The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 (Unabridged‪)‬

Friedrich Engels spent two years (from 1842 to 1844) in Manchester, England, working at his father's factory. During that period he observed and recorded the effect of the industrial revolution on the labor market and the subsequent condition of what became the working class of England. While it is widely argued that the industrial revolution improved the standard of living for the general population, Engels' observations, corroborated by his considerable research into official reports by various government-appointed commissions, reveal that in 1845, the working class was still paying a heavy toll for England's industrial rise.