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Period: to
Industrial Revolution of the West
This completeley changed the wa Europe was run. It first started off in Britain, where Dickens lived. During this time new inventions were made and communications between different culutures were strengthened. This allowed Dickens to send his work over seas and to other countries, giving him a global impact. It also allowed all people to travel farther, grow more food, and overall begin to change the way the wrorld worked. The different mahcines, such as the telegraph, made lives easier. -
Birth
Charles John Huffman Dickens was born on February 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth, England to John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens. -
War of 1812
This war caused resources to dwindle, because they were used up by the war. This caused prices to rise greatly. Dickens' father already had trouble handling his money. This aided to his fathers imprisonement in Debtors prison, by causing inflation and raising the prices. The already small amount of money Dickens' family had was streched even farther. Dickens' father could not pay back the people he had borrowed money from before. It added to Dickens' traumatizing childhood. -
Work
Forced to work at Warren's Blacking Factory. Dickens was often a sickly child and the poor working conditions worsened his emotional and physical state. This job scarred Dickkens for life. Later on, he wrote David Copperfield, the main character based on his experiences as a child. These working conditions were very common for children in his time period and the experience showed up in many of hs works. -
Internal Combustion Engine was invented.
Of course, transportation became much faster, easier, and more inexpensive. Because it replaced horses and allowed for food to be produced faster at a lower cost. This put less stress on many people's salaries and food became more readily available. It also would help lightened Dickens' fearss of becoming poor and, later in his life, help him travel to his readings and illistrators faster and more efficiently. It had a large impact all over the world, making transportation faster. -
First railroad tunnel
This allowed more trains to travel farther and in areas where they could not before. Dickens could now travel to different places to give readings and find inspiration for his books, spreading his influence. Many of his writing were published in parts and were pre-ordered, the underground train allowed for his writings to be sent out faster. Across Europe, it allowed faster travel for many people and also allowed more goods to be sold because they were sent out faster. -
Dickens becomes obsessed with Maria Beadnell.
She is the first of Dickens three loves. Maria's parents did not allow Dickens to continue visiting her because of his social standing. They noticed how avid he was, constantly bringing a variety of gifts. DIckens social status, something he always worried about, had caused him to lose something he loved. He constantly worried about his standings and it showed up in his books. Maria was the basis for many characters. The event effected his writings and how he viewed himself. -
First job as a reporter.
He got this job at The Mirror of Parliament paper. Dickens constantly struggled with the fear of debt and losing his middle-class status. Finding a job where he could write and make a reasonable amount of money was a blessing for him. However, working conditions for reporters were often cramped and poorly lit. These conditions were very similiar to those of Dickens' childhood job. This helped spark his want to write his own works. -
Telegraph
This allowed Dickens to have communications with other people, including other writers, his publishers, and his illustrators. Dickens could get work done much faster and publish his works to the public much sooner. This took some stress out of the job and helped improve his worsening health. All over Europe, it allowed for the rapid spread of news which helped connect different cultures. -
Britain passed the first of its factory acts.
This was too late for Dickens to benefit from, but it protected his future children and other children. This act limited the hours children could work and improved the conditions. It changed the conditions of something that had harmed Dickens greatly. Causing him to reminisce once again, causing him more pain and adding to the creation of books based on his struggles. One of the 1st steps to a rev. of the work place and set the model for working conditions in other countries across the globe. -
Slavery Abolition act of 1833
Dickens talks about people of lower status & their struggles in his works. Many were enslaved because of ther inability to pay back their debts. During his trip to America, he was angered by the fact that slavery was still happening. He wrote 2 books in which slavery, & many other topics, were criticized. America was not the freemans/debtors haven he had wished for. This affected many debtors who had fled to America and others who were forced into slavery & not allowed to live a good life. -
Dickens sailed to America.
He believed the Americas were for those who had been mistreated and had to struggle for their social status, just like him. He was greatly disappointed and found that his works were being plagarised, slavery was at its peak, and mistreatement of people was very common. Dickens wrote 2 books on his visits criticising the poor conditions. Many people fled their to have a better life, but what they found was another story. It was still developing and setting laws and was hard to adapt to. -
Publication of "Origin of Species"
In 1854, Dicken published "Hard Times". This novel referenced the idea that man had evolved from apes, not the traditional view of The Bible. Mr. B, the main character, talks about how he doesn't need education, but he needs to survive. This shows that Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest had already been shown in many works and Dickens had been familiar with the current news/'gossip'. It challengedof The Bible and religion all over the globe, pushing for more research & scientific proof. -
Dickens burns all per sonal documents!
In the years before he had seperated from his wife, his daughter had married, & his brother died, so anything could have caused it. Even though Dickens had suffered many traumatic experiences, he had never suffered so many in this short amount of time. He also had to deal with his relationship with Nelly, his lover. These letters contained info about his life, living conditions in England, & other writers' information. This can be seen as Dickens 'dealing' with his issues. -
Photographic negative
This allowed for photos to be taken and reproduced of Dickens and put in his various works and newspapers. This helped spread his influence, even to those who were illiterate, with pictures. Across the globe, this helped spread the influence of other writers and spread the influence of different parts of the world and their monuments. The spread would increase travel because people were exposed to many more parts of the world. -
Last Public Reading
Thousands of people attended, some even standing outside to listen to him. This showed just how influential he was. His workss had reached those of all classes and ages., something many writers cannot accomplish. Many in the audience were crying throughout the reading. This was Dickens last farewell in the world of writing. His works are still being printed and sold today, showing just how much impact he had on the world. -
Death
The day before his death, June 8th, Dickens said, "[He would like to lay down] on the floor," before he passed out. This was the death of a much loved writer. It was the day after his last reading. -
Copyright Law of 1976
During Dickens' trip to America, he saw that mant of his works were being plagarised. Under law, he had no way of punishing these plagarisers. This was something Dickens would have been very passionate about if it had happened during his lifetime. It protected many authors' works and allowed for them to get the money they deserved from sales. Dickens did not get any of the money in sales in America, something he was very possessive of because of his childhood experiences.
