Essay preview
1831- Cholera Outbreak Cholera was first detected in Sunderland in 1831. Eventually, over a period of time, the disease spread throughout England killing more people than the black plague. This resulted in the death of thousands of people, which led to many different theories as to why it was spreading. 1834- The Poor Law In 1834, Parliament decided to pass the Poor Law Amendment. This was due to the shared views that too much money was spent on the poor. Instead, Poor people were transferred to a workhouse which provided them with shelter and a basic diet of soup and bread. Families were split up, and men and women were segregated from one another. In return for this, they were expected to do a certain amount of labour work a day. 1842- The Sanitary Conditions In 1842, a report was written and published by Edwin Chadwick, secretary to the Poor Law Commission. It informed people what the poor were already aware of. It was able to highlight how dirty the streets were and how it was mostly connected to disease. It reported on the fact that the average life span was decreasing as people were dying younger, and it also showed how the poor were getting sicker. Because it showed a better understanding that filth and disease are in fact linked to each other, Chadwick was able to come to a conclusion th...