The TitanicEssay Preview: The TitanicReport this essayA Typical First Class Stateroom on the RMS TitanicThe entire room was color coordinated from the wallpaper to the bedspread to the thick carpet, it also included a writing desk, dressing table with a mirror, a wardrobe and a washing stand with two sinks. There was also a sitting area with a small table and chairs at the foot of the bed there was a bedside heater. The small table was frequently used for the snack brought by the bedroom steward. The snack contained things like, hot chocolate, biscuits and fruit.
The Maiden Voyage of the RMS TitanicWednesday, April 10, 1912 at 9:30 am – The largest and must luxurious ship ever built, the RMS, Titanic begins boarding passengers in South Hampton, England.
Wednesday, April 10, 1912 at 6:30 pm – The Titanic arrives at her first stop Cherbourg France, almost 1 hour late; approximately 300 passengers board the ship.
Thursday, April 11, 1912 – The Titanic arrives in Queensland, Ireland more passengers board the ship.Friday, April 12 through Saturday April 13, 1912 – The Titanic travels without any problems in near perfect weather.Sunday, April 14, 1912 between the hours of 9:00 am and 10:55 pm – The Titanic receives multiple ice warnings from several other ships in the area.Sunday April 14, 1912 at 11:40 pm – The RMS Titanic struck a large iceberg. The starboard side of the ship was torn open and the first 5 compartments began to fill with water.
Sunday, April 15, 1912 at 12:00 am – Thomas Andrews the builder of the ship estimates that the Titanic will sink within two hours.Sunday, April 15, 1912 at 12:05 am – Captain Smith orders the lifeboats to be readied and passengers to put on life belts. If all boats were to be loaded to capacity they would only hold 1,178 of the 2,200 people on board.
Sunday, April 15, 1912 at 12:25 am – The lifeboats began to be loaded with woman and children, as was the custom of the time. They were not filled to capacity, the boats were set adrift with fewer than half of the seats filled.
Sunday, April 15, 1912 at 2:20 am – The Titanic sank, approximately 1,500 passengers and crew died in the disaster.Sunday, April 15, 1912 between the hours of 4:10 am and 8:50 am – The ship Carpathia picks up survivors from lifeboats.Wednesday, April 18, 1912 – The Carpathia arrived in New York with the Titanic survivors.Throughout the 1900s international shipping was a very competitive field. The two most important concerns for a passenger were speed and comfort. One of the best-known passenger cruise line companies was White Star Line. They built the largest most luxurious ship afloat in 1912, the Titanic. It was 882 feet long, 92.5 feet wide and over 100 feet tall. The Titanic had many features never before seen on an ocean liner; including a swimming pool, Turkish bath, squash court, gymnasium (with one of the first stationary bicycles), several restaurants and even elevators.
During the early 1900s there was a very strong class system in effect. Upper, middle and lower class people did not interact socially. Lower and working class people knew their place and were commonly ignored by the upper class. Actually, the majority of people existed somewhere in the middle but the extremes got the most attention. The class system was much stronger in England but also existed in America. On the cruise ship the classes were kept separate in everything they did. The first class passengers were allowed to go anywhere they wanted, but the second and third class passengers were restricted to certain parts of the ship. There were actually locked gates and other barriers to keep the third class passengers segregated from everyone else. They each had separate dining and recreation areas, they did not
The Royal Commission of Inquiry was to identify the issues. What was the main source of the resentment in Britain? How did the middle class treat the low class? What were the factors that made them particularly resentful, particularly the upper class? The Royal Commission did not find a clear explanation but they did agree that the rich were the main drivers of the inequality.
As for the class system itself – as did its role of protection as well as enforcement – this is an interesting matter as a fundamental element of British history. If there is any lesson from this history, it is that if anything it is the right of all people in Britain to be treated equally. As my colleague John Wren observed: “The Royal Commission found that, as in a civilized country, in order to avoid all political, economic, administrative, national and social antagonism, a class system would tend to be best tolerated in an affluent or most-encompassing country or society”.
The commission also found that British businesses’ efforts to keep social hierarchy in check could be used to further reduce labour costs. Wren adds that the government could offer help to businesses when they needed it, the commission reports, but that the government would have more discretion to provide it.
Was working class self-management of wealth a factor? – What was ‘what you would do on an evening sail’?
As the report makes clear, working class self-management (the ‘working middle class’ – ie the upper and working class middle classes) was a crucial factor in supporting the country to its economic and social prospects, and its development. The report was based on the evidence of numerous studies by economists such as L.D. Schmitt, G.S. Aukerman, H. Harkins and K.R. Kostelow. These studies included studies by L.D. Schmitt
As noted above, the first of three figures in the report was the economist F. J. H. Keating. He wrote in a 1965 paper that there was a shift in thinking around the industrial revolution after WWI which coincided with the economic crisis. This was in part because of the Great Society, it stated, but in part because the rise of the working class had brought an end to all of this ‘involuntary work’. The working elite “found themselves reduced to the level of consumers and workers in the industrial world, while under industrial conditions, they have lost certain rights; even as they saw the economy of production gradually declining in the Industrial Revolution, they were unable to control themselves, and those who remained in factory works for example, became increasingly frustrated that they could not fulfil their duty of serving the class as consumers. Those who had lost rights in the late 1850s had to endure these forms of deprivation for the rest of their lives. It is hard to imagine today how it came about that people from lower and middle class walks were so isolated from the rest of society.
In some cases this reduced ability to manage wealth was not a natural outcome for working class self-management, and had little bearing on their prospects economically or politically.
What are the reasons for the poor working class, the middle class working hard to survive? – Why did the report