Engels PSA

Engels, Friedrich.  The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844.  London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1892.  45, 48-53.

In The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 by Friedrich Engels, the horrible living conditions of the working-class in Manchester, England during the Industrial Revolution are described.  While Engels, a German who believed in communism, was in Manchester, he met with people from English labor and Chartist movements and took notes on child labor.  His father owned a textile mill, but he was against the revolution due to its effects on the working class people. He wrote this book to show the horrible conditions the working-class endured, such as the air quality being atrocious, trash being everywhere, repugnant smells, and polluted standing water.  He also mentions their rooms were exceptionally tiny with little furniture, all further backing his view that the factory workers in the city lived in very small and dirty places.  His book, written only one year after visiting Manchester is a reliable, primary source due to it being written so soon after visiting and taking notes.  He wrote many other political works in his time, even though he dropped out of secondary school.    In his book, his distinct negative tone is seen when he states that his unbelievable and awful descriptions are not even exaggerated.