Industrial Pollution and Public Health Discussion HIST 105-26 2/20 by Julian Dodson

Kyra , Madelyn, Brodey, Juno, Kianna, Dan

2026-02-20 22:39:49 UTC

1.) These two documents tell us that the environment of the working-class people was filled with filth and grimy.

"The background is furnished by old barrack-like factory buildings. On the lower right bank stands a long row of houses and mills; the second house being a ruin without a roof, pilled with debris; the third stands so low that the lowest floor is uninhabitable, and therefore without windows or doors."

"I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated, it is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin, and uninhabitableness, the defiance of al considerations of cleanliness, ventilation, and heath which characterise the construction of this single district,.."

2.) In Edwin Chadwick's report, it shows that a lot of working class individuals died from poor work conditions such as developing asthma in the mines and other work related accidents as well. Overall they put economics over the people that worked for them, willing to put the workers into harms way because they favored money over safety.

Discussion

2026-02-20 22:39:56 UTC

Xenia DeLaura, Sasha Ding, Sumalee Smith, Carol Torres, Dayna Enderlin

1: The impacts were severe; the factories made the city worse, smoke from the factories make it dark, smoky, "maze-like"; hard to navigate. No matter the status of the person, it was incredibly hard to obtain clean water. From the first document, "In dry weather, a long string of the most disgusting, blackish-green, slime pools are left standing on this bank, from the depths of which bubbles of miasmatic gas constantly arise and give forth a stench unendurable even on the bridge forty or fifty feet above the surface of the stream." Also from the first, "I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated, it is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin, and uninhabitableness, the defiance of all considerations of cleanliness, ventilation, and health which characterize the construction of this single district, containing at least twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants."

2: As industrialization increased the human health decreased, as the results of the factories ended up "poisoning" the environment and the people, making them sick. Jobs like coal-mining, the new jobs, were causing illnesses as well, causing the people to live shorter lives due to the sicknesses they received by working.

James Roberson, Joshua Fauver, Toni N-G

2026-02-20 22:40:12 UTC

Industrialization created an excess of pollution and greater divided economic levels so there was more segregation. This forced the lower class to live permanently in the lower class and were forced to live in terrible conditions. Industrialization impacted the environment by separating power and allowing the upper class to live untouched by the pollution. Some quotes that support this are "Below the bridge you look upon the piles of debris, the refuse, filth, and offal from the courts on the steep left bank; here each house is packed close behind its neighbor and a piece of each is visible, all black, smoky, crumbling, ancient, with broken panes and window frames." and "This whole collection of cattle sheds for human beings was surrounded on two sides by houses and a factory-"
There was an increased asthma rate for miners which lead to death often. These deaths were caused because the industrial pollution from the mines was not thought to be that dangerous and did not have proper gear to wear causing these issues that ended in death.

Haylee Shaffer, Jackson Severs

2026-02-20 22:40:32 UTC

1. Industrialization caused a gap in the social hierarchy between the middle and working class, causing the working class to live in nearly inhabitable environments with the pollution and mass spread of disease. The class separation is shown in the first reading where it says, "The town itself is particularly built, so that a person may live in it for years, and go in and out daily without coming into contact with working-peoples quarters or even with workers" and "I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated it is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin and uninhabitableness" The "upper" class saw lower class individuals as dirty and gross and less as people and only as workers.

2. In Edwin Chadwick's report he included widowhood statistics that were caused by neglect, most deaths were caused in a work place to people in the working class. The people in this class were often forced to work in high stress, intense, and dangerous conditions and are commonly met with illness and death.

forrest anderson nathan mcglade Kaidin McDaniel James Obanion

2026-02-20 22:41:23 UTC

These two documents both describe and talk about how badly the environment and sanitation is for the working class living in the cities. Industrialization was the cause of factor leading to these inhumane conditions, as more mills were being built around the neighborhoods where "the mills almost all adjoin the rivers or the different canals that ramify throughout the city" (Engels)made unhealthy living conditions for those living in those cities, since mills were super close to the homes leeching in chemicals and pollution. Not only that but Chadwick's document explains that "the person die of the most contagious disease, they must either sleep in the same room" (Chadwick) and this shows the overcrowding of the working class that have to live in these overcrowded dwellings. According to Chadwick's health report the biggest alleged cause of death for these people was Asthma, and this connects back to the workers that supported labor in the mining occupation.

Industrial Pollution and PH Discussion

2026-02-20 22:41:33 UTC

These 2 documents tell us that the pollution within the living conditions were beyond unsanitary and inhabitable. "Right and left a multitude of covered passages led from the main street into numerous courts, and he who turns in thither gets into a filth in disgusting grime..." (Engels, Industrial Manchester) Also emphasizing how little effort the government presented in wanting to better these conditions for the workers. " In times of scarcity it is no uncommon occurrence to see from 80 to 100 persons waiting at each public well for water and the scarcity of it is often made an excuse by servants for the neglect of domestic duties." (Pg 236. Chadwick) We can say that these documents wanted to bring awareness to the absolute filth that many of these families endured.
What we can conclude from industrialization and human health from the statistics provided, is that human health heavily relies on the intervening of the government and being able to focus on policies that have to be created in order to imporve living conditions materialistically and physically. The first author tries to transport the reader to this area by describing in extreme details the living situation of the industrial workers. Compared to the second author, who uses numbers and data taken, in order to prove how deplorable these conditions were.
Vanessa and Lily

Simon Cameron, Aaron Nance, Najwa Moazin

2026-02-20 22:41:34 UTC

Both documents mention the filth created by factories near the houses and the houses people lived in. The authors had us visualize the environment people were forced to live in by including descriptions of sights and smells of the filth and the quality of the workers' houses.
In the fourth paragraph, Engels described just one riverbank by saying, "most disgusting blackish-green slime pools are left standing on this bank, from the depths of which bubbles of miasmatic gas constantly arise and give forth a stench unendurable even on the bridge forty or fifty feet above the surface of the stream."
In the first paragraph, Engels wrote about the houses that the working class lived in: "the working people's quarters are sharply separated from the sections of the city reserved for the middle-class."
Chadwick's report shows that industrialization had a very negative impact on the health of the working class. His report included the opinions of doctors from around Britain, who noted the poor quality of life of the poor, and a ledger noting the deaths of laborers, many of whom died from sickness related to their jobs.
Industrialization was pursued to advance technology, but it ignored the health and safety of the working class.

Public Health Padlet

2026-02-20 22:41:36 UTC

Noah Kracht Bryan Sandon Jobe Kirner Aiden Boyer

It contaminated the cities air due to improper maintenance of waste and the burning of coal 24/7. The poorer areas became a breeding ground for diseases.

" Above the bridge are tanneries, bone mills, and gasworks, from which all drain and refuse find their way into the irk, which receives further of all the neighboring sewers and privies." (Engels)

"I am forced to admit... the construction of this single district." (Engels)

We can clearly see that human health declined due to lack of resources such as time and energy being used to clean areas especially the poor parts of the city. This was linked to industrialization as these people were so tired from working in the mines to fuel the factories along with the water and cities air being tarnished by the factories runoffs and smog output.

Industrial Pollution and Public Health

emiliaarangofraly — 2026-02-20 22:41:55 UTC

Emilia Arango Fraly, Amandine Berthe, Collin McMaken.

The environmental impacts of industrialization in nineteenth century England were detrimental. Due to the method of constructing the mills on the west bank, overcrowding caused a build up of grime and filth, "a privy without a door, so dirty that the inhabitants can pass into and out of the court only by passing through foul pools of stagnant urine and excrement". "In dry weather, a long string of the most disgusting, blackish-green, slime pools are left standing on this bank" (Engels). This shows the conditions of the result of the factories and industrialization in which the working class lived. These conditions caused the working class' health to diminish.
From the report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain under burdens created by neglect a recorded cause of death is titled, "Asthma produced from working in lead mines, which terminated in consumption." This is one of many causes of death in this report that links the dangerous working conditions to respiratory illnesses.

Industrial Pollution and Public Health Padlet - Caden Williams, Jeremiah Logan, and Ben Phayre.

2026-02-20 22:42:52 UTC

These two articles highlight the negative environmental and social conditions that the working class had to endure in light of the country becoming a huge industrial hotspot in the 19th century. Based upon the two articles, we can concur that there were two separate opinions on the matter. On one side, there was disagreement on how the city was arranged and there was disparity of the effects of industrialization that was greatly effecting only the lower class. Essentially Engels is criticizing the wealth divide caused by the industrial revolution. This idea is seen in the quote, "Everything which here arouses horror and indignation is a recent origin, belongs to the industrial epoch." On the other side, Chadwick was still highlighting the negative effects that were being endured by the working class by sharing statistics regarding life expectancies and reports, yet he wasn't suggesting little to no changes that can be made by the Bourgeoisie and ruling class .Instead, Chadwick suggested that the living conditions of the working class have a strong correlation with their morals. This is seen in the second article, "There is a great want of improvement in the moral character of the poor; they can obtain sufficient wages in order to support their families respectively, but they are improvident and never make any provisions against illness." As a group, we decided that there is a direct correlation between living in bad and inhumane conditions due to industrialization and the negative impact on human health. In his reports, Chadwick highlights how Miners (Jobs demanded in the Industrial Revolution) have lower life expectancies and have premature deaths due to the dangerous industry they're involved in.