Child Labor During The Industrial Revolution

Throughout history, children have always worked, either as apprentices or servants. However, child labor reached a whole new scale during the time period of the Industrial Revolution. Throughout the time frame of late 1800s-early 1900s, children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little wages. They were considered useful as laborers because their small stature allowed them to be cramped into smaller spaces, and they could be paid less for their services. Many worked to help support their families, and by doing so, they forwent their education. Numerous nineteenth century reformers and labor groups sought to restrict child labor and to improve working conditions.

Conditions of factories were not safe for anyone, let alone a small child. Due to these conditions many children died before their prime. Many children “began work at age 5, and generally died before they were 25” (www.victorianweb.org), America was beginning to lose an entire generation due to these working conditions that so many had to endure. Children were hired at an alarming rate. “In 1870, the first time census reported child workers, there were 750,000 workers in the United States age 15 and under, not including those who worked on family farms or in other family businesses” (“Child Labor in America”), these numbers were not something that was looked over, it astonished many. “A cotton manufactory of 5 or 6000 spindles will employ those 200 children” (Bremner 232). The workforce would continuously grow, hiring more and more children each day. Factories were good for using children as a means of their productivity. “Textile factories, for the most part […] were in the forefront of this industrial revolution, and children formed an essential component of the new industrial workforce” (Bremner 232). Many times without these children working some of these factories would not have survived through the revolution.

The use of children sped up production and made the pool of employees much larger. The benefit of child labor for the workers being able to have more people in the factory. The disadvantage was the fact that children are young and should be spending their time learning and playing opposed to operating machines for 16 hours and never attending school (Document 1). Some communities made child labor an option and enforced education at the same time. These communities were known as working societies. They focused on making nice conditions for children that worked. They took good care of kids and paid them in exchange for work. Safety was a big concern so death rates were very low (Document 5). However, not all companies treated their kids well. Some factories abused child labor, allowing kids as young as three years old to help out (Document 9). Politicians are managers claimed that the kids were just fine and even benefited from working. “I have visited many factories, and I never saw a single instance of corporal chastisement inflicted on a child. They seemed to be always cheerful and alert” (Document 4). Child labor was a debatable topic during the Industrial Revolution because many people depended on it but many other people wanted it to stop because it was

Today we have child labor laws, which prohibit the use of children as workers. During the industrial revolution, there was no such thing. You can see in Lewis W. Hine’s photo that a child is dangerously balancing on a milk crate so he can reach the machine. (Lewis W. Hine) Children worked extremely dangerous jobs for very little pay. This boy in the photo could easily fall from where he is balancing and could cut himself open on the machine.

Children were given the the dirty in the factories, such as carrying and cleaning through the factory for little or no pay. Children where the focal point of cheap labor. They were payed the cheapest out of factory workers. What children lacked in skill there importance came in there size and vulnerability. Children had to ender strict rules and harsh punishments.

The biggest problem about the industrial Revolution was the matter of Child labor. Child labor was used and favored by many businesses because children could be paid less than women that could be paid less than men. According to the conversation on document 7,C: What time did you begin work at the factory? B: When I was six years old. (Document7) This part of the conversation on document 7 directly mentions child labor. Child labor began in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Children would work in mostly textile factories. Textile factories made cotton clothes to be sewn into clothing.

Child labor was a cruel and unfair way of using children in unnecessary situations. It was debated for a countless number of years whether child labor was a social problem or a political problem. Children were responsible for completing very dangerous, rigorous, and demanding jobs. Most jobs for the children were completed in factories, farms, and coal mines. Subsequently, the working conditions for the children were not healthy, and it led to life threatening situations. Many would get seriously injured or killed. Some worked until exhaustion and fell asleep on the job, and would experience harsh consequences. Generally speaking, child labor drastically changed the way owners ran their businesses during the Industrial Revolution. The ruthless ways of child labor were never changed for the better until different Acts and Laws were put into place. People were concerned with the social and physical wellbeing of working children in Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

Children were smaller, so they could do things that was too hard for adults. Even though this could be effective to poor families, it soon got out of hand. Children would be uneducated and were over worked. Adults were now less likely to get jobs because children would work for half price. Child labor is cruel and not necessary.

Also, industrial labor was pretty expensive. As a result, the choice that they made was to use children. Children were a good labor force because many children went out from their home to work and they were cheap. Children were paid only a fraction of what an adult would get, and sometimes factory owners would get away with paying them nothing. Children spent most of their time working in textile mill factories.

“The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families. However, child laborers rarely experienced their youth” (National Archives). Child labor was a “normal” thing to many people

During the 18 and beginning of the 19th century in certain regions of the U.S child labor made up more than 40 percent of the population (Wolensky). That’s almost half of the working population. Since the beginning of time children have always been known to help their families with domestic tasks. Most of these kids worked in factories because they were easy to control and paid less than adults. Kids earned less than half of what adults made in the work force. In these factories they usually cleaned under and inside machines while functioning because of their small size.. That’s how these kids felt as it was described in a article in our history book. They were always in danger of getting hurt or even dying, which many did. Kids as young

Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution.There was a big impact on the daily life of a child labourer as poor children often worked full time jobs with minimal pay in order to help support their families. Young children worked long hours in factories under dangerous conditions. children were easier to manage and control than adults because their size was perfect as it allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines.The practice of child labor continued throughout much of the Industrial Revolution until laws were eventually passed that made child labor illegal.

Child labor was a horrendous problem during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. It caused countless children to subsist in treacherous working conditions for low pay for an extensive period of time; nevertheless without it there would have been no laws that could protect them. Therefore, later in the Industrial Revolution, there came child protection laws that ended child labor. One of the ways that new child labor laws came into being because of John Wesley and the

In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century of England, the Industrial Revolution occurred. It is marked as an important movement in history because it introduced steam-driven machinery, large factories, and a new working class. With new manufacturing, job opportunities opened up. As the demand for employees rose, that is when the working class also began to rise. However, it not only included adults but children as well. The main reason for children to work is because it benefits the employers and their families economically. Employers made profit by having children work for low wages, and the money the children made would go towards the family income and necessities to survive. The low adult wages would not suffice for a neutral family or extended, so children had no choice but to work and help support their family. Although in need of money, there were too many dangers involved when the children were working. As a result of this, the state legislation had Acts passed for the children’s safety. The Industrial Revolution had many upsides in modernizing England, but it also uncovered that children should not be seen as workers needing money, but as young human beings that need education and protection, and the only way to initiate this is with the involvement of the state.

Starting in about the 1700s, hand labor was replaced by power driven machines to make jobs easier. The industrial revolution had begun, and families needed a job and money to be able to survive. European immigrants started spreading word that children should work.Eventually factories decided to get kids to work since the machines were easy to operate and didn’t require adult strength.