The Condition of the Working Class in England
Also known as Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
Friedrich Engels's 1845 study of the industrial working class in Manchester and Salford; his first book.
At a glance
Key ideas
Workers worse off, Death in the cities, The mills of Carlisle …
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Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx and The People of the Abyss
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- Engels argues that the Industrial Revolution made workers worse off.
- He wrote it from his own observations and contemporary reports during his stay in Salford and Manchester from 1842 to 1844.
- He shows that disease killed far more people in the industrial cities than in the surrounding countryside.
- The book helped convince Karl Marx that the working class could be the agent of revolution.
Why it matters
- Its critique of industrialisation was influential with British historians, and was echoed by many Marxist historians of the Industrial Revolution in the 20th century.
Key facts
- Author
- Friedrich Engels1
- Published
- 1845, in German1
- Written
- In Salford and Manchester, from 1842 to 18441
- English translation
- By Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky, authorised by Engels with a new preface; New York 1887, London 1892, with "in 1844" added to the title1
Key ideas
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Workers worse off1
Industrial workers had lower incomes than their pre-industrial peers and lived in unhealthier places.
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Death in the cities1
Deaths from diseases such as smallpox and measles were four times as common in Manchester, Salford and Liverpool as in the countryside.
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The mills of Carlisle1
Child and adult death rates in Carlisle rose after the mills came.
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The basis of social movements1
The condition of the working class is the starting point of every social movement of the day.
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England first1
Proletarian conditions existed in their classic form in England, and Germany would follow unless it reformed in time.
Connections
Links
Sources
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