Child Labor In The Industrial Revolution

Child labor was very common and popular especially in the late 1800s and early the 1900s even though many people were not aware of the dangers. We can define child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and cause to their physical and mental development. Children are the base of a country but in a developing country child labor is an issue that has yet to disappear. Most of the children remain illiterate because of their poor economic condition and parents do not have enough money to spend on the education of their children, rather they send their children for work so that they could earn some money during their poor economic condition. The objective of my research paper is to raise awareness

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.

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.

child could not earn much, but even a few pence would be enough to buy

The Industrial Revolution, as described by Stephen Gardiner, was “another of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilization.” During this time period, some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society. Industrialization involved the use of child labor, negatively affected the environment, and had harsh working conditions in factories. However, I will counter that it actually had a greater positive effect for society. As a result of Industrialization, the United States rose to become the world’s largest economic power and people were able to enjoy new amenities that weren’t previously available.

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.

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.

One reason why the Industrial Revolution had a negative impact on the world is because it started child labor. Child labor is when businesses and industries take kids from any age and make them work in dangerous and inhumane places. In the document from a British industrial worker, the Sadler Committee in 1832 investigated the workers’ conditions in British factories. It says, “ ‘... When did you first begin to work in the mills? When I was ten years of age … we began at five in the morning and stopped at nine at night … at times we were frequently strapped [whipped].’ ”. This statement from the document shows a negative impact in the Industrial Revolution because kids at young age are sent to work for long hours and are frequently whipped.

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.

As Stephen Gardiner once said, “The industrial revolution was another one of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilization.” The Industrial Revolution was in fact an extraordinary jump in the development of the U.S. It created a foundation for what the U.S is today socially, economically, and politically. The Industrial Revolution played a major role in the industrialization and modernization and still has effects to this day. These effects lead to more trade, better transportation, and modernization. It also had had many negative effects on America and England as well. These effects mainly focus on the social side of the Industrial Revolution. These effects include child labor, unfair wage, poor living conditions and poverty. When both the positive and negative effects are put together as a whole, the positive effects outweigh the negative. Mainly because they had a bigger effect on America and the world as a whole, and still affect us today. Because of the Industrial Revolution wages are more fair, living conditions are better, Manufacturing has drastically improved and children are no longer allowed to work in factories.

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

Throughout the 1700’s and the early 1800’s child labor was a major issue in American society. Children have always worked for family businesses whether it was an agricultural farming situation or working out of a family business in some type of workplace. This was usually seen in families of middle or lower class because extra help was needed to support the family. Child labor dramatically changed when America went through the Industrial Revolution. When America’s industrial revolution came into play, it opened a new world to child labor. Children were now needed to work in factories, mills, and mines. These were not ordinary jobs for young children, these jobs required much time, effort, and hard work. “American

Child labor was another important and serious issue during the Industrial Revolution. Children usually worked, along with their parents because they needed as much money as they could get to support their families. Children would start working around the age of three and were usually in coal mines because they had smaller hands which were used to reach the coal. (Saez). Also, children would work in mills because their fingers were just the right size to fix the looms. (Wroble pg. 8). Factory owners could employ children because at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution there were no laws to

This book examines the explanations for child labour in an economic context. A model of the labour market for children is constructed using the new economics of the family; framework to derive the supply of child labour and the traditional labour theory of marginal productivity to derive the demand for child labour. The model placed into a historical context and used to test the existing supply-and-demand-induced explanations growing in child labour at the British Industrial Revolution. Evidence on the extent of children’s employment, their specific tasks and trends in their wages from the textile industry and mining industry used to support the argument that it was technological innovation, which created a demand for child labour. Certain

Therefore, some employers completely controlled families. (Staff H. , 2009) During the Industrial Revolution, according American history, child labour reached a new level. Because of the industrial revolution many machines were created. New machines lead to workers in dangerous factory conditions. Some of the workers would end up being children, for they would work long hours for a very small amount of money. It was believe that children were very usual as workers, because of their small size, which lead to them being able to move in small spaces. Another reason why child labour was useful, was because children were obedient and were paid much less than adults. (Staff H. , 2009) Near the nineteenth century was when labour organizers pursued to limit the child labour and improve the conditions that the workers were under. When the Great Depression struck the American public opinion wanted all the jobs to go to adults instead of