worst effect of the industrial revolution in 1750 to 1900? In 1750 our country, Great Britain, began its industrial revolution. The country was changed forever. Before 1750, most people had lived in the countryside and worked in a family business but in 1750 people flocked into towns to get jobs. New machinery had been invented and the richer classes used this as a way to make lots of money by setting up factories filled with these machines. It was out with the old and in with the new. New machinery, new materials and new discoveries. Although there were many positives to the industrial revolution such as the improved transport system around the country, the quicker manufacturing, the new …show more content…

As well as living conditions, working conditions were also appalling during the industrial revolution. Factories were a new thing in the industrial revolution so there were no health and safety acts or child protection laws. The conditions in factories were awful; the workers had to work up to twelve hours starting very early in the morning. The work included managing dangerous machinery which was very repetitive and tiring and had to be done stood up. Some workers had to carry very heavy loads to fill or empty the machines. Many employees were injured or died in factories due to the hazardous machinery. Clothing could easily get caught up in the machinery and this could be fatal. The factory owners were responsible for feeding their workers. However, the food they gave them contained no nutrition in it and the workers were given miniscule amounts. This brought about diseases such as TB which was caused by under nourishment and little food. The fumes inside factories were also dangerous; in cotton factories the air around the workers was filled with little bits of cotton which were breathed in by the workers. These clogged up the trachea, bronchioles and the lungs and caused asthma and chest infections which could be fatal due to the lack of medical knowledge. The death rates in factories were very high but it was not as bad as the public health during this era. It contributed towards the dreadful public health as the factory owners paid the worker low wages

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