Open AccessTorched Lives, Hazy Lies
Author(s) -
Braden Michael Wylie
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the general brock university undergraduate journal of history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-8048
DOI - 10.26522/tg.v5i1.2396
Subject(s) - thriving , upper class , argument (complex analysis) , ignorance , history , profit (economics) , sociology , political science , law , social science , economics , neoclassical economics , biochemistry , chemistry
The Great Fire of London of 1666 has often been categorized into history as a major disaster with severe consequences, but also popularly as a great showing of heroism and social recovery in regard to Londoners and their rebuilding process. This paper will analyze first-hand accounts and scholarly arguments regarding The Great Fire of London, establishing the argument for a dreaded period of economic recovery for the lower class, driven by themes of ignorance, social division and greed by the upper classes. From religious officials, to the city’s mayor and other prominent upper-class Londoners, the great disaster seemed like the opportunity to profit and at the same time keep the less privileged away from London’s thriving society.