The 18th Century in England The 18th century would see England rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage. In 1701, England, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with the Holy Roman Empire against Spain and France in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Georgian era is a period in British history from 1714-1837, named after the Hanoverian kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The sub-period that is the Regency era is defined by the regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III. This is when England became the Kingdom of Great Britain, which covered the entire island.
England in the 1800's was not the greatest place to live. Crime, poor sanitation, child labour, and overcrowding hung over England like a dark cloud. The country was plagued by an unbalanced power system, in which rich aristocrats had more control in government than the people being affected. No one could escape the poor living conditions of the 1800’s, not even children. Because many of their families did not earn a great deal, children were forced to help support themselves, and their families. Child labour was abundant in the 1800’s, as children could work for hours, without getting tired and they could be made to work in conditions in which adults could not or refused to work, and most importantly they could be made to work for little pay. Children did many jobs, from selling newspapers to working in coal mines, but perhaps the most famous children’s job in the 1800’s was that of the chimney sweep. England saw a massive increase in population throughout the 1800’s. There are many possible reasons for this including immigration, longer life spans, more children living to adulthood and the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution brought new machines, designed to mass produce products. These machines brought factories which in turn blew a door open to massive employment chances. People flocked from far and wide in order to live in cities where new factories had sprung up. Although this may sound like Britain's savior to years of mass unemployment, it brought new problems with it.