CLEP Western Civ II

Answer: D - Engels derived his conclusions about the working class from his observations of the cotton textile industry in Manchester. His book The Condition of the Working Class in England (1844) described the horrific living conditions he observed among workers in industrialized England. He argued that an understanding of those conditions was necessary to provide a basis for socialist theory. His book provided a foundation for Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto (1848). Engels was also influenced by the Chartist movement in England and recognized the need for the working class to have a stronger voice in government. Although these works would not become highly influential until decades later, Engels’s influence gained a foothold in the British working class.