Child Labour During The Industrial Revolution Essay
The experiences of the urban working classes during the industrial revolution were harsh and unforgiving compared to our modern urban lives. People who used to live in serene farms or peaceful towns and were now forced to live in dark and crowded cities to in order to support their own/ family needs. These places are usually filthy and filled with disease-ridden air. Exposure to this kind of environment could cause a poor health conditions for the people who were living in that area especially children. Due to this, many ill people are forced to work when they’re sick, making the diseases easier to spread. To make matters worse, children as young as five were qualified to work in factories. These underage children were usually taken out of
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the orphanage or forced to work to support their family. However, children are not the only one working under these disturbing conditions; women were also working in this kind of environment. Being paid less and having to work in alarming circumstances was just one of the many reasons why working in an industrialised area for women was startlingly harsh. The information below are the grim descriptions of the urban working class during the industrial revolution. Living conditions in the industrial cities of Britain were concerning for the working classes. People were crowded into small houses that lacked proper sanitation and natural light. Often these houses suffered from damp and the air that people breathed was polluted from the coal fires, steam trains and factory chimneys. Sanitation was lacking by modern standards. People had to go out to the street to communal water and communal toilets. The water came from an underground source and there was no sewage system. Source F is a photograph by Thomas Annan (photographer) of a street in Glasgow, Britain. The photograph was taken in 1868 and it portrays a disturbing image of life in this laneway. It shows a group of women and children posing against the backdrop of their back to back houses. The photograph makes us aware of how narrow and dark the spaces between the houses are. Washing is hung over this space and wastewater can be seen to be flowing over the laneway. Source G is a piece of text extracted from ‘The Making of the English Working Class’ by Thompson. This text is comparing and contrasting an area of a town after it has undergone industrialization. Thompson states that ‘A neighbourhood once remarkable for its neatness and order’ has changed to ‘an area that is now a mass of filth and misery’. His text suggests that the area he is referring to has become overcrowded and gone into urban decline. These sources point out how the living conditions of the working poor deteriorated during the industrial revolution. Whereas people may have lived on farms or in neat towns, they now lived in crowded urban areas that lacked natural light and sanitation.
Public health and low life expectancy were serious issues for the urban working poor during the industrial revolution. Source D is a political cartoon from punch magazine, 1852. The cartoon is titled “A Court for King Cholera”. The title suggests that cholera, which is a disease, is present in this community. It shows a crowded town filled with poor people and children playing in a pile of an unhygienic rubbish and waste. In the cartoon a coffin can be seen being carried away by a man, this could symbolize death. Source E, a political cartoon from Punch Magazine in 1858, entitled ‘Father Thames introduces his off springs to the fair city of London’. This source demonstrates to us the awareness people had on public health and low life expectancy. The political cartoon has the labels of scrofula, diphtheria, and cholera written above the tittle of the cartoon. These are diseases that would affect the health of children in particular. The title ‘Father Thames’ proves that the place showed in the illustration was the Thames River. It is shown that the river has been polluted, as dead animals are shown in the illustration, possibly poisoned by the polluted water. Britannia, a female personification of the Britain and is often used to represent the glory of this country, is also present in this illustration. This does not fit the condition that is shown in the illustration. A young girl and a younger boy looking rather ill and grim is shown presented to Britannia by Father Thames, indicates a poor health conditions that affect the people living in that particular area, especially children. The source also demonstrates the awareness of the people who lives in this community. They knew that their environment is highly polluted, they are aware of what the industrialization has done to their surroundings and what the highly polluted environment has done to their children. Source D and Source E are evidences that the urban populations of industrial Britain were aware that living in the cities was affecting their health and their children’s health.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Great Britain became the first country to industrialize.
Because of this, it was also the first country where the nature of children’s work changed so dramatically that child labour became seen as a social problem and a political issue. Often families were very large and therefore the parents could not support all their children. Child labour is a harmful process. Underage children are forced to work for a very long hour and in terrible conditions. Source A is an extract from the Parliamentary Inquiry into the “State of Child Labor in Manufacturing in the United Kingdom”, 1816. In this source, it is stated that children between the ages 5-8 were mostly found working in a factory, although they are well fed and clothed, this does not stop the children from growing in a non-standard way. Source A also indicates that a shocking number of 500 children were found by Robert Owen, working at the mill. The second source which is Source B is an extract from data provided to both Houses of Parliament regarding children in cotton mills, 1818. This data provide us with information about the average working hours for children. It is stated that “The average working hours per day, during which these children are made to work, is from six o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock at night…”, which is startling considering that these children (commonly ages 5-10) are made to work for 14 hours per day. This could cause them to stop growing properly and stopping them from gaining new knowledge from school or other
places.
The working conditions of the men and women of the urban working poor were ruthless. Source M is a transcription of Rules to be observed from a mill in 1851. Some of the rules that can be found in this source are alarmingly strict. For instance, worker at this mill could be fined for something very trivial for example, arriving late to work, dropping waste or materials, swearing, or even communicating with fellow workers. In source I which is an extract from ‘Testimony in Parliaments Papers” from 1842, Betty Harris could be found stating that “I know a woman who has gone home and washed herself, taken to her bed, delivered of a child, and gone to work again under the week”. The evidence from both sources is an unsettling example of how callous and brutal their working experiences are.
