Download Why was it so difficult to improve Public Health before 1750?

Had Public Health improved in
towns and cities by 1750?
Roman
Public Health
Middle Ages
Public Health
Dark Ages
Public Health
Renaissance
Public Health
Lesson Objectives
• To describe and explain the developments in
Public Health in Britain between the Romans
and the Renaissance
• To assess the impact of factors on
developments in public health
• To evaluate which factor was most important
in the development of Public health from the
Romans to the Renaissance
• To practice exam technique for 8 mark
questions
Why was it so difficult to improve
public health before 1750?
• 1-2marks: General or simple answer
that describes some key points about
the topic
• 3-5 marks Answer gives simple details
with some limited explanation
• 6-8 marks Answer that gives a
detailed evaluation of the key points of
the topic
Your Plan!
Time Period
What was public health
like?
What mark would you give this answer?
Until the 1900s, Public Health was probably at its
best during the Roman times. After the Romans left
Britain their excellent public health facilities, which
included sewers, public toilets, public baths and
aqueducts to provide fresh water, plummeted and fell
into disrepair.
This led to the Dark Ages when public health was
very poor. Streets were covered in excrement from
animals and humans and rivers became polluted with
whatever people chose to throw in them. This led to
contaminated drinking water and a clear decline in
Public Health.
During the Middle Ages, there was a slow recovery
in town life but during the early Middle Ages, the
streets were still filthy and it was still common
practise to dump waste on the streets and in rivers.
There were no sewers and public health remained
poor. However, the Black Death in 1348 led to a
mini improvement as the government decided that
as so many people had died, it would pass laws to
try to clean up the streets and rivers. In some
towns, public toilets were built, but this tended to
be over rivers and meant that sewage was dropped
directly into drinking water. Also, although
the laws were good in theory, in practise, many
people ignored them and fines for doing things such
as urinating in the street or putting waste animal
parts from butcher were not carried out.
Generally speaking, during the Renaissance public
health continued to be distinctly lacking in towns in
Britain. Town councils continued to try to keep
towns clean, but it wasn’t compulsory and was
difficult to enforce. Diseases continued to spread
and indeed the Black Death returned as the Great
Plague in 1665. Streets were still extremely dirty
and the standard of hygiene meant that public
health was very limited.
Therefore, although some attempts were made to
improve public health at least in theory by 1750, in
practice, any improvements were limited and had not
remotely reached the standards of Roman public
health.
What 3 things do you need to do
in order to improve your answer?