How Did Blake Corrupt London

Corruption of London In the late 1700s, Britain was a global power having most of the world under its control. During this time, it would experience many changes like the revolutions in the America and in France. In addition, Britain would see another revolution called the Industrial Revolution that would end hundreds of years of feudalism and bring about a new era of advancements. Where upper class would not just be of noble birth, but also those with money and influence at their disposal and would use the poor to satisfy their greed; and a time when church and State would exploit those who had no voice. This is a time in history when many English thinkers and writers wished for change. One in particular was William Blake. Blake wrote a poem called …show more content…
The first main theme discussed is the corruption of church and state, which he explores throughout many of his poems, especially, the set of poems in the “Songs of Experience”. For example, the English church was heavily tied to the government and Blake believed “that the political Establishment of England had appropriated and corrupted the Christian faith”(Williams 156); such as, when the church would sell orphans to the wealthy to clean chimneys an extremely dangerous job. However, during this period of history there were no child labors laws to protect them from dangerous work, long hours, workplace harassment, and abuse.. In many cases, the children would die or get stuck in the chimney resulting in broken limbs. Blake’s poem the “The Chimney Sweeper” really delves into this problem of the chimneysweepers and the corruption of the church by those with political power and/or wealth. The church during Blake’s time was more like an institution for the devil, then a place of God. Where those entrusted by God with the care of humanity did not care what truly happen to people as long as they could increase their wealth, power, and/or influence in the world; which was often at the expense