Historical Analysis on Factories

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.

However the industrial revolution was not all good. The working class had no other option but to turn up at the factories for work. The factory system resulted in over-crowding and unhygienic conditions and also the development of slum areas. Many factory owners who needed cheap, unskilled labour, profited greatly by using children and women to run the machines and because they were small and could fit in tunnels as well not only that they were more suited for factory life because they could adopt more quickly and easily than men. By the age of 6, many children were already working twelve hours a day in factories. These children had no free time to do anything plus they earned low wages. Hardly any of the children went to school they had to work in factories to earn money. Quite a lot of the people who worked at factories got sick and died because of the toxic fumes in the factories. While others were severely injured because the machines didn't have safety guards so many children got killed by machinery when they fell asleep and got caught up in the machines. Many of the children who were orphans, hired by the employers would

The middle class probably had the biggest positive impact. Due to their small factories or businesses success, the middle class benefited and they made their way to the upper class. As this happened the middle class took advantage of newly affordable items such as furniture and clothing allowing themselves a more comfortable life.

The Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain and America around the late 1700’s to 1900. This revolution improved the production of goods using new mechanisms and machines. Human labor was in high demand in order for the highest production rates. Factories employed low to middle-class people that were as young as three years old (Document 9). These workers were benefited with money, shelter, and clothes, but the working and living conditions were not satisfying. The average industrial worker experienced a variety of factors that can be classified as good or bad, including the positive effects of labor, like the shelter, money, and food they were given; and the negative effects of the factory,

Children who worked in factories were commonly exposed to large and dangerous machines (large/thick needles, constantly spinning threads, etc.) 6. Young children were considered “clean slates” for factory work

It is clear to see that in the picture of child labor, from document #10, that children were unhappy. They were also unsafe because of the harsh working conditions. These places are dangerous for adults and even more dangerous for kids. According to The Apostate, by Jack London, he started work before the age of 10. Jack said, “I started working when I was younger than him.” He was talking about his 10-year old brother. Imagine kids younger than 10 working in factories.

Firstly, the working conditions that the boys of the orphanage were subject to are not acceptable. Working in crowded areas with dangerous tools as young men put their lives at danger each time they worked every day. Furthermore, as orphans they were not being paid to work in these factories nor did they sign up to work for the bourgeoisie. While they were being provided with living arrangements and food, they were being deprived of the money and opportunities to go out into the world and make money from themselves. This type of enslavement is very similar to the injustices that Karl Marx refers to in his Communist Manifesto. Referring to the lives of the proletariat he explains that, “Masses of labourers, crowded into the factory, are organised like soldiers…Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois State; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker,” (Dover-Thrift 131). Marx’s language and rhetoric very much describes the lives of orphans in this picture. They are meticulously organized by their supervisors and watched, but they have no outlet for a better life. One of the biggest ways that the proletariat was able to keep down their workers by not providing them education. Instead of going to school and learning how to become doctors or lawyers or factory owners themselves, these kids and even non orphans were stuck working so they can support their families or have a place to live. In fact, in cities like Berlin, workers were paid so little that they had to send their kids to work as well. It is this problem that Ernste Dronke refers to in his socialist novel “Berlin” when he explains that, “The barbaric modern custom of building small and tight chimneys into which only children can fit has created a huge increase in poor children for this industry. Moreover, they do not get an education, and

Mortality rates were decreasing rapidly. This was not only an effect of the poor living conditions, but also of the high pollution that was being created by the factories. Conditions for adult and children in the factory during the Industrial Revolution were unrelenting in its enforcement of tough rules, long hours and its unsanitary and, sometimes, dangerous environment. According to author, the mill work that Sam and the other children did was dangerous nor particularly difficult. Children of the Industrial Revolution perhaps suffered more than the adults also “some of the children had their hands terribly lacerated by the carding machine”. Owners realized that children were easier to train and control and they were forced to work as young as eight years old. They worked for many hours in factories and were denied their education. At such a young age, education and the support of family would have been instrumental in the development of such an impressionable mind. The innocence of what it means to be a child was exploited by the business owners who wished only to gain more

Most machines had no safety devices, meaning that one mistake could result in a lost limb, and in worse cases a lost life. Sometimes, workers would even fall asleep in the middle of working next to an unsafe machine. Children were basically taken advantage of in the factories since their small hands and bodies could fit where the adults’ could not. Their job was often to change spools in the humid textile mills or to repair broken machines or threads. The children were young and uneducated and were not aware of the hazards all around them, such as the huge machines. They faced whippings when making a mistake or disobeying. Lint and dust filled the air, weakening the workers’ lungs and eyesight. In conclusion, the environmental factors and machines inside the factories harmed the working-class, resulting in too many illnesses or lost

Child workers in factories Children were viewed as a dispensable source of labour during the Industrial Revolution. Evidence of this is that they were given potentially dangerous jobs, worked to the point of exhaustion and harshly punished for their actions. Children were viewed as dispensable because they were given potentially dangerous jobs. The jobs that children were made to do in factories and mines were often in tight enclosed spaces or close to dangerous heavy machinery. Evidence of this can be found in sources one, two and seven.

Children lost many body parts due to working on these machines they’re required to use. Which goes back to why working in factories is very harmful. Although, these kids already knew what they were getting themselves into while working in the factory. They fairly needed the benefits that were provided for the hours they worked. Plus during this time, it was very difficult to come across work during this time era.

Many middle class families realized that many workers had absolutely nothing and were sick from lack of food, warmth, and shelter. Louis Alcott’s “Little Women”, represented a middle class family giving away their Christmas breakfast because of neighbors that were starving and freezing. This recognizes the comfort that was provided in being a middle class, but did not have the luxuries of the wealthy. The middle class could purchase enough food for one meal but kept a tight budget(source 2). The middle class had exemplary jobs and were payed a comfortable sum of money, nevertheless, the poorest unskilled laborers had to work in repugnant

Children most of the time worked in mines, glass factories, textiles, canaries, and home industries. A lot of these industries are filled with dangers that can easily kill them. In this quote “Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay” (Child labor in factories). A good number of these kids were harassed and mistreated by the factory bosses. If children didn’t arrive on time to work, they would have to be punished by the factory bosses. The punishment was that the children would have to sprint up and down the factory aisle until they were completely drained out of energy and they had to do this nude carrying a backpack full of heavy objects. This caused a lot of children to develop

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.

Both girls and boys of the working class entered the workforce at an early age. They worked in large factories for long hours at low pay. Often the work was dangerous and damaging to the health. Working class people didn't usually have a nutritious diet or healthy lifestyle and so were at risk of disease, which spread quickly in the crowed conditions, in which they lived and worked. Middle class boys meanwhile often went on to become the owners or directors of the factories in which the working class were employed. They were doctors and teachers and lawyers. The women married and they ran large suburban home, often with several servants. The middle class life was one of respectability and comfort. Members enjoyed a life of financial security and, although they did not live in luxury, they did not want for anything and were able to enjoy recreational activities such as seaside holidays in summer. The usual course for an upper class young man was a position in the army, government or church. The upper class life was drenched in tradition, the main source of income was from the large family estates (the upper class were the main landowners in Britain) and houses, which had been in the family for generations. Upper class men did not actually have any employment as such so their lives were an endless round of hunting seasons in the country house, shooting seasons at the Scottish estate and London ball seasons in the town house. In winter most upper