Christmas is a story of passion. Yet, one must realize it is only the beginning. It is the opening chapter, not the end...
In September of 1843, the world was about to change. The cry came from the children. The messenger...Charles Dickens.
Passion for mankind carries a force. It thrusts us forward if our love for others becomes greater than love of ourselves. Dickens displayed this passion to the world adding a vital chapter to the Christmas story. Passion is an intense emotion. It gives our hearts and minds a strength, an ideal, and a timeless enthusiasm. Charles Dickens was a man of passion for the poor, the suffering, and for the children. On December 19th 1843, Dickens published a story entitled A Christmas Carol.
This novel by Dickens is a continuance...another chapter to an event started centuries ago. The story originated on a hill called Golgotha and found its way weaving itself in the early 1800's. Some embrace A Christmas Carol as a heart warming story, while others categorize it as a children's book complete with ghosts and magical trips of the past, present, and future.
For myself, I am not writing to share some deep meaning from this literary classic. I can not give it true justice. What I can do is share with you what prompted this story to unfold from the heart of Dickens, a novel that adds to an event that took place long ago...on a hill faraway.
By the early 1800's the world was making changes...vast changes. The Duke of Wellington (English) had defeated the great French leader Napoleon at Waterloo, the Industrial Revolution was underway, and by 1815 Great Britain was emerging as the richest and greatest power of all Europe. The Industrial Revolution is defined "A rapid development of industry that occurred in Britain in the late 18th and 19th centuries, brought about by the introduction of machinery, the growth of factories, and the mass production of manufactured goods." (Oxford Dictionary)
This major economic shift caused the population of Great Britain to grow rapidly, England expanding to over 13 million, London becoming one of the largest cities in Europe with over 1 million residents.
Because of such rapid growth of the general populous, agricultural work diminished because of massive import of grain while only meager wages were offered for farm work. As a result half of the entire population of England lived in cities. London doubled in size between 1750 and 1850 with people looking for work in factories or places offering work of mass production. The Victorian Age was about to begin with a strong philosophy stating "sheer hard work produces results: if you are poor it is your own fault, your own demise, and your living conditions are your own doing."
The social climate of England became lopsided. With less than 5% of the population enjoying the benefits of a Victorian society from the economic change of the Industrial Revolution, the general public of Great Britain lived in horrible conditions. In 1801 there were 9 million in England, by 1901 England was home to over 41 million people. It was an incredible period of growth. Yet with this growth came poor housing, lack of food and nutrition, long work hours with meager wages, massive sickness and disease, hygiene issues, families torn apart, and children used to increase the financial gains and greed of new industry.
During the time Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, children were being sent to tin mines for labor, some only 4 and 5 years old. They were used to crawl into small crevices of mines to retrieve raw tin. Like adults, they often worked 12 to 16 hour days, 7 days a week. Children rarely received an education and funerals in London during the 1840's were extremely high, with 50% of the funerals being children 10 years of age or younger. The average age of one referred to as a "lower working class" was...22 years of age.
By 1843, Charles Dickens had seen more than enough suffering. He knew of the textile factories, whom Dickens referred to as "dark satanic mills." These were workplaces where children were abused in every way imaginable. He viewed the poor houses provided for the poor that were funded by the government, yet were managed by the private sector. As a result, the owners of these homes invested as little as possible into these homes and would pocket the majority of government funding. Dickens also saw the treadmills where poor young souls worked 10 hours per day, walking up to 3 miles grinding grain while lacking food and nutrition themselves. This is why the question of Scrooge when asking the two men seeking donations was so appalling... " Are there no workhouses...and the treadmills, are they still in operation?" This was the prevailing thought of the upper 5% of the Victorian Age.
Shortly before Dickens decided to write A Christmas Carol, he would take long walks in the evening through London, sometimes covering 15 to 20 miles. He would go over in his mind the content of his novel he was about to write, while viewing and hearing the cries of the poor...and the children. He wrote "these long walks and thoughts were gathered on nights long after the sober folks had gone to bed."
Then, in September of 1843, Charles Dickens wrote...A Christmas Carol.
