Why were Victorian cities so unhealthy?
There are many reasons out there as to why so many people died in the industrializing cities such as Leeds and Manchester at this time. We from the future look back on this time as a disgusting one, and it was: Children will get sick if they come in contact with feces. Unfortunately, the Victorians didn’t know this. However, perhaps the root cause lies with these four reasons: the population explosion, back to back housing, diseases, and water and waste management.
One reason why Victorian cities were so unhealthy was the population explosion, which caused the cities to become overcrowded. There were seventeen thousand people in Manchester in 1750, but somehow grew to an astounding 333 thousand people in 1850. People lived out in the open, and even though the rich had money and housing to spare, they remained ignorant of …show more content…
Four very common diseases were cholera, typhoid, typhus, and tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB). Treatment for these diseases was given to those who had money, but for the poor, there was no escaping these infections. For example, 702 lives were lost in a single epidemic in 1832. After that outbreak, the Health Board decided to investigate. They were in shock when they found the conditions people were living in. In 1832, the upper class thought bad smells caused diseases. That theory is called miasma and the Health Board believed miasma was the cause of cholera and the other diseases. However, this is not true. Victims of cholera would try any cure- from getting soaked in champagne to doing drugs like opium. Cholera, typhus, and typhoid are all water-borne diseases. The reason these diseases were so prevalent was the river was full of all sorts of gunk- including urine. In the morning, the people would pump water from the river to drink. This would kill them, as they are drinking their own urine mixed in with industrial
There are many reasons out there as to why so many people died in the industrializing cities such as Leeds and Manchester at this time. We from the future look back on this time as a disgusting one, and it was: Children will get sick if they come in contact with feces. Unfortunately, the Victorians didn’t know this. However, perhaps the root cause lies with these four reasons: the population explosion, back to back housing, diseases, and water and waste management.
One reason why Victorian cities were so unhealthy was the population explosion, which caused the cities to become overcrowded. There were seventeen thousand people in Manchester in 1750, but somehow grew to an astounding 333 thousand people in 1850. People lived out in the open, and even though the rich had money and housing to spare, they remained ignorant of …show more content…
Four very common diseases were cholera, typhoid, typhus, and tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB). Treatment for these diseases was given to those who had money, but for the poor, there was no escaping these infections. For example, 702 lives were lost in a single epidemic in 1832. After that outbreak, the Health Board decided to investigate. They were in shock when they found the conditions people were living in. In 1832, the upper class thought bad smells caused diseases. That theory is called miasma and the Health Board believed miasma was the cause of cholera and the other diseases. However, this is not true. Victims of cholera would try any cure- from getting soaked in champagne to doing drugs like opium. Cholera, typhus, and typhoid are all water-borne diseases. The reason these diseases were so prevalent was the river was full of all sorts of gunk- including urine. In the morning, the people would pump water from the river to drink. This would kill them, as they are drinking their own urine mixed in with industrial