Introduction

Robert Gagnon, Université du Québec à Montréal, 2003

The 19th century witnessed transformations on a scale never before seen. Nothing was left untouched, especially in urban areas, where entire trades disappeared with the emergence of the new methods of production. Innovations in education, medicine and technology were pivotal to the changes, which touched almost every sector of urban activity. At the outset mainly the wealthy classes benefited, but gradually other levels of society also began to see improvements - both direct and indirect - in their lives.