What they did at Home

Let’s not blame everyone.
While white oppressors have been blamed, often not unfairly for the oppression of Indigenous Societies around the world, it should be understood that individuals of the same class were equally oppressive, and even more so to the working poor in their own countries.
The elite or ruling classes in England only comprised 1-2% of the population of England in the 1800s, but they owned most of the land. Their children were all educated in the same expensive private schools, notably Eton or Harrow. They attended the same events, they partied together, they attended the same churches, they were convinced that they enjoyed their privileged positions by rite. By and large they did not work, though some went on to hold positions in Parliament. M.P’s were not paid and needed a significant income to support themselves in Parliament, the elite had this income from their land and other investments and holdings. Those who went into the Military automatically became Officers. It was also from the ranks of the privileged that those who chose to accept overseas postings, often went on to became the rulers of vast overseas territories. The British Empire at that time included over 50 of today’s nations. Almost all regarded the people they ruled over as pagans, worshiping strange gods, as savages. At the same time the Churches sent Clergy, who were appointed to convert the Pagans to Christianity.
Back in England the Working Class who were 70-80% of the population slaved away in factories, mines, textile mills and other labour intensive industries, working 12-16 hours a day, 6 days a week, in order to survive. Most made less than a hundred pounds a year. The factories, mines and mills were often owned by the elite, or were on land owned by the elite, and leased out to industry. In the early part of the 19th. Century children over 7 years old were also employed, every penny was needed for families to survive. Children were employed in the textile mills where they were small enough to go under the machines to clear lint and to join broken threads, they worked in the dark in mines opening and closing ventilation doors, they worked in the homes of the wealthy scrubbing floors and working dishes, and in many other menial tasks. The factories were dirty, the air was dank and smokey, the machinery had no safety guards, accidents and fatalities were common. General life expectancy of the population was only 35-40 years. Measurements made of the plains Indians at that time showed that they were 2 inches taller than the working class in England. Several sailers who were captured by the Haida Indians, on the Coast of North West British Columbia and ransomed to returning ships several years later, backed this up, reporting that the the Haida were stockily built, and of a large frame.
The workers in England lived mainly in tiny subdivided tenement houses or back to back terrace houses. They had no heating beyond a stove with a meagre amount of coal or wood to burn. Water which was often contaminated was obtained from taps at the end of the streets. They often relieved themselves at night into chamber pots which were emptied into outhouses, which were used for relief on other occasions. The outhouses were linked to cesspits, which were cavities dug into the ground and lined with brick, fluids seeped away through the bricks. Sewerage often overflowed from the cesspits, especially during periods of heavy rain. Up to 5 residences were linked to a cesspit. The cesspits were emptied irregularly at night by, “night soil men” who bailed out the sewerage and took it into the country where it was sold to farmers, who used it on the fields as fertilizer. Their diet of the working class consisted mainly of bread, tea, and occasional beans.
For those who fell further through the cracks, the destitute, the unemployed, the sick, the elderly, the orphans, and the underserving like mothers with illegitimate children, there were the Workhouses. Men, women and children were separated in the Workhouses. All their of their belongings were confiscated on arrival. They performed hard labour, breaking stones, oakum picking, ( separating the threads of ropes, for caulking on boats. Most boats at the time were sailing boats with miles of ropes in the rigging and all the seams required caulking. ) The work was very hard on the fingers, and cuts and bleeding were common. They were under constant surveillance and the food was poor. There was harsh punishment, and the children were often beaten.
In Ireland between 1845 and 1852 the potato crop which the Irish relied a for most of their diet was infected with a blight and totally failed. The wealthy land owners and the British Government did nothing to relieve the famine, over a million died of starvation. Many of those who had the funds available emigrated to America. Passengers who emigrated travelled, “steerage.”
Men and women were segregated, steerage compartments were below the waterline with 8-10 people in bunks, with little room to move. There was poor ventilation, washrooms were small and few and the air was foul. Many steerage passengers had to provide their own food which was often insufficient for the whole voyage. Where meals were provided it was often poorly prepared and foul. Outbreaks of Cholera, Typhus and Dysentery were common. Steerage passengers did have access to some small amount of dedicated deck space which was entirely separate from other paying passengers.
Alcohol was readily abatable to the working class in saloons, pubs and corner bars where they could escape life’s realities for a small price. There was a saying, “drunk for a penny, blind drunk for two pence.”
While the churches provided relief to some, there was much derision of their message which can be gathered from the ditty, “work and prey and live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.”
Those who have been blamed for causing injustices to the Indigenous peoples of the World, at the same time caused unbelievable degradation to their own countrymen.