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Whitechapel (1.6.1.3: policing in Whitechapel (The police’s reputation had…
Whitechapel
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1.6.1.1: context
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Housing
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Lodging houses were often rented on a rota, meaning someone would rent in the day, someone else would rent at night
People were only renting a bed, which meant that they were extremely overcrowded
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Workhouses
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Workhouses were a place where poor people could get a meal and a bed, or get treated in the infirmary
The people who wanted to stay in the Workhouse were forced to do work that was often pointless, like oakum picking (cleaning rope)
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The conditions were so tough because the rich taxpayers thought that the poor were just lazy, and the Workhouse was meant to encourage them to get a job
Poverty and Crime
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Street violence was very common, especially near pubs where people would often get into drunken fights
Not all poor people in Whitechapel were criminals (in fact, the vast majority weren’t) but being poor did make it more likely for them to turn to crime
Sanitation
The winds would carry factory smoke towards Whitechapel, making the air very polluted
There was very little sanitation or clean toilets, and the cramped living conditions meant that disease could spread very easily and quickly
The sewers would run onto the street, which smelled awful, especially in the summer
Jobs
Because there was a lack of jobs, employers could set the wages and conditions that they wanted to, so this meant that the conditions were harsh and dirty and the pay was very low in these ‘sweatshops’
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The main jobs in Whitechapel were in the bell foundry making church bells, sweatshops, railway construction and dock labourers
1.6.1.2: problems, pressures and tension
Immigration
Irish
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Irish immigrants were willing to accept lower pay than English workers, possibly because of the situation in Ireland at the time
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The Irish immigrants were mostly Catholic, conflicting with the Protestant English
The immigrants wanted more independence for Ireland, which the English didn’t
A few Irishmen set up terrorist organisations and carried out bomb attacks in 1867, 1884 and 1885
Jewish
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There was already a lot of Jewish employers in Whitechapel, and when more Jews showed up they were more likely to hire them, making it even harder for the English workers to find work and easier for Jewish workers
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Jewish immigrants were in direct competition with English workers for housing and so often split into their own communities, meaning that the population was 95% Jewish in some parts of Whitechapel
The police were very suspicious of Jews and vice-versa, which also lead to problems such as religiously motivated attacks
New political ideas
Anarchism
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Despite the idea of anarchism being pretty widespread in Europe, the English seemed to blame Eastern Europeans and Jews especially
Anarchists were blamed for crime by the authorities, and newspapers wanted to sensationalise these crimes to sell more papers
Socialism
Socialism was the belief that money should be collected from the rich in the form of higher taxes and given to the poor
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Radical socialists came to London from Europe, as Britain was seen as a more tolerant country
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