CS Shilpa Dixit once said that, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat.” European merchants, in the mid-18th century, saw the cutting-edge machinery of the Industrial Revolution as an “opportunity” for a prosperous national economy and life style. These merchants began to draw the laboring class away from farms and into cities where the lower class could obtain a stable, year-round occupation working in a factory. As a result, over the next hundred years the urban population increased exponentially in Europe. Manchester, England according to the 1751 census had an urban population of 18,000; urban population increased to 300,000 just a hundred years later in 1851. Unfortunately, these urban areas were not prepared for the influx of people. These cities lacked proper sewer systems and sanitary facilities; as a result, filth and unsanitary living conditions became a stigma for cities in Europe. Manchester, England, “The Workshop of the World”, was one of leading textile manufacturers in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. That fact made this city a topic of passionate debate for English humanitarians and capitalists about the living conditions of the working class. The three main points of view on the city of Manchester were: people who saw no need to reform the Factory System, people who saw need for reform but also understood that the Factory System was a necessary evil, and people who detested the Factory System and pushed for immediate reform.
Parliament was incredibly impressed with the growth of the city of Manchester as it produced great wealth for the national economy. Parliament and the Gentry saw the beauty of Capitalism and business. The Capitalists within England felt a love this new factory system too because it allowed them to minimize expense and maximize profits. Wheelan and Co., a preface to a business directory, remarked about Manchester as the city received their Victorian charter that, “Perhaps no part...