The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844

Friedrich Engels is a German who wrote about the appalling conditions of the English working class. This working poor class was seen by Engels to have been left behind by the Industrial Revolution. Although the Industrial Revolution helped those who were able to own factories or other mediums of production, those who worked in the factories struggled through bad conditions and crowded living spaces. Since all these jobs were confined to the cities, the cities were severely overcrowded with people. Engels writings became a classic socialist writing and led him to work with Marx on his writings on social injustice.

The first and main problem Engels saw in the cities was how overcrowded these areas were. Although he sees the magnificence of modern London, he believes that this magnificence appears that way due to the sacrifice that has been made by its working poor. "It is only when he has visited the slums of this great city that it dawns upon him that the inhabitants of modern London have had to sacrifice so much that it is best in human nature in order to create those wonders of civilization with which their city teem." (500) So the beauty and industry of London is really tainted with the lives of those who have been forced to work for meager wages.

Another unfortunate result of Industrialization is how the massive growths stripped the sense of humanity from the people in the cities. Since the populations were so large, the sense of community between the people was inexistent. "The more that Londoners are packed into a tiny space, the more repulsive and disgraceful becomes the brutal indifference with which they ignore their neighbors and selfishly concentrate upon their private affairs." (502) Since a sense of community would be about the only thing that could stand up against the desires of the business owners, they had no real protection against the growing influence of businessmen.

Engels also writes about how the poor are often congregated into areas so that they can be ignored or not seen by the other citizens and tourists. "He who visits Manchester simply on business or for pleasure need never see the slums, mainly because the working class districts and the middle class districts are quite distinct. This division is due partly to deliberate policy and partly to instinctive and tacit agreement between the two social groups." (504)