<P> The initial technologies of the Industrial Revolution, such as mechanized textiles, iron and coal, did little, if anything, to lower food prices . In Britain and the Netherlands, food supply increased before the Industrial Revolution due to better agricultural practices; however, population grew too, as noted by Thomas Malthus . This condition is called the Malthusian trap, and it finally started to overcome by transportation improvements, such as canals, improved roads and steamships . Railroads and steamships were introduced near the end of the Industrial Revolution . </P> <P> The very rapid growth in population in the 19th century in the cities included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centers such as Edinburgh and London . The critical factor was financing, which was handled by building societies that dealt directly with large contracting firms . Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure . P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants . People moved in so rapidly that there was not enough capital to build adequate housing for everyone, so low - income newcomers squeezed into increasingly overcrowded slums . Clean water, sanitation, and public health facilities were inadequate; the death rate was high, especially infant mortality, and tuberculosis among young adults . Cholera from polluted water and typhoid were endemic . Unlike rural areas, there were no famines such as devastated Ireland in the 1840s . </P> <P> A large exposé literature grew up condemning the unhealthy conditions . By far the most famous publication was by one of the founders of the Socialist movement, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 Friedrich Engels described backstreet sections of Manchester and other mill towns, where people lived in crude shanties and shacks, some not completely enclosed, some with dirt floors . These shanty towns had narrow walkways between irregularly shaped lots and dwellings . There were no sanitary facilities . Population density was extremely high . Not everyone lived in such poor conditions . The Industrial Revolution also created a middle class of businessmen, clerks, foremen and engineers who lived in much better conditions . </P> <P> Conditions improved over the course of the 19th century due to new public health acts regulating things such as sewage, hygiene and home construction . In the introduction of his 1892 edition, Engels notes that most of the conditions he wrote about in 1844 had been greatly improved . For example, the Public Health Act 1875 led to the more sanitary byelaw terraced house . </P>

Who made up the middle class in the industrial revolution