Slaves During The Industrial Revolution
Industrial revolution powered by child slaves?
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hen the industrial first came to Britain and the United States, there was a high demand on labour. Many people migrated from rural country side to the newly industrialized cities to find work. However, things didn’t turn out as bright as they did. To survive in the lowest level of poverty, all the members in the family go to work. This led to high rise of child labour in factories. Children were not treated well, overworked and underpaid for a long period of time.
Children were useful as laborers because their size allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where adults couldn’t fit. For example, in textile factories, children were employed as ‘scavengers’ where they would collect loose pieces of cotton from under mahcines while the machines were running or as ‘piecers’ where they had to reapair broken thresads on spinning machines while the machines were still running. This was extremely dangerous and risky. Meanwhile, in coalmines, children were employed as ‘trappers’ where they operated the air doors that provided ventilation for the miners or as ‘drawers’ where they pulled heavy carts of cut coal to the pits surface with heavy chains around their waists.
‘I sit in the dark down in the pit for 12 hours a day. I only see daylight on Sundays when I don’t work …show more content…
They would work for as long as nineteen hours a day with an interval for refreshments of thirty minutes at noon. As a result of long hours work with the lack of ventilation, children became very tired and found it difficult to maintain the speed required by overlookers. They were usually hit with a strap to make them work faster. In more serious case, some factories children were dipped head first into water cistern if they stopped working even for a short period of time. They would also get punished for arriving late to work and even when talking to the other
W
hen the industrial first came to Britain and the United States, there was a high demand on labour. Many people migrated from rural country side to the newly industrialized cities to find work. However, things didn’t turn out as bright as they did. To survive in the lowest level of poverty, all the members in the family go to work. This led to high rise of child labour in factories. Children were not treated well, overworked and underpaid for a long period of time.
Children were useful as laborers because their size allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where adults couldn’t fit. For example, in textile factories, children were employed as ‘scavengers’ where they would collect loose pieces of cotton from under mahcines while the machines were running or as ‘piecers’ where they had to reapair broken thresads on spinning machines while the machines were still running. This was extremely dangerous and risky. Meanwhile, in coalmines, children were employed as ‘trappers’ where they operated the air doors that provided ventilation for the miners or as ‘drawers’ where they pulled heavy carts of cut coal to the pits surface with heavy chains around their waists.
‘I sit in the dark down in the pit for 12 hours a day. I only see daylight on Sundays when I don’t work …show more content…
They would work for as long as nineteen hours a day with an interval for refreshments of thirty minutes at noon. As a result of long hours work with the lack of ventilation, children became very tired and found it difficult to maintain the speed required by overlookers. They were usually hit with a strap to make them work faster. In more serious case, some factories children were dipped head first into water cistern if they stopped working even for a short period of time. They would also get punished for arriving late to work and even when talking to the other