Manchester, England, is known as the birthplace of working-class values, where protests and demands for rights began in 1819. The city’s industrialization and rapid growth created a new urban working class, which inspired philosophers Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.
In the early 19th century, Manchester became a hub for the cotton trade, attracting workers from across Britain. However, this growth came at a cost, with high levels of poverty, illness, and disease. The huge wealth gap fueled resentment among workers, who were not allowed to vote and were often seen as “undesirable” by those in power.
Engels moved to Manchester in 1842 to manage his father’s cotton factory, while Marx visited him regularly. Their experiences and observations of the working class had a profound impact on their ideas about class struggle and equality.
Their work together at Chetham’s Library, including drafts of the Communist Manifesto, was influenced by the poverty and suffering they witnessed in the city. The global struggle for workers’ rights began in Manchester, with the 1819 Peterloo Massacre marking a turning point.
Today, Manchester’s People’s History Museum showcases the city’s working-class history, highlighting international solidarity with workers that has reverberated through political discourse ever since.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/19/nx-s1-5288827/manchester-working-class-history