In conclusion, the conditions of the urban working class during the industrial revolution were miserable since they have to live in harsh circumstances as shown in the evidence above.
the orphanage or forced to work to support their family. However, children are not the only one working under these disturbing conditions; women were also working in this kind of environment. Being paid less and having to work in alarming circumstances was just one of the many reasons why working in an industrialised area for women was startlingly harsh. The information below are the grim descriptions of the urban working class during the industrial revolution. Living conditions in the industrial cities of Britain were concerning for the working classes. People were crowded into small houses that lacked proper sanitation and natural light. Often these houses suffered from damp and the air that people breathed was polluted from the coal fires, steam trains and factory chimneys. Sanitation was lacking by modern standards. People had to go out to the street to communal water and communal toilets. The water came from an underground source and there was no sewage system. Source F is a photograph by Thomas Annan (photographer) of a street in Glasgow, Britain. The photograph was taken in 1868 and it portrays a disturbing image of life in this laneway. It shows a group of women and children posing against the backdrop of their back to back houses. The photograph makes us aware of how narrow and dark the spaces between the houses are. Washing is hung over this space and wastewater can be seen to be flowing over the laneway. Source G is a piece of text extracted from ‘The Making of the English Working Class’ by Thompson. This text is comparing and contrasting an area of a town after it has undergone industrialization. Thompson states that ‘A neighbourhood once remarkable for its neatness and order’ has changed to ‘an area that is now a mass of filth and misery’. His text suggests that the area he is referring to has become overcrowded and gone into urban decline. These sources point out how the living conditions of the working poor deteriorated during the industrial revolution. Whereas people may have lived on farms or in neat towns, they now lived in crowded urban areas that lacked natural light and sanitation.
Public health and low life expectancy were serious issues for the urban working poor during the industrial revolution. Source D is a political cartoon from punch magazine, 1852. The cartoon is titled “A Court for King Cholera”. The title suggests that cholera, which is a disease, is present in this community. It shows a crowded town filled with poor people and children playing in a pile of an unhygienic rubbish and waste. In the cartoon a coffin can be seen being carried away by a man, this could symbolize death. Source E, a political cartoon from Punch Magazine in 1858, entitled ‘Father Thames introduces his off springs to the fair city of London’. This source demonstrates to us the awareness people had on public health and low life expectancy. The political cartoon has the labels of scrofula, diphtheria, and cholera written above the tittle of the cartoon. These are diseases that would affect the health of children in particular. The title ‘Father Thames’ proves that the place showed in the illustration was the Thames River. It is shown that the river has been polluted, as dead animals are shown in the illustration, possibly poisoned by the polluted water. Britannia, a female personification of the Britain and is often used to represent the glory of this country, is also present in this illustration. This does not fit the condition that is shown in the illustration. A young girl and a younger boy looking rather ill and grim is shown presented to Britannia by Father Thames, indicates a poor health conditions that affect the people living in that particular area, especially children. The source also demonstrates the awareness of the people who lives in this community. They knew that their environment is highly polluted, they are aware of what the industrialization has done to their surroundings and what the highly polluted environment has done to their children. Source D and Source E are evidences that the urban populations of industrial Britain were aware that living in the cities was affecting their health and their children’s health.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Great Britain became the first country to industrialize.
Because of this, it was also the first country where the nature of children’s work changed so dramatically that child labour became seen as a social problem and a political issue. Often families were very large and therefore the parents could not support all their children. Child labour is a harmful process. Underage children are forced to work for a very long hour and in terrible conditions. Source A is an extract from the Parliamentary Inquiry into the “State of Child Labor in Manufacturing in the United Kingdom”, 1816. In this source, it is stated that children between the ages 5-8 were mostly found working in a factory, although they are well fed and clothed, this does not stop the children from growing in a non-standard way. Source A also indicates that a shocking number of 500 children were found by Robert Owen, working at the mill. The second source which is Source B is an extract from data provided to both Houses of Parliament regarding children in cotton mills, 1818. This data provide us with information about the average working hours for children. It is stated that “The average working hours per day, during which these children are made to work, is from six o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock at night…”, which is startling considering that these children (commonly ages 5-10) are made to work for 14 hours per day. This could cause them to stop growing properly and stopping them from gaining new knowledge from school or other
places.
The working conditions of the men and women of the urban working poor were ruthless. Source M is a transcription of Rules to be observed from a mill in 1851. Some of the rules that can be found in this source are alarmingly strict. For instance, worker at this mill could be fined for something very trivial for example, arriving late to work, dropping waste or materials, swearing, or even communicating with fellow workers. In source I which is an extract from ‘Testimony in Parliaments Papers” from 1842, Betty Harris could be found stating that “I know a woman who has gone home and washed herself, taken to her bed, delivered of a child, and gone to work again under the week”. The evidence from both sources is an unsettling example of how callous and brutal their working experiences are.
In conclusion, the conditions of the urban working class during the industrial revolution were miserable since they have to live in harsh circumstances as shown in the evidence above.