William Cobbett lecture

During the 19^th century England was experiencing a period of great change which would lead to one of the biggest revolutions in history- the industrial revolution. Agriculture began to decline leading to mass famine and new cities such as Birmingham and Manchester were emerging as the industrial centres.  This change marked the transition from the 17^th and 18^th centuries when there was focus upon science and how this affected the world in which we live to the paradigm of change and how nature played an important part in society not just mechanics.  Philosophers began to interpret and understand the world through change such as Darwin’s theory of evolution in 1859.  He believed that all species evolved from natural selection and that only the best members of a species survive and reproduce to continue the process. Chemistry and geology were seen as important sciences as they were able to explain the development of the Earth through chemical change and not just science.  As the British Empire began to industrialise and develop it came into contact with the Eastern world and countries such as India. It became heavily influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism as these non Ibrahamic religions believed in a constant cycle of life and death whereby life was an endless process.

During the revolution nearly all traces of agriculture and farming were destroyed. The army known as the “Red Coats” destroyed the land all across Britain so that farmers were unable to produce crops or use the land for grazing. Scotland was particularly affected as it relied heavily on agriculture for wool production and hunting and when this industry was destroyed Scotland was left helpless and unable to export any goods. Many Scottish farmers were forced to migrate to the inner cities or to other countries such as Canada and the USA.  The few remaining farms that were not destroyed by the Army became large industrial farms under the Act of Enclosure passed in 1878.

William Cobbett
9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835

William Cobbett who was an English Journalist produced a series of articles relating to this change which were published in his 1830 book “Rural Rides”.  He travelled around many areas of Southern England documenting the conditions of these areas from the point of view of a farmer and a social reformer.  He believed that parliament should only enforce a law to help agriculture if members have witnessed conditions first hand. He witness tens of thousands of landless peasants who were struggling to survive and had no option but to migrate to the cities to find factory work.  In 1844 a law was introduced whereby people were forced to find work in cities otherwise they would be placed in a workhouse where they would eventually starve and die.