Hello, my name is Ashley Schluter. I am an Early Childhood Education major and a senior. Yesterday and today I learned some interesting things about 19th century London. I also had some of my previous knowledge reaffirmed. The knowledge I already had was about the class differences, the conditions and health hazards, and the poverty levels in London during the 19th century. The East End ended up being a terrible slum after the railroads were built and ticket prices lowered. Violence, poverty, and filth were popular residents of this part of the city. One of the new things I learned was about the divide between north and south London. I knew the Thebes river split the city but I didn’t realize it also segregated the population like it did. I think this separation is important when talking about the uprising of London because without knowing how the lower or working class lived we really don’t get the full effect of how the upper class lived. Understandably the railroads are also a major part of London. In the time period they enabled people to travel for work and play which meant they didn’t have to live in the city. This point is important for talking about the suburbs and the separate classes. The working poor wouldn’t have had the money for train rides so they would remain in the city, where as the upper working class could afford to move out of the inner city and build connected yet separate homes and communities. I knew about the filth but I didn’t know about the efforts to clean it up. “Health scares and cholera epidemics in the 1850s paved the way for cleaner water; the Metropolis Management Act of 1855 shook up local government; and major works, such as drainage and slum clearance, were put in the hands of the Metropolitan Board of Works.” (robinson, 2011). These are just a few of the things I knew and learned about Victorian London.
Robinson, Bruce. “London: ‘A Modern Babylon'” BBC News. BBC, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Aug. 2015.
4 thoughts on “Ashley Schluter Introduction”
Comments are closed.
Ashley, I had the same thoughts about the Thames separating the working class from the upper class in London. I like how you connected the struggles of the working class versus the upper class, especially concerning transportation and jobs available to both parties.
Hey Ashley,
I enjoyed your post, especially the way you examined the divides between North and South London. I was reminded of the different accents different people from various parts of London have – which to me are nearly imperceptible, but are obvious to people who are English. People with accents from the North sound more posh and the South more of an improper or ‘cockney’ accent. Anyway, your post made me think of the socioeconomic history that created this divide.
I agree that it is important to note the impact of segregation just to show how the upper class really lived. Without knowing how the working class struggled it would be hard to grasp the divide. There seemed to be much more opportunity for the rich as it was powered by money which the poor did not have making the gap that much wider. Great post!
Welcome to the class! Good work on observing the role class, transportation, city infrastructure, and the Thames played in the creation of Victorian London!