How has life changed since 1800? Essay

life sentence as we know it to daylight in the redbrick populace, is significantly assorted to the recognizes that our predecessors lived during the decimal point 1500-1800. The changes across the centuries are the result of a process of advancements over clip. This essay w mischievously examine life in the period 1500-1800 as highlighted in the naturalise of George Blainey (2000) and will compare refer differences of life in this early period, against life in the current world today. Throughout this essay, the main focus will be based on three areas which feature seen significant change over this period of time the production of diet, sound practices and the standard of animation. The advancements in these three areas, has led to societies living very different lifestyles in the current modern times. Day to day life in the period 1500-1800 revolved nigh hunting, collecting and cultivating aliment in order to survive. Grain made up 80% of intimately populates diet and was utilise to make bread, beer, damper or gruel and in particularly lean times, was mixed with water to relieve smart (Blainey 2000, p. 410). Bread and beer were the basis of most peoples diet.Bread was so important to everyday survival that a baker could be hanged for exchange an underweight loaf of bread. Blainey (2000) describes a life where most families owned no prop, or if they did, it tended to be too small to sustain their food needs. The main priority was to provide enough food to feed their small communities and everyone, including women and children had to answer in this. As highlighted by Blainey (2000), most people worked on the land and the majority of work revolved around the production of food. Successful atom harvest-feasts were imperative to survival and everybody had to work together to reap, bind, carry and store the harvest. cleaning lady and children did oftentimes of the rural work, such as weeding, carting water, spinning fibres, create from ra w stuff beer, company firewood and making clothes. Many men as well as unmarried woman, left their own small farms or communities to go and work on larger farms or at different trades, which very much merged meals as part of their payment (Blainey 2000, p. 409). While these workers could be sure of non going hungry, this recollectt the take substructure wages were low.Living standards as exposit by Blainey (2000) were bleak. Most people lived in one roomed,small colliery houses, often with four or more sharing one bed. Homes often remained unheated due to scarcity of wood (Blainey 2000, p. 423). People were largely uneducated and knew brusk about healthcare. Sewerage was disposed of in the same rivers that were used to drink and wash from. These contaminated rivers were used to supply water to the festering crops. This had a huge impact on health, causing infection in around two out of every three people in rural areas (Blainey 2000, p. 415). Lack of hygiene and knowledge of healthcare led to shorter lifespans. Life today in 2014 is vastly different to the period 1500-1800 as expound by Blainey (2000). Survival no longer hinges on hunting and gathering food. In fact many people today give little or no thought to food production. Instead, we drive to a supermarket and profane whatever we take to eat. We put up got access to many restaurants and fast food outlets, so we non only thrust ample food at our fingertips, we dont even have to prepare it if we choose not to.Advancements in production and using machines in place of humans (Henslin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy 2011, p. 139) mean food is now farmed and produced on a much larger denture (Macionis and Plummer 2012, p. 113), this has freed people up to work in other areas. Now that people are not tied to working to produce food to survive, they have more time to get educated and learn new skills. employment in modern times has moved away from farming. Todays society is an industrial and information based one that revolves more around accumulating wealth and material possessions (Henslin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy 2011, p. 140). Woman as well as men, work outside the home in many different varied jobs, and children service school. This is immensely different to life as discussed by Blainey (2000) whereby woman and children were home working on the land while men worked tending the harvest and work all revolved around food production.Living standards in todays world are likewise very different than the period Blainey (2000) describes. In modern societies, many people live in homes that are large, with many rooms, furnished and full of material possessions. These homes often have heating and cooling at the push of a button, along with toilets, showers, clean running water and pantries stocked with food. They have warm beds to sleep in at night and clothing to wear that they dont have to make themselves. Amongst their many possessions, people have cars to get wher e there want to go and televisions to watch. There are computers and mobilephones to keep in attend with family and friends. There are health systems and education available to many societies. It is much more common for people to own their homes in these more modern times, (Henslin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy p. 140) along with other possessions such as cars.In conclusion, life in modern times is very different than life was in the period 1500-1800. People from the period 1500-1800 worked to produce food to survive. People lived in poverty, ill heath was common, as was hunger. Advancements in technology have made this a thing of the past in many areas, although there are lock societies where poverty does still exist. Although the world in the period 1500-1800 as exposit by Blainey (2000), was a great deal tougher than modern society, it was much little complicated than the world of today with all its technology. Many people live a privileged life these days, however todays so cieties have lost a lot of the family closeness of working together that those in the period 1500-1800 had to have to survive. Progress will continue as the age go on, bringing with it both good and bad consequences.ReferencesBlainey, G 2000, A Short History of the World, Viking, Ringwood. Henslin, J, Possamai, A & Possamai-Inesedy, A 2011, Sociology A down-to-earth approach, Pearson, Frenchs tone NSW. Macionis J & Plummer, K 2012, Sociology a global introduction, 5th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Harlow. Povos Indigenas no Brasil n.d., Yanomami family, digital image, viewed 22 November 2014, .