The 19th Centuary

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In the first half of the 19th century the processes known as Industrialization and Urbanization started to transform Europe. It affected and changed every aspect of life of every citizen of every European nation. The notorious results of these changes were the horrible living and working conditions of the working class, who made up the majority of the society. Great Britain was involved most profoundly in this Industrial Revolution as it led the way in the development of railroads and factories. We find a lot of documents from that time period describing working conditions in Britain during that era. As a response to those changes created by Industrial Revolution many sought reforms to confront those social problems. Karl Marx was one of those reformers proposing and arguing for the reforms in his Communist Manifesto. There are a number of direct correlations between the descriptions of working conditions in 19th century Britain and Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto.
While reading one of the many articles describing working conditions in Britain during the Industrial Revolution I noticed that it has a very close links to the work of Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto. The things that Marx talked about in general in his work are reflected as a specific case in that article. The article I am talking about is Leeds Woolen Workers Petition, 1786. There are a lot more articles such as this one that are associated with the Communist Manifesto just as strong. But for now I want to stop my attention on this one in particular and analyze it at first to show what exact correlations it has with the work of Karl Marx. The Leeds Woolen Workers Petition was an article written as a complaint about the effects of the Industrialization o...

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...tanding pools for gutters, and a stench which alone would make it impossible for a human being in any degree civilized to live in such a district." These unsanitary conditions resulted in a widespread of epidemic diseases such as scrofula, diphtheria, and cholera. Living in these unhealthy conditions receiving low wages and working long hours a working people were nothing more than the "instruments of labor, more or less expensive to use, according to their age and sex." A problem of the Child Labor is inderectly described in Dickens: Hard Times (Chapter 2) but does not have a specific reference in Marx's Communist Manifesto.
After analyzing readings I have talked about it becomes evident that there are some close correlations between the descriptions of the working conditions of the 19th century Britain in those readings and Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto

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