Between 1700 and 1900 Britain experienced dramatic social change, which had a significant impact on both crime and punishment. Industrialisation and rapid urbanisation meant that by 1850 more people lived in towns and cities than the countryside for the first time in Britain’s history. This was coupled with an explosion in terms of population growth. In 1700 the estimated population of England and Wales was 5,475,000, but by 1900 it was 32,500,000.
For centuries law and order and systems of punishment had been rooted in small local communities. The growth of enormous cities across the UK increased the opportunities for crime because of the proximity between rich and poor areas, but also because of the relative anonymity which cities offered criminals.
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