G.M Trevelyan - SHE - Chapter XI
[alert-success] DR. JOHNSON'S ENGLAND - I
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[alert-primary] Humanitarian Movements in the Age of Johnson [/alert-primary]
[alert-primary] Humanitarian Movements in the Age of Johnson [/alert-primary]
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Introduction
The eighteenth-century
Humanitarian Movements were at their weakest during the Methodist and
Evangelical religious fervour. The only way for the pious people to maintain
their religious conviction was by engaging in deeds of generosity and kindness.
A defining sentiment of the time
was "strong benevolence of soul," which compelled extraordinary
responses to the "dehumanising" effects of the Industrial
Revolution's evils. Hospitals came next, followed by Charity Schools, and
Sunday Schools in the final years of the 20th century.
The Age of Hospitals
The improved medical service resulted in a
sharp decline in the death rate, The smallpox was the most dreaded illness of
the time. Lady Montague introduced the Turkish inoculation method and helped to
lessen the disease's devastation. Edward Jenner made the smallpox vaccination
later, at the turn of the century. The first lie-in hospitals in the
nation were established thanks to the humanitarians of the nation. In England,
there were 150 such hospitals by 1800. The Founding Hospital was entirely the
result of Captain Coram's tireless efforts.
Police, Law and Justice
General Oglethorpe exposed the crimes taking
place in prison. The jail superintendents of the debtors' prison had a criminal
mindset. General Oglethorpe convinced the Parliament to conduct an
investigation into the Fleet and Marshal sea's atrocities in 1729. The guards
here tortured the prisoners until they died.
Only the prisoner who could
afford the luxury of tipping the jailor could live in peace without being
subjected to unspeakable humility and torture. However, the government at this
time did not pay much attention to the uproar. The charitable Oglethorpe transported the poor
debtors and prisoners to the American colonies when he was appointed Governor
of Georgia, one of the American colonies.
Country Justices
The Humanitarians' most admirable
accomplishment was their campaign to end the slave trade. The great prison
reformer John Howard worked in tandem with anti-slavery propagandist William
Wilberforce to combat the slave trade. By Wilberforce's lone effort, the Parliament
passed an Act outlawing the slave trade in 1807. The Act also restricted the
treatment of slaves during their transportation, also known as the "middle
passages."
Poor Law Amendment Act
The Poor Law Amendment Act of
1834 introduced a workhouse system to stop the abuses against the poor. Anyone who refused to be housed in the
workhouse was not eligible for any assistance, and the poor receive relief. To
manage the poor, the nation was divided into districts with a Commissioner and
Boards of Guardians.
Blackstone and Bentham
The negative effects of the
Industrial Revolution led to an increase in crime. Except for the "Bow
Street runners," introduced by the Fielding Brothers, there was no
organised police force. The founder of English law, Jenany Bentham, called for
reforms after exposing the ineffectiveness and complexity of the current legal
structure. His book, Fragment on Government (1776), attacked legal
loopholes. The judges were independent stewards of justice rather than the
government's "jackals."
Conclusion
The various humanitarian
movements led to the abolition of slavery, the reform of prisons, and the
founding of the Salvation Army. The movement known as teetotalism, or total
abstinence, was started to combat the social evil of drunkenness. It frequently
led to significant domestic unhappiness and even crime. The "Blue Ribbon
Army" engaged in organised propaganda against drinking among all social
classes in the years that followed.
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