It took Dickens only about 6 weeks to write the entire novel. On December 19th, 1843, this novel was published...the world sleeping,completely unaware, Christmas was about to change.
{Note: A number of the first class passengers on the Titanic were heirs of the Victorian era.}
"God bless us all, everyone!"
In September of 1843, the world was about to change. The cry came from the children. The messenger...Charles Dickens.
Passion for mankind carries a force. It thrusts us forward if our love for others becomes greater than love of ourselves. Dickens displayed this passion to the world adding a vital chapter to the Christmas story. Passion is an intense emotion. It gives our hearts and minds a strength, an ideal, and a timeless enthusiasm. Charles Dickens was a man of passion for the poor, the suffering, and for the children. On December 19th 1843, Dickens published a story entitled A Christmas Carol.
This novel by Dickens is a continuance...another chapter to an event started centuries ago. The story originated on a hill called Golgotha and found its way weaving itself in the early 1800's. Some embrace A Christmas Carol as a heart warming story, while others categorize it as a children's book complete with ghosts and magical trips of the past, present, and future.
For myself, I am not writing to share some deep meaning from this literary classic. I can not give it true justice. What I can do is share with you what prompted this story to unfold from the heart of Dickens, a novel that adds to an event that took place long ago...on a hill faraway.
By the early 1800's the world was making changes...vast changes. The Duke of Wellington (English) had defeated the great French leader Napoleon at Waterloo, the Industrial Revolution was underway, and by 1815 Great Britain was emerging as the richest and greatest power of all Europe. The Industrial Revolution is defined "A rapid development of industry that occurred in Britain in the late 18th and 19th centuries, brought about by the introduction of machinery, the growth of factories, and the mass production of manufactured goods." (Oxford Dictionary)
This major economic shift caused the population of Great Britain to grow rapidly, England expanding to over 13 million, London becoming one of the largest cities in Europe with over 1 million residents.
Because of such rapid growth of the general populous, agricultural work diminished because of massive import of grain while only meager wages were offered for farm work. As a result half of the entire population of England lived in cities. London doubled in size between 1750 and 1850 with people looking for work in factories or places offering work of mass production. The Victorian Age was about to begin with a strong philosophy stating "sheer hard work produces results: if you are poor it is your own fault, your own demise, and your living conditions are your own doing."
The social climate of England became lopsided. With less than 5% of the population enjoying the benefits of a Victorian society from the economic change of the Industrial Revolution, the general public of Great Britain lived in horrible conditions. In 1801 there were 9 million in England, by 1901 England was home to over 41 million people. It was an incredible period of growth. Yet with this growth came poor housing, lack of food and nutrition, long work hours with meager wages, massive sickness and disease, hygiene issues, families torn apart, and children used to increase the financial gains and greed of new industry.
By 1843, Charles Dickens had seen more than enough suffering. He knew of the textile factories, whom Dickens referred to as "dark satanic mills." These were workplaces where children were abused in every way imaginable. He viewed the poor houses provided for the poor that were funded by the government, yet were managed by the private sector. As a result, the owners of these homes invested as little as possible into these homes and would pocket the majority of government funding. Dickens also saw the treadmills where poor young souls worked 10 hours per day, walking up to 3 miles grinding grain while lacking food and nutrition themselves. This is why the question of Scrooge when asking the two men seeking donations was so appalling... " Are there no workhouses...and the treadmills, are they still in operation?" This was the prevailing thought of the upper 5% of the Victorian Age.
Shortly before Dickens decided to write A Christmas Carol, he would take long walks in the evening through London, sometimes covering 15 to 20 miles. He would go over in his mind the content of his novel he was about to write, while viewing and hearing the cries of the poor...and the children. He wrote "these long walks and thoughts were gathered on nights long after the sober folks had gone to bed."
It took Dickens only about 6 weeks to write the entire novel. On December 19th, 1843, this novel was published...the world sleeping,completely unaware, Christmas was about to change.
{Note: A number of the first class passengers on the Titanic were heirs of the Victorian era.}
"God bless us all, everyone!"
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