Video: Inside Victorian London

﻿Hi, how are you doing? I hope you are well, welcome to lesson one in English. I am Mr Mba and we are going to begin our study in a Christmas Carol. So our key question that we're going to be looking at for the next couple of lessons is, what compelled Dickens to write a Christmas Carol? it's quite a big question, but we'll break it down and look at it in bite-sized chunks. So today we'll begin by looking at key vocabulary for this lesson then we'll think about the context and background to a Christmas Carol. We'll then answer some questions on the context we've learned about then you'll have an opportunity to apply what you've learned before we finish with a quiz! Unfortunately, there isn't a prize with the quiz, but you will earn maximum respect from me. In this lesson, you're going to need something to write in, something to write with your brain. Just pause the video here so you can grab what it is that you need. Okay, let's get started. So let's begin by looking at some key vocabulary. In this lesson, we will be learning the words, inequality and Malthusian. Inequality means the quality of being unequal or uneven. An example of this is, they discussed the problem of inequality between students. Another example we could use is the description details the vast inequality experienced by the most disadvantaged in society. Our second word Malthusian, is a word that you probably haven't come across before. It relates to Thomas Malthus and his views on human population and world resources. One way we might use the word is Malthus's ideas are known as Malthusian. Malthusian worries are resurgent and people fear the consequences for an overcrowded planet. So let's apply the vocabulary we've just learned. Here we've a two sentences that use the word inequality. I want you to decide which one you think is using it correctly. The first one says, the inequality in society meant that some people suffered. The second one says, he stopped playing sport because of his inequality to study. Pause the video to complete this task. And so the correct answer was the inequality in society meant that some people suffered. Let's have a look at Malthusian. The first sentence is, the doctor was certain that the patient had Malthusian. The second sentence says, the Government agreed the new policy would be Malthusian. Pause the video to complete this task. And so the second sentence was the correct answer. The Government agreed the new policy would be Malthusian. So now let's look at some context and background to our text at Christmas Carol. If you were poor and live in a Victorian London life was really hard. By the 1840s, the industrial revolution was fully on the way and was changing the way people lived in the country, especially in the city of London. It was such a rapid change from being a farming nation to one of factories and industry that put a lot of strain on the city. More and more people moved to the Capital during this period and you had slums emerge, which were densely populated and full of rundown housing. Poverty was widespread and people lived in appalling conditions with large numbers of poor people and high levels of unemployment the Government passed a law called, the New Poor Law in 1834. It was designed to ensure that anybody able bodied and unemployed had to work in workhouses. A workhouse provided work and shelter for people without the means to support themselves. The conditions were awful, they were often filthy the food was poor quality and it often meant that families had to separate. The 1840s were a challenging time to be poor in London. There were large numbers of poor people and high levels of unemployment. Factory workers lived in slums with appalling conditions. Slums were rundown areas where people lived in a state of poverty. The Government passed the New Poor Law in 1834, which basically said that anyone who was able bodied and unemployed had to work in workhouses. While wealthy men grew rich from the industrial revolution, the poor often suffered as a consequence. The New Poor Law was partly informed by the writings of Thomas Malthus. He argued that it was important not to improve the living standards of the poor. In his writings, Malthus argued that improving living standards would increase the population that the number of people need and food would be too great. Therefore, the poor should be allowed to die if they could not support themselves. We might not describe these views as Malthusian. Pause the video to answer the questions. Remember you can go back in the video to find the answers to these questions. Now, we thought a little about the suffering that the poor experience during this time, but there were also a number of men who became very wealthy during this period. So as we think more about the context of what it was like living in Victorian London we have to think about what kind of education did poor people have available to them? The poor suffered from a lack of education. Many children of poor families would work similar hours to their parents often in dangerous jobs where the risk of injury and disability was very high. Christianity was the dominant belief in Victorian society and people, especially the wealthy were expected to demonstrate Christian values. Ragged schools, these were schools that were run by volunteers for poor children and called ragged schools because the children would come to them in ragged clothes. Ragged Schools and Church and Parish Schools existed as a way of educating the poor. However, poor children were sometimes given apprenticeships with employers who would exploit them as free labour. It wasn't until the 1870 Education Act that schooling was made compulsory for children. Pause your video now and answer the following questions. Let's look at some answers. Question one, poor children often have to work in dangerous jobs. Question two, Christianity was the dominant belief of Victorian society. Question three, the wealthy were expected to demonstrate Christian values. Question four, some employers used and exploited children as free labour. So if you remember, we're trying to answer the big question about what it was that compelled Dickens to write a Christmas Carol? And we're starting to get insight into what life was like for the poor living in Victorian London. Now let's start to apply our learning. I want you to answer this small question. Based on what we have learned so far, how were the poor treated in Victorian London? Write a short response to the question about, spend at least 15 minutes writing. You may wish to mention the large numbers of poor people, the high levels of unemployment, the appalling living and working conditions, as well as the Malthusian attitudes towards the poor. Words to include are inequality Malthusian, living standards and poverty. And any other words that you think would be helpful in explaining your ideas. Great work, let's look at an example response together. Dickens wrote at a time when there were high levels of poverty and unemployment. Life was hard for people trapped in poverty. The living standards for the poor were terrible. The laws brought in by the Government were Malthusian. The poor were treated unfairly, and this showed the inequality in Victorian London. There were large numbers of poor people, which meant that poverty was widespread and common. Let's look at a slightly more developed response. Dickens was compelled to write a Christmas Carol because of the inequality he observed in Victorian London. High levels of poverty and unemployment meant that the living and working conditions for the poor were appalling. The Government adopted Malthusian ideas towards the poor. The introduction of workhouses did not improve living standards, but made life more difficult for the poorest people in society. Dickens writes to highlight the suffering of the poor in London, who were often exploited by the wealthy. Excellent work! I'd love to see some of the responses you came up with. If you'd like to please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational @Iammistermber and #LearnwithOak. Next lesson, we'll be continuing our exploration about some of the factors that compelled Dickens to write a Christmas Carol. But before we finish our lesson today, you need to complete the quiz for this lesson and I know you will smash it. And I look forward to seeing you next lesson. Take care, bye, bye.

Exit Quiz: Inside Victorian London

Completed: Inside Victorian London

In this lesson, we will begin to explore what life was like living in Victorian London and how this influenced Dickens in writing 'A Christmas Carol'.

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Inside Victorian London

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