The condition of the working class in England

419 Pages·1968·24.378 MB·English

by  F. Engels , W. O. Henderson , W. H. Chaloner.

SP 78 / $2.95
Friedrich Engels
THE CONDITION OF
THE WORKING CLASS
ENGLAND
IN
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**
*
Stanfor

THE CONDITION OF
THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND

ENGELS
THE CONDITION
OF THE
WORKING
CLASS
IN
ENGLAND
Translated and edited by
W. O. HENDERSON
and
W. H. CHALONER
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford UniversityPress
Stanford, California
©
Basil Blackwell, 1958
L.C. 68-21290
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Firstpublishedin 1958 by Basil Blackwell
Reissued in 1968 by Stanford UniversityPress
CONTENTS
Editors' Note vii
Editors' Introduction ix
Engels's Preface to the First German Edition of
i«45
3
Dedication ' To the Working Classes of Great-
Britain ' (1845) 7
CHAPTER
I Historical Introduction 9
II The Industrial Proletariat 27
III The Great Towns 30
IV Competition 88
V
Irish Immigration 104
VI The Results of Industrialisation 108
VII The Proletariat 150
VIII The Proletariat {continued) 213
IX Working-Class Movements 241
X The Miners 274
XI The Proletariat on the Land 295
XII The Attitude of the Bourgeoisie 311
Conclusion 332
Appendices
I The Postscript of i846: An English Strike 337
II Preface to the American Edition of 1887 .
HI Preface to the English Edition of 1892 360
IV List of Sources Quoted by Engels 37*
V Examples of Engels's Methods of Quoting 375
Index
377
Mapsandplans appear onpp. 57, 59, 66, 67, 72.
EDITORS* NOTE
This is a new translation ofEngels's book on the condition ofthe
working class in England in 1844. It is based upon the original
German first edition of 1845, which was reprinted, with minor
corrections, by the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute in Karl Marx-
Friedrich Engels, Historisch-Kritiscbe Gesamtausgabe\ Werke, Schriften,
Briefe> PartI, Vol. 4(1932), pp. 5-282.1 The Institute editionincludes
notes by V. Adoratskij (pp. 519-25). We have added to our trans-
lationanaccountofastrikeofbuildingtradeoperativesinManchester
which Engels originally wrote for the periodical Das Westfaliscbe
Damp/boot(Bielefeld), 1846. The article was reprinted in the Gesamt-
ausgabe, PartI,Vol. 4, pp. 393-405.
The main difference between this edition and all earlier German
and English editions is that we have given the exact original text of
A
all Engels's quotations, with one exception. comparison with Mrs.
Wischnewetzky's translation (first published in the U.S.A. in 1887 and
in the United Kingdom in 1892) will show that many of Engels's
'quotations' were garbled abridgements ofthe original.
Certain interpolations have been made in the text [in square
brackets] for the sake of clarity. Editors* footnotes are bracketed
[in heavier type]. Engels's footnotes to the edition of1845 an<3 to tne
authorized English translation of 1887 have been left unbracketed.
The illustrations to the original German edition of 1845 have all
been reproduced. The editors have added a contemporary map (1849)
ofthe 'Little Ireland' district ofManchester.
We have to thank in particular Professor Arthur Redford, who
firstsuggestedthat anew andcriticaltranslation ofEngels's bookwas
needed, Dr. Moses Tyson, the Librarian, University of Manchester,
Mr. Sidney Horrocks, Reference Librarian, Manchester Public
Libraries, Mr. F. G. B. Hutchings, City Librarian, Leeds, Dr. T. C.
Barker, Mr. T. W. Freeman, Mr. Hugh Kearney, Mr. Donald Read,
Professor Percy E. Schramm, Mr. D. C. Wollman and the officials of
the Manchester Royal Infirmary. We owe a special debt ofgratitude
to the long-suffering Departmental Secretaries in the History School
ofManchester University.
1This standard edition ofthe writings ofMarx and Engels is infuturecited as
Gesamtausgabe.

—
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION
Marx andEngels
Fewintellectualpartnershipscanultimatelyhavehadsuchmoment-
ousconsequenceasthatofKarlMarxandFriedrichEngels,thefathers
of ' scientific ' Socialism and Communism. Although Engels, the
junior partner in the team, is not so well known as Marx, he was one
of the leading Socialist writers in the second half of the nineteenth
century. Engels's firstvisit to England, between November 1842 and
August 1844, marked the climax ofthe formative period ofhis career
duringwhichhewas preparinghimselfforhislife's workas a Socialist
agitator.
When Marx first met Engels in Cologne in the au—tumn of 1842
Engelswas onhiswayto Manchesterforthefirsttime therewereno
signs of the future close relationship between the two young men.
Marx was apparently suspicious of Engels's motives in approaching
himandthisfirstmeetinghasbeendescribedas* cool,eve—nunfriendly*.
ButwhenEngels sawMarxagaininParis twoyears later onEngels's
return from England—the meeting was much more cordial. Marx
appreciated the extent ofEngels's intellectual development since their
previous meeting and he was now ready to accept Engels as a collab-
orator.
A
SocialistClassic
As soon as he was home again in Barmen in the autumn of 1844
Engels wrote an account ofthe condition ofthe workers in England1
and this was the majorliterary achievement ofhis early years.
Socialists and Communists have long regarded this work as a
great socialist classic. They claim that, although manyearlierwriters
had examined various aspects of social change brought about by the
Industrial Revolution in England, Engels was the first to survey the
problem as a whole. They argue that Engels did much more than
merely describe what he had seen in the English manufacturing
districts. He asked himself two questions: * How did this state of
affairs arise? ' and ' How will it end? ' It is said that by studying the
history of the English workers Engels was able to show how the
situation that he was describing was the inevitable outcome of a
1On November 19th, 1844, Engels wrote to Karl Marx that he was 'buried in
English newspapersand books fromwhich I am putting together mybook on the
conditionoftheworkingclassesinEngland',Gesamtatisgabe,PartIII,Vol. 1(Berlin,
1929),pp. 4-8.