1700-1900 - Industrialisation

• Olaudah Equiano:

  • Published autobiography about experience of slave trade
  • Persuaded public & MPs transatlantic slave trade should be abolished
  • 1807 - Parliament voted abolished transatlantic slave trade
  • 1833 - abolished slavery in British Empire
  • Anti slavery campaign
• Karl Max & Friedrich Engels:

  • German migrants
  • Radicalises
  • Impact on way people believe society should be organised
  • Communist manifesto outlines how industry & property should be owned by community (believed would make society fairer)
• Jack the Ripper

  • Increased antisemitism (speculation that he was a Jew)
  • Killed people in Whitechapel (widely populated Jewish area)
• Michael Marks & Tom Spencer:

  • Marks & Spencer shop chains everywhere in UK
  • Changed economic system (consumers bought from factories instead of merchants)
• Industrial Revolution in Britain


  • 1st country to experience huge changes to British society
  • Town & cities grew rapidly = urbanisation (Bradford & Manchester)
  • Populations in towns grew from 5 million to 32.5 million
  • Growth of work available in factories = Population growth
  • Transport links improved (road canals/railways) = easy & quick transport (materials-factories, manufactured goods-docks)
  • New docks (Liverpool, London, Glasgow, Bristol)
  • Agriculture improved = better crops grown, high quality meat/wool, enclosure of fields
  • Fewer work on agriculture
  • Demands of from growing population = wide representation of Parliament, more people voting (laws passed by parliaments = changes in attitude - people felt more free to express opinions)
• The British Empire:

  • 17th century England gained first colonies - Colonies on East Coast, North America & some islands in Caribbean
  • 1700-1900 developed into vast British Empire
• Transatlantic slave trade:

  • 1750 - Britain sold more black Africans into slavery than other European nations
  • Triangular trade
  • = 3.5 Black Africans transported across Atlantic in British ships
  • = sold into slavery on sugar & cotton plantations in Caribbean & Southern America
  • = ships returned to Britain with cargoes of sugar, cotton, tobacco, rum
  • Slave traders became rich
  • Enslaved labourers in brutal conditions
  • Reinvested profits into buildings (towns/schools)
• What are non-conformists?


  Emphasised Christian belief that all people were equal in the eyes of god & slavery is wrong
• Why did migrants from British Empire (Asian migrants) migrate?

  • English families returning to Britain from Indian brought their Indian workers with them
  • Students migrated to study British Universities
  • Indian princes came - preferred how Britain was ruled
  • East India company recruited lascars to transport goods to Britain (working conditions poor) stayed in British ports in search for better life, some were abandoned by employers
  • Suez canal (1969) = journey between India & Britain faster
• Why did the Irish migrate?

  • Potato Famine
1845 1 mil died, 2 mil forced migration (fleeing poverty & starvation)Food prices high
  • Catholics escaping persecution in Europe
  • Liverpool & Glasgow
= Nearest port to Belfast & Dublin =Quicker & cheaper for migrants
  • Britain = 'stopover' for migrants on the way to America/Australia (Hundreds who couldn't afford travel stayed in Britain living in poorest parts of cities/already established communities)
  • Rural occupations collapsed in Ireland (spinning/weaving) due to English competition (English factories produced goods quicker at lower costs)
• Why did Jews migrate?

  • Moved to Spitalfields & Whitechapel into established Jewish communities
  • Antisemitism did exist but increasing tolerance in Britain
  • Flee persecution in Russia & Easter Europe
  • 1880-1900 = 100,000 Jews arrived in Britain
• Why did Italians migrate?

  • Agriculture in Britain, prosperous compared to Italy
  • peaceful & less dangerous
  • Italy at war
  • Outbreaks in Italy f typhus & cholera
• Why did Germans migrate?

  • Britain greater freedom for political thinkers to express ideas
  • Free from Government interference
  • peaceful compared to warfare between German states
• Irish Experience:

  • Settled in industrialising cities & took part in labouring work (few had skills for factory work)
  • Irish navvies dug canals & constructed railways (hard, dangerous, dirty work) some killed while working = families pushed into poverty
  • Faced prejudice from English = they were Catholics living in protestant country
  • worked for lower wages than English
  • English people though all Irish were 'Fenians'
  • 1829 Catholic emancipation act = Catholics given same civil rights as everyone else (but couldn't attend universities, become monarch, hold certain public offices)
• Asian Migrants experience:

  • Ayahs stayed with families that moved to England
  • Some ayahs abandoned by employers (destitute)
  • Christian charity set up hostel for them - raised money for passage back to India/helped them find work
  • Some lascars abandoned by shipping companies when they reached port (other chose to leave)
  • Many lascars found work in ports - others = destitute, begging, stealing to stay alive
• Jewish Experience:

  • Settled in Jewish communities
  • new migrants worked in clothing industry
  • Faced antisemitism (different clothes, language, religion, food)
  • People thought their income was being threatened = Jewish migrants often worked longer hours for lower wages
  • Authorities couldn't stop = unions furious (because they had fought so long to get hours of work regulated)
  • Settled Jews afraid that arrival of 1000s of poor Jews would = increased antisemitism (wary of helping newcomers)
• Italian Experience:

  • settled in London
  • make tiles & ceramics/ labouring on roads
  • Developed new skills, making & selling ice cream & working as street musicians
  • contributed to economy generally well regarded
• German Experience:

  • settled through Britain
  • Engineers & scientists set up companies = very successful (Bruner Mond company in Liverpool)
  • set up small businesses (shops/restaurants)
  • contributed to economy generally well regarded
• Irish Impact:

  • Digging canals & constructing railways = Britains economy successful
  • 1880s network (linked all major cities, town & ports, transporting raw materials & finished goods)
  • Names after Irish area
• Asian Impact:

  • Chinese & Indian restaurants
  • Oldest Chinatown in Europe
  • Indian community growth in Liverpool
  • 1890 = mosques built
• Jewish Impact:

  • Own shops & businesses = British economy grew
  • Michael Marks own stall in Leeds market (by 1900 Marks & Spencer's had shops in Britain's major towns)
  • Helped industries thrive (Eastern European Jews worked in clothing trade)
  • Synagogues built
  • Jewish restaurants
• Italian Impact:

  • Own shops & businesses
  • Did well & British economy grew
  • Brought Gelato (ice cream)
• German Impacts:

  • Karl Marx
  • Friedrich Engels
  • Sausage
• Role of Media: played part in social attitudes

  • Newspapers publicised judgment (Lord Justice Mansfield 1772 said 'slavery did not legally exist in England') = delighted Black Africans & people against slavery = those who benefited from slave trade were less happy
  • Paul Reuter (German) stated London based '1851 Reuter News Agency' - sold international papers = made British feel wider world
  • Mary Seacole publicised in newspapers soldiers during Crimean war - held fundraising gala & raised money due to publicity = Rail network carried newspapers all over Britain = widely read