The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844" by Frederick Engels is a powerful indictment of the Industrial Revolution's detrimental impact on workers. Engels meticulously demonstrates how industrial cities like Manchester and Liverpool experienced alarmingly high mortality rates due to diseases, with workers being four times more likely to succumb to illnesses like smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping cough compared to their rural counterparts. The overall death rate in these cities far surpassed the national average, painting a grim picture of the workers' plight. Engels goes beyond mortality statistics to shed light on the dire living conditions endured by industrial workers. He argues that their wages were lower than those of pre-industrial workers, and they were forced to inhabit unhealthy and unpleasant environments. Addressing a German audience, Engels' work is considered a classic account of the universal struggles faced by the industrial working class. It reveals his transformation into a radical thinker after witnessing the harsh realities in England. "The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844" remains an essential resource for understanding the hardships endured by workers during the Industrial Revolution. Engels' meticulous research and impassioned arguments continue to shape discussions on labor rights, social inequality, and the historical agency of the working class.
In 1848 a wave of revolutions broke over Europe. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in the Communist Manifesto, urged the workers of all countries to unite. But the movement collapsed, and Marx became an exile in London, where he spent the next twenty years developing his great critique of the capitalist system. His monumental Capital was constructed as a scientific study of the political economy, but its driving force was Marx's sense of the burning injustices imposed on the working classes by the Industrial Revolution, and their alienation from the society that their labour made possible. Today, with the rich western countries relying increasingly on low-wage production in the Third World and the instability of the capitalist banking system, many features of Marx's analysis remain disturbingly relevant.
The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 With a Preface written in 1892 by Frederick Engels Originally addressed to a German audience, the book is considered by many to be a classic account of the universal condition of the industrial working class during its time. The eldest son of a successful German textile industrialist, Engels became involved in radical journalism in his youth. Sent to England, what he saw there made him even more radical. About this time he formed his lifelong intellectual partnership with Karl Marx.
This work takes us back nearly sixty years, to a time when what is now a movement of universal significance was in its infancy. Hegel and the Revolution of 1848; these are the points of departure. To the former, we owe the philosophic form of the socialist doctrine, to the latter, its practical activity as a movement.
This masterpiece by Engels reflects his views on the plight of labour classes in England. It is based on his in-depth research and parliamentary reports. In a factual and analytic manner he has voiced his support for fundamental human rights. It is an emphatic protest against the barbarianism of capitalism and industrialization. A prototypical opus!
he Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 is one of the best-known works of Friedrich Engels. Originally written in German as Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England, it is a study of the working class in Victorian England. It was also Engels' first book, written during his stay in Manchester from 1842 to 1844. Manchester was then at the very heart of the Industrial Revolution, and Engels compiled his study from his own observations and detailed contemporary reports. Engels argues that the Industrial Revolution made workers worse off. He shows, for example, that in large industrial cities mortality from disease, as well as death-rates for workers were higher than in the countryside. In cities like Manchester and Liverpool mortality from smallpox, measles, scarlet fever and whooping cough was four times as high as in the surrounding countryside, and mortality from convulsions was ten times as high as in the countryside. The overall death-rate in Manchester and Liverpool was significantly higher than the national average (one in 32.72 and one in 31.90 and even one in 29.90, compared with one in 45 or one in 46). An interesting example shows the increase in the overall death-rates in the industrial town of Carlisle. Prior to the introduction of mills (1779-1787), 4,408 out of 10,000 children died before reaching the age of five. After the introduction of mills the figure rose to 4,738. Prior to the introduction of mills, 1,006 out of 10,000 adults died before reaching 39 years old. After the introduction of mills the death rate rose to 1,261 out of 10,000 It is considered by many to be a classic account of the condition of the industrial working class. It was originally addressed to a German audience. The eldest son of a successful German textile industrialist, Engels became involved in radical journalism as a teenager. Sent to England, what he saw made him even more radical. About this time he formed his life-long intellectual partnership with Karl Marx. -wikipedia
In this eminent work, Marx presented the philosophy that led to the Russian revolution and became the basic ideology of the Communists. This highly influential work captured the fancies of the whole Russian nation and in the course of time, influenced other nations as well. Many nations strived to achieve the utopian objective stated therein. Outclass!
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