Neo-Malthusianism And The Promotion Of Artificial Contraception In 19th Century Britai

After the Industrial Revolution,the fertility rate of the British society began to rise rapidly,and the population soared with it.However,with the emergence of the economic depression at the end of the 18 th century,Britain’s population,especially the industrial labor force,was in a large surplus.With the deepening of the economic crisis,the contradiction between overpopulation and social,political and economic stagnation has become increasingly prominent.Malthus took the lead in ringing the alarm bell for the British society.He clearly pointed out in the Principle of Population that the arithmetic growth of the means of living would not be able to cope with the exponential growth rate of the population.When the population broke the limit,human beings would receive merciless "punishment" from nature.At that time,British society was dominated by utilitarianism,and utilitarians represented by Bentham and Mill privately mentioned the possibility of using artificial contraception to control population growth.However,due to the moral limitations of the times and the deterrence of traditional Christian ethics,these utilitarians did not have the courage to systematically put forward this idea.At this time,Place,a middle-class reformer who bore in a working class family,stepped forward and systematically combined Malthusian population theory with the idea of birth control by using artificial contraception,thus giving birth to the Neo-Malthusianism.The birth of Neo-Malthusianism also marked the formal formation of this idea of artificial contraception in British society.After clearly proposing the idea of birth control by using artificial contraception to control the number of family population,Place launched a Neo-Malthusianism propaganda campaign.Although the main purpose of the Neo-Malthusianism movement is to persuade the working class to use artificial contraception to control the number of family members and reduce the family burden,so as to achieve the goal of reducing the social poverty rate,but,given the decisive role of artificial contraception in the Neo-Malthusianism,the main content of the campaign in practice has been to publicize and promote artificial contraception.However,due to the strong conflict with the traditional Christian ethics and the social ethics of both sexes,together with the distrust of the working class and the upsurge of the workers’ movement,the publicity of the Neo-Malthusianism and the promotion of artificial contraceptives were difficult to spread at the early stage.After entering the later stage,because of the overlap of the existing goals of the New Malthusian and Secularist movements,both of them have the nature of anti-Christian traditional ethics.Therefore,at this time,the spread and promotion of the Neo-Malthusianism and artificial contraceptives were helped by secularist movements.It was thanks to secularism that the New Malthusian Propaganda Movement was able to exert its power in the second half of the period,gradually expanding its influence and reaching a climax.Especially after the the Bradlaugh-Besant trial,it gained great social influence,It has aroused extensive public discussion on artificial contraception.It can be said that the Neo-Malthusianism propaganda movement in Britain in the 19 th century was the premise and basis for the popularization of artificial contraception in the first half of the 20 th century.The idea of artificial contraception was controversial at the beginning of its birth.After the completion of social popularization,it is still a focus of public opinion controversy.Although people have different opinions on the social function of artificial contraception,it is undeniable that,as a simple medical means,the promotion and popularization of artificial contraception provide a practical guarantee for the vital interests of women,especially the health interests.