The Conditions For Factory Workers In Nineteenth Century Britain

In society, many make a living by working for others to get the necessities they need. Workers face many struggles such as wage cuts, horrendous work conditions, an increase in hours, due to these conditions they are labeled ‘wage slaves.’ These individuals have no choice but to work in these conditions. The growth of industry in the United States made corruption easier and made employers richer while the poor stayed poor. The employers justify their actions by arguing that the employees have a choice to go and work for someone else. However, workers do not have the choice to work for others since most employers were using the same method to make a profit. Workers are treated unfairly, but they use many effective techniques such as strikes

During the late 1800s, many Americans worked at jobs that required little or no real skill. These jobs were tedious and boring because they did the same task every day for however long they worked. Their work day included long hours and was often six to seven days each week. These workers were not only working for low wages and long hours, they were working at jobs that involved extremely unsafe working conditions. Workers were becoming angry at their employers and the competition for the available jobs was increasing with the consistent growth of the areas surrounding the factories and the steady stream of immigrants made filling these unskilled jobs, at ridiculously low wages, and in extremely unsafe conditions relatively simple for the rising

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

Being an industrial worker in the late 19th-century in America was not a simple life. Even at the best times the pay was small and the time spent at work was long in dangerous conditions. Most of the money derived in America went to the actual workforce. Women and children suffered the most however, making up the majority of the workers and only receiving a small percentage of what a man could make. Different periods of economic crises tokk the nation by storm, also breaking down the amount of wages from industrial work and increasing the total population of the unemployed.

Workers went on strike to earn a fair living wage and in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in. His commission saw the truth awarded mine workers a wage increase and a nine-hour day. The department of Labor formed to help fix problems of the American worker. New York banned children from working under the age of sixteen for more than nine hours in a factory. To improve safety, in 1911, New York passed laws requiring fire escapes, fire drills and wired windows in all factories. In the next year, New York also passed a law requiring factory workers to have a “one-day-of-rest-in-seven”, meaning they needed to have at least one day break each week. After that, New York also made it illegal to hire children to do factory work in tenements or canneries, and made a fifty four- hour workweek the maximum for any working person under eighteen. (Doc 2)

The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction era was a time period that was somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came bearing new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. In this time period, factory workers were faced with unpleasant working conditions, abuse, pay cuts and the reality of having little to no power. The mass immigration also did them no favor as they were found easy to replace. In order to fight against these unjust acts, laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however during the time of 1875 and 1900, the labor unions were not that effective. Although they had their efforts, many did utilize the advantages in which were available to them. There were many reasons for the movements initial downfall; they suffered failed strikes resulting from rash violence, unbalanced power between employers and employees, and the absence of government.

During the industrial revolution in Britain, the usage of child labourers dramatically increased as it became a cheap and easy form of labour. This lead to the continued abuse of many children in textile factories. In 1833, the Factory Act of 1833 was put forth which dictated that no children under the age of nine would work. Children ages nine to thirteen wouldn’t work more than nine hours a day and children ages thirteen to eighteen wouldn’t work more than twelve hours a day. In addition it introduced the circulation of four factory inspectors who were to enforce the new legislation. They were to certify whether children had received their compulsory education of two hours each day and report conditions to the government. This act brought forth attention and sparked debates from the public which made stronger note of the working conditions for children.

In 1833, the Factory Act of 1833 was passed to improve the working conditions for children who labored in factories. A source reveals, “Young children were working very long hours in workplaces where conditions were often terrible,” (Document 10). As this came to the government’s attention, the act was produced by them in an attempt to lessen the abuse of working children, and to treat them more like children. First, the Factory Act limited the hours children could work in factories. The act states, “Children of 9-13 years to work no more than nine hours a day; children of 13-18 years to work no more than 12 hours a day,” (Document 10). Children were also not allowed to work at night. By having working hours reduced, children were able to fit in time to play, sleep, and get an education. It also reduced fatigue, as the children weren’t on their feet as long, and they got in more time to sleep. Secondly, within the act, there was a rule limiting the age children must be to work in factories. No children under the age of nine were allowed to work in the factories,” (Document 10). Although this decreased the amount of money coming in for each family, it allowed the children to get educations, have more free time, and help their

Also, there were no safety rules which caused multiple accidents resulting in injuries. One of the mill worker Amelia wrote – “most of the women work on average 13 hours a day. It was worse than the poor peasant of Ireland or the Russian serf who labors from sun to sun” (“Lowell Mills...”, n. d.). Despite this hard labor, most of them were receiving less pay as compared to men. Hence, when in 1834, when the owners decided to cut their wages further, the mill girls had enough. Most of them organized and went on strike. Even though the strike was unsuccessful, they were successful in establishing a first women union in the US. The union requested safer workplace and a shorter workday. With their persistent efforts, the government of Massachusetts passed a law in 1874 which limited the workday to 10 hours for women and

In the 1800’s, before the establishment of factories, laborers worked from home and received a “piece-rate wage” based on the output and quality of products produced. Cottage industries included spinning, weaving, lacing, and branding, which provided job opportunities and a source of income for women. This “piece-rate wage” system disappeared during the Industrial Revolution, when steam-powered factories became laborers’ workplace. As women started to get older, the gender wage gap widened; by the age of 30, women factory workers only earned approximately one-third of a man’s wage. Women organized into labor unions, which utilized strikes to negotiate labor rights and fair pay. The strikes were not always successful, but started to catch the

Who where the mill girls? The mill girls helped show that they can and will fight for better working conditions. The mill girls age 11-30 came from their farms in the early 1800’s to gain money for their family. They had a hard time in textile mills and in their boarding homes.

As the demand for child labor grew, so did the strong humanitarian campaign outside of the Parliament and another Factory Act was passed in 1831. This act limited the working day to twelve hours a day for all workers under eighteen years of age, though like most factory acts, there was no system of enforcement and the act was hardly followed, though it led to one of the most prominent acts towards child labor laws and enforcement (Child Labor during the British Industrial Revolution). After the Factory Act of 1831, the Parliament continued their investigation and produced reports with striking details of the abuse and mistreatment in factories. In 1833, the Parliament passed a new Factory Act.

Factory workers in eighteenth and nineteenth century England typically worked extremely long hours with a meager amount of time for breaks (Spielvogel 571). This is a direct violation of article 24 in the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights which states that “everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours” (UN, Art. 24). Discussing these violations are important due to how the quality of life of these workers decreased during these years. Factory workers “spent all the light of day at work and came home with little energy, space, or light” to do anything (Effects of the Industrial Revolution). Undoubtedly, this environment led to

The nineteenth century was a time of significant upheaval, embodied by individuals challenging the institutions of the Victorian era and striving to achieve self determination. The conflicting relationship between the individual and society becomes apparent through analysing the individual’s confrontation with the orthodox economic and philosophical Victorian paradigms. Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, North and South (1855), Richard Redgrave’s painting The Outcast (1851) and Ada Nield Chew’s letter A living Wage for Factory Girls at Crewe (1894) critique the dominant attitudes of society, emphasising the importance of the individual to seek autonomy for social progression to occur as well as self satisfaction.

Friederick Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England describes the inhumane and atrocious living and working conditions for the proletariat in England. He describes life in England before the Industrial revolution and how there was a shift in population from rural farmland to urban cities. Engels describes as factories grew, the demand of labor increased, and the population in cities increased the quality of living for those people in factories deteriorated. The descriptions that Engels uses to describe the smells and the appearance of streets filled with human waste ghastly because it creates these images that it is unimaginable that someone could live that way. There are buildings filled for from “cellar to garret” by Engels but he also gives us the disturbing number of around 50,000 humans looking for housing in the refuges for the houseless. The living conditions and the areas of the cities where these poor living conditions are found lead to diseases among the population of the working class. The breaking apart of families because they are working twelve to thirteen hour days at times more so they do not have time for family. As a result of the exhaustion and stressful low paying work the working class turn to drinking as the only escape for the miserable work they must go through on a daily basis. The book describes the workers as nothing but hands at times, they are seen as interchangeable pieces to