Frederick Engels' Impact on the Conditions of Laborers

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Recommended: Working conditions in factories during the industrial revolution

Life can at times seem bad, even in the lives of some of the most prestigious, rich, popular people in the world. Bad hair, lack of sleep, abundance of homework, and an absence of money have the tendency to put a damper on some people's days, among other things. Too many times, though, in today's society things are taken for granted. Imagine not having a place to sleep, having no means of education, or having all hard-earned funds taken by the government, not even leaving enough to feed the family. This is how it was for Englanders in the 1800s. The condition of the working-class in 19thcentury England was, without a doubt, disgusting and miserable. The circumstances were spiraling out of control and the working class was increasing looking for someone or something to help the tragic situation improve. The condition of laborers was horrible and Frederick Engels had a lot to do with the improvement of the horrendous situation through his many works on political and sociological works

Frederick Engels was a very influential individual throughout the 19th century. Engels was born in Barmen (currently Rhineland), Germany on November 28, 1820. He grew up the son of a well-to-do manufacturer and later worked at his father's factory in Manchester England. This experience gave him an honest perspective on the realities of the working class, and it also gave him a strong social conscience with real experience in the city. His experiences with these things are somewhat odd considering his family was that of the upper-middle class, but nonetheless, his familiarity with the circumstances come in handy later on in his life. Engels settles in Manchester, England in 1842 and decided to take on an important study of the lives of th...

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...mily of 10 people or more. The windows were holes in the wall and they consisted of only one room where the family ate, slept, and went to the restroom. The skies were polluted from the constant, newfound concept of manufacturing, so much so that there was a constant fog hazing the sun. The over-all filth and grime was incomprehensible and tragic. It was tragic that something as great as industrialization had to bring the poverty and conditions that it did. These poverty-ridden conditions were what drove Engels to try to gain respect and bring reform to the conditions of the country.

The condition of the working-class in England was horrible, and was brought on mainly by the rapid rise of industrialization. Engels, along with his good friend Marx, attempted to bring about change through their influential writings approaching communism and socialist theories.

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