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Essay on Britain in the Eighteenth Century

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Britain in the Eighteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, Britain was a very different country, both industrially and agriculturally. Today's major cities such as London and Birmingham were a fraction of the size that they are today. There were no major factories, with the eighteenth century equivalent running on power generated from waterwheels. There were no roads, just dirt tracks, and all farming was done manually, with help from horses pulling carts instead of machinery.

Approximately 5.5 million people lived in England and Wales in the eighteenth century. This was less than there is today living in London. There is no way to know the exact amount of inhabitants, as there was no …show more content…

In the eighteenth century, family sizes were, on average, bigger than they are today. People were having more children, with the hope that in the future they would provide more money for the family. Even though the population was rising, many children died in infancy. It was estimated that roughly half the children were dying before their fifth birthday.

Another factor affecting population growth was the diseases of the time. Killing diseases such as smallpox, dysentery, consumption and typhus were widespread. Out of the entire population, they most affected the poor people, due to their inadequate shelter, poor diet, and sometimes, excessive drinking.

From 1720-1750 cheap gin was drunk in large quantities, especially in London. To stop this, in 1751 Parliament raised the tax on spirits, and kept a close watch on the sale of it, which made it less of a problem among the poorer people.

Even though the drink problem was taken care of, the lack of basic medical knowledge caused death among both poor and wealthy. A good example of disease amongst the higher classes is that of Queen Anne (1702-1714), who had seventeen children, none of who survived childbirth.

In the second half of the century, the population of England and Wales rose to 9.5 million. This was due to the falling death rate, caused by better overall

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