Mills And Workers During The Industrial Revolution In Europe

When the French Third Estate stormed the Bastille in 1789, they envisioned a country in which they were no longer trodden upon by the First and Second Estates. They envisioned a nation where they had a major voice in politics and had a prominent role in the economy. By successfully overthrowing the French government and installing their own, they succeeded; albeit for only a short time. Little did they know that within a few decades, the same social hierarchy would be reinstalled during the Industrial Revolution, except the lower classes would be fighting for sanitation instead of bread. Over the course of the nineteenth century, various arguments emerged of how to improve the lives of European workers during the Industrial Revolution. Arguments

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.

“Children worked in very dangerous conditions in the picture represent in document 8” (Document 8). The children working in the factories have to be careful not to get their limbs or foreign objects lodged into the machines. If they got injured or ill and had to miss work in order to properly recuperate. “You are considerably deformed in person as a consequence of this labor? Yes I am” (Document 7), a woman that worked in a flax mill as a young girl was left deformed from all the harsh labor that was forced upon her while growing up. Not only did the parents have to work in order to be able to provide for their family, but their children had to work in order to contribute to be able to put food on the table for the whole family due to the parents lack of pay. “Children were uneducated and were unable to attend school as seen in document 6” (Document 6). Because of the lack of education many adults were illiterate, which caused many problems for example, learning basic life skills would be more difficult and time consuming because people are unable to self-educate by reading informational books on how to acquire basic skills “I am at work in a spinning room tending four sides of warp which is one girl’s work” (Document 1) Children were over worked the girl that spoke in the text about was forced to do the work of four separation girls all in one. Furthermore is unhealthy for anyone at any age

The workers ' life were strictly observed and controlled by either the factory owner or overseer. They wanted order and harmony in the workplace, the worker 's opinion was not so important to them in the beginning. All actions had to be controlled, rules had to be followed. There were penalties every time you broke the rules, usually a fine you had to pay. The factory owners believed in the beginning that the workers were fine with the condition, but it did not take long until the

woman who treated her slaves humanely. Her behavior towards them was as if they were a

The Industrial Revolution started in Britain because by the end of 19th century, it was one of the most stable and powerful countries in the whole world. Great Britain had a lot of natural resources such as iron and coal that helped to build new machines. The location of England also had an impact because being an island it was isolated from wars and conflicts in Europe. Population development created new opportunities because people were moving from countryside to big cities for jobs which increased the demand for different products. In the 18th century England had all needed factors that contributed to the start of the Industrial Revolution.

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

Often, the children were made to work “from five in the morning till nine or ten at night”, with “no time … for breakfast and no sitting for dinner and no time for tea”. These constant and long working hours not only can lead to mental and physical suffering, but they can also cause an increase in injury rates from working in general due to mental and physical fatigue. Additionally, the superiors of the workers often beat the children mercilessly. According to a firsthand account from John Birley, who was a child laborer at the time, a supervisor once “knocked me down knocked me down and threatened me with a stick. To save my head I raised my arm, which he then hit with all his might. My elbow was broken. I bear the marks, and suffer pain from it to this day, and always shall as long as I live...”. This act demonstrates the cruelty the child workers suffered at the hands of the superiors, due to the utter lack of regulation of these textile mills. In fact, the replaceable nature of their jobs and the Combination Acts essentially forced the children to endure this treatment, as they had no other way to support their families. This account is supported by similar accounts from an unbiased third-party doctor who investigated the mills. He stated that not only were the textile mills “nurseries of disease and vice”, the

The Industrial Revolution became a defining transitional period in United States history. The Industrial Revolution created opportunities for society through, employment, higher pay and allowed for the meeting of many cultures. As a result of high employment opportunities, people flocked to the North and populated areas of the nation creating urban cities. Urban cities of the nation have not changed much since the Industrial Revolution; people are still drawn to the urban culture because of the variety in social and economic opportunities. The urban culture has allowed us to observe the interaction among various cultures and the development of the social class through time.

Child Labor in the 1700s and 1800s was a definite form of abuse to children because they were often severely underpaid, worked much longer hours than even an adult should, and were often exposed to harsh and dangerous conditions. Children were on average five times cheaper to employ then adults, and were expected to work the same hours- which, in mining communities, could mean 14 hour days (Britain , Great. “Report on child labour, 1842.” The British Library, The British Library, 6 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/collection-items/report-on-child-labour-1842).

The industrial Revolution led to a great book in factories, and therefore, factory workers. They usually preformed an industrial labor job each day. Previously this field was dominated by the cottage workers, who created entire products from their homes. Although it was believed that factories would improve the quality of the working class lives, this was not the case. Cottage workers had a better life when compared to factory workers.

During the Industrial Revolution and in the Romantic Period, child labor was very common for most of the children that lived during that time. Many of the families were very poor and needed all the extra money that they could get. Children were sent to work in various workplaces such as factories, mines, and even mills. The children received little or no pay from their jobs. The workplaces required extremely long work hours usually from sun up to sun down with very few breaks in between. Most children also received very harsh treatment if they slacked off of their work. The owners of the companies gave little or no attention to the children. They wanted the production to be made each day no matter how hard it was on them.

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

The Industrial Revolution in Europe changed Europe to this day. This began in the United Kingdom in the 1700s and expanded to Western Europe in the 1800s. During the Industrial Revolution, this provided new technology, a surplus of food, trading and different ways of producing goods for countries. The women and children in Europe had to work hard and work in the mills. They did this to give enough money for their family to live on. Politics also changed during the Industrial Revolution. Thus, the Industrial Revolution affected many people and to discover new technology and ways of thriving life.

Before the industrial revolution, Europe was mostly dominated by farmers but as the industrial revolution progressed this changed dramatically. Industrial revolution had a significant impact in the process by making new demands that shaped the way of life through increased competition and technological innovation. Generally, it was a historical period that sparked in a stroke a number numerous changes in the economic, social and political dimensions. It is considered as a period that made the biggest impact on 19th century Europe considering that it was the period that the countries realized significant progress that shaped their economies in great details with nationalism and imperialism as well being direct impacts of the revolution.