Crime in Victorian London

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Nineteenth century London is famous for being the birth place of the Industrial Revolution. But that is not all the victorians are famous for, they are also known for their high crime rate and being the home of multiple notorious serial killers, like Jack the Ripper. London was also overpopulated which some think might be the cause of the high crime rate. Though Urbanization did have an affect on crime,an incompetent police force and a media that glamorized crime also contributed to the high crime rate.
Before the industrial revolution, most of Britain's population lived and worked on farms, but skilled laborers and artisans were an important part of Britain's economy (Martello). The country was especially wealthy because of their extensive market economy. Pre-industry boom the goods were made at home by hand or with small, un-advanced machines (History.com Staff). This method was far too slow for the expanding market. This led to inventions like the Spinning Jenny to help speed up production and satisfy the buyers. The Spinning Jenny was just the beginning of the technological advancement, but you cannot have an industrial revolution without something to fuel it with (Martello). Coal was ideal because London had an abundance of resources, thanks to their colonial advantages, and because coal provided more energy than wood. Although these advances would be considered beneficial to most, there were plenty of downsides as well ("Why the Industrial Revolution happened in Britain").
The most well known repercussions of the industrial revolution was child labor, but there were other consequences as well. Some weren't directly caused by industrialization, like prostitution, others were a direct result, like pollution. The high demand ...

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...evision Networks, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .

Martello, Robert. "Industrial Revolution." . Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. , 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .

O'Neill, Gilda. The good old days: crime, murder and mayhem in Victorian London. New York, New York: Viking, 2006. Print.

"Why the Industrial Revolution happened in Britain." BBC News. BBC, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .

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