Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life

The 19th century was a time of great social and political unrest in Britain. Following the French and American revolutions at the end of the previous century, there was concern in Britain about the sustainability of power structures and the possibility of revolution. This coincided with the Industrial Revolution, a period of increased mechanization that drove huge economic growth and had enormous impacts on society, both negative and positive. Although education, social mobility, and a burgeoning of the middle classes did occur over this time, financial benefits overwhelmingly remained in the hands of the established elite minority, the aristocracy and landed class. A divide opened between the industrial North and the South, which kept more of its traditional, agrarian way of life. In a deeply unequal society, the progression of the Industrial Revolution caused harm to most of the population, most of whom were uneducated, unskilled, and living in financial insecurity or poverty. Population growth and urbanization altered the traditional structures of society and created a large urban class of workers, mostly concentrated around the growing industrial cities of England’s North. These workers lived in squalid conditions and undertook work that was dangerous, difficult, insecure, and poorly paid. Many working-class women worked outside the home, especially as the economic push toward cheap and unskilled labor pulled women—who were by definition paid far less than men—into industry.