John Smith
HIS 101
Primary Source Evaluation
January 22, 2015
“Chadwick’s Report on Sanitary Conditions (1842)”
Edwin Chadwick wrote “Chadwick’s Report on Sanitary Conditions” in 1842. He was the head of a commission created to look at the relationship between the spread of epidemic diseases and sanitary conditions. Chadwick was a reformer and thus had a bias that disease and the filthy conditions of the industrial age were connected. This report was authored by a commission created by the British government to study the issues of sanitation. As such, the audience is the British government and other officials who might be interested in reform. The topic of the report is the sanitary conditions in Great Britain, particularly focusing on the cities.
This paragraph addresses who wrote the document, biases of the author, and audience, as well as what type of document is it, the topic, and when it was written. (See 1 on the instructions)
The document was written in Great Britain, probably England as it focuses on the conditions both in the cities like London and in the countryside. This report was generated during the Industrial Revolution. At the time cities were growing rapidly geographically and in terms of population and there was little planning. The conditions in the cities were filthy with no regard for cleanliness, infrastructure or services. With populations so closely packed epidemics were devastating and this impacted the workforce. The economic viability of the British Empire was dependent on its production and this required a healthy workforce. This is why this report being written in England, or at least in the British Isles where the conditions could be observed firsthand was so important.
This paragraph addresses where the document was written, and the importance of setting. (See 1)
This paragraph addresses historical context or what might have influenced the author to write this document at this time in history. (See 1)
The question of the poor was a pertinent one in the 1830s – 1850s. The poor made up the majority of the workforce and for these individuals the rise of the industrial age was usually a positive one; however, the cities also suffered from the question of the poor. Urban dwellers increased during this period. Massive internal migrations in regional groups led to the development of social networks in the cities making the transition less painful. Despite these networks the city was not hospitable to the poor and the changing mores of society was reflected in literature and social focus. Immorality was widely associated with the poor and immigration was also associated with the poor as the potato famine caused this socio-economic group to migrate. If Great Britain wanted to retain her manufacturing crown, she needed to address the conditions of the poor workforce and thus needed to address the sanitary conditions.
This paragraph addresses issues of why the document was written and credibility ...
John SmithHIS 101Primary Source EvaluationJanuary 22, 2015.docx
1. John Smith
HIS 101
Primary Source Evaluation
January 22, 2015
“Chadwick’s Report on Sanitary Conditions (1842)”
Edwin Chadwick wrote “Chadwick’s Report on Sanitary
Conditions” in 1842. He was the head of a commission created
to look at the relationship between the spread of epidemic
diseases and sanitary conditions. Chadwick was a reformer and
thus had a bias that disease and the filthy conditions of the
industrial age were connected. This report was authored by a
commission created by the British government to study the
issues of sanitation. As such, the audience is the British
government and other officials who might be interested in
reform. The topic of the report is the sanitary conditions in
Great Britain, particularly focusing on the cities.
This paragraph addresses who wrote the document, biases of the
author, and audience, as well as what type of document is it, the
topic, and when it was written. (See 1 on the instructions)
The document was written in Great Britain, probably England as
it focuses on the conditions both in the cities like London and in
the countryside. This report was generated during the Industrial
Revolution. At the time cities were growing rapidly
geographically and in terms of population and there was little
planning. The conditions in the cities were filthy with no
regard for cleanliness, infrastructure or services. With
populations so closely packed epidemics were devastating and
this impacted the workforce. The economic viability of the
British Empire was dependent on its production and this
required a healthy workforce. This is why this report being
2. written in England, or at least in the British Isles where the
conditions could be observed firsthand was so important.
This paragraph addresses where the document was written, and
the importance of setting. (See 1)
This paragraph addresses historical context or what might have
influenced the author to write this document at this time in
history. (See 1)
The question of the poor was a pertinent one in the 1830s –
1850s. The poor made up the majority of the workforce and for
these individuals the rise of the industrial age was usually a
positive one; however, the cities also suffered from the question
of the poor. Urban dwellers increased during this period.
Massive internal migrations in regional groups led to the
development of social networks in the cities making the
transition less painful. Despite these networks the city was not
hospitable to the poor and the changing mores of society was
reflected in literature and social focus. Immorality was widely
associated with the poor and immigration was also associated
with the poor as the potato famine caused this socio-economic
group to migrate. If Great Britain wanted to retain her
manufacturing crown, she needed to address the conditions of
the poor workforce and thus needed to address the sanitary
conditions.
This paragraph addresses issues of why the document was
written and credibility of the author and the document. (See 1)
This report was generated to create recommendations for how to
address the sanitary conditions in Great Britain. The average
life expectancy in Great Britain, according to the report, was 13
years less than that in Sweden. The comparison of the two
countries pointed to the close proximity of the population and
the lack of proper drainage, contaminated water and loose
3. morality as the culprits of this decline in life expectancy. The
document is credible as it is a government report; however,
Chadwick makes a number of assumptions connecting
cleanliness, poverty and morality in this report that are not
necessarily directly connection. This is a common belief in the
1800s and thus does not undermine the credibility of the
document.
By watching the brief video on the Industrial Age and
labor in Great Britain in the early 19th century and reading
Chadwick’s report, it is clear that the rise of industry and
manufacturing in Great Britain was relatively unplanned.
Infrastructure was not prepared for this drastic change in
society because no one had really envisioned the negatives of
industrialization. Maybe they were blinded by the positives
brought with wealth and production. This document reveals that
even though the people of the era had begun connecting life
expectancy to disease and sanitation, they also applied a false
morality to living conditions, assuming that poverty, immorality
and crime were natural bedfellows.
This final paragraph summarizes what you have learned about
the event from the document you selected. (See 2 on the
instructions)
Bibliographic information in one of the approved formats for
both the primary source and the supplemental video, if
applicable. (See 3 on the instructions.)
This is in MLA format using the Microsoft Word Research
tools.
Works Cited
Blakemore, Bill. "Industrial Revolution." Teacher Tube. 29
