The Condition of the Working Class in England facts for kids
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| Author | Friedrich Engels |
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| Original title | Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England |
| Translator | Mrs. F. Kelley Wischnewetzky (Florence Kelley) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Politics, economics, sociology |
| Publisher | Otto Wigand, Leipzig |
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Publication date
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1845 in German, 1887 in English |
| Media type | Print (book) |
| ISBN | 1-4069-2036-3 |
| Followed by | The Communist Manifesto |
The Condition of the Working Class in England (German: Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England) is an important book from 1845. It was written by the German thinker Friedrich Engels. The book looks closely at the lives of factory workers in Victorian England.
This was Engels' first book. He wrote it in German, and an English version came out in 1887. Engels wrote it after living in Manchester from 1842 to 1844. Manchester was a key city during the Industrial Revolution. He used his own observations and detailed reports to write the book.
After meeting again in 1844, Karl Marx read the book. He was very impressed by what Engels had written.
Contents
Life for Workers in England
In his book, Condition, Engels argued that the Industrial Revolution made life worse for many workers. He showed how people living in big industrial cities like Manchester and Liverpool suffered more. For example, deaths from diseases like smallpox and measles were four times higher in these cities than in the countryside nearby. Deaths from fits or seizures were ten times higher.
The overall death rate in Manchester and Liverpool was much higher than the average for the whole country. In some areas, about 1 in 30 people died each year. This was much higher than the national average of 1 in 45 or 46.
Engels gave an interesting example from the industrial town of Carlisle. Before factories were built (1779–87), 4,408 out of 10,000 children died before age five. After factories came, this number rose to 4,738. Also, before factories, 1,006 out of 10,000 adults died before age 39. After factories, this number went up to 1,261 out of 10,000.
Engels' View on Industrialization
Engels' ideas greatly influenced historians who studied the Industrial Revolution in Britain. He looked at both how much workers earned and their living conditions. He believed that factory workers made less money than people did before factories existed. He also said they lived in places that were much less healthy and pleasant.
This was a big criticism of industrialization, which is when a country changes from farming to making things in factories. Many historians who followed Marx's ideas in the 20th century agreed with Engels.
Engels was the oldest son of a rich German factory owner. But he became interested in radical ideas when he was young. When he was sent to England, what he saw there made his views even stronger.
In 1844, Engels met Karl Marx in Paris. They became lifelong friends and intellectual partners. Engels showed Marx his book. It helped convince Marx that the working class could be the key to a big change in history.
Why Engels Wrote the Book
Engels first wrote the book for people in Germany. Many see it as a classic description of what life was like for industrial workers at that time. He wanted Germans to understand the harsh realities.
He explained that the situation of the working class was the main reason for all social movements then. He felt that to truly understand socialist ideas, one needed to know about the lives of the working class. He said that the best examples of these conditions were found in the British Empire, especially in England.
Engels also believed that Germany had the same basic social system as England. He warned that Germany would face the same problems unless changes were made. He saw the same root causes of misery and oppression for workers in Germany as in England.
Bringing the Book to English Speakers
The book was translated into English in 1885 by an American named Florence Kelley. She used her married name, Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky, at the time. Engels approved this translation and wrote a new introduction for it. It was published in 1887 in New York and in London in 1891. These English versions added "in 1844" to the title.
Engels' Thoughts in 1892
In his introduction for the 1892 English edition, Engels reflected on his younger self. He said he was only 24 when he wrote the book. He felt proud of its good parts and wasn't ashamed of its flaws.
He noted that many of the terrible conditions he described in England had improved by 1892. He explained that as big factories grew, they found it less helpful to use small tricks or dishonest ways of doing business.
Also, serious diseases like cholera, typhus, and smallpox had shown British business owners the urgent need for better sanitation in cities. This was to protect their own families from getting sick. So, the worst problems he wrote about had either disappeared or were less obvious.
Engels also pointed out that while England had moved past the early, harsh stage of factory work, other countries were just reaching it. France, Germany, and especially America were becoming strong competitors to England's factories. He had predicted this in 1844. He saw that these countries were now at a similar stage of development as England was in 1844. He found the situation in America especially similar. Even though the outside conditions for workers in America were different, the same economic rules were at work. This meant the results, while not exactly the same, were very similar.
For example, in America, workers were fighting for shorter workdays. They also wanted laws to limit working hours, especially for women and children in factories. Practices like the truck-system (where workers were paid in goods instead of money) were common. The cottage-system (where bosses controlled workers in rural areas) was also used.
Engels also mentioned that his general ideas in the book (about philosophy, economics, and politics) were not exactly the same as his views in 1892. He explained that modern international Socialism had grown into a science, mostly thanks to Marx's work. His book showed an early stage of this development. He compared it to how a human embryo shows traces of its ancestors. His book showed the roots of modern Socialism in German philosophy.
The book has been printed many times since then and is still available today.
