COVE

The Poor Law Act was created in 1834 as a way to help poor poeple in society. This was seen as something good because you would not see as many homeless people but they were often teaching people how to work hard for a living. Poor people were placed in workhouses where they were clothed and fed. While this sounds nice they were forced to work long hours, beaten, had to face malnutrition, etc. The workhouses often looked like prisions. They had to sleep in corners, and they often had to stay in cramped spaces so this was a reason disease spread rapidly. Shortly after the way people were being treated was exposed The government placed the workhouse operators under strict surveillance and they had to have inspections which did not work effectively.