The Spread Of Child Labour During The Industrial Revolution

As early as the 1830’s Child Labor in the U.S. was already starting to arise. In rural communities child labor on the farm was common, children being employed in factories or mills didn’t seem to be much of a concern to people. In 1830 laws were passed prohibiting children to be hired in an industrial or factory type setting. By 1800, some states passed a large amount of laws prohibiting child labor. Often times these laws did not apply to immigrants so they were often abused on the immigrants which lead to the immigrants living in poor places working for long hours for very little pay. Immigrant or not, child labor back in the 1800’s was a way of life.

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Great Britain experienced a period of radical change and transformation. This era is referred to as the Industrial Revolution. It brought a surge of technological innovations, an increase in production, more world trade, and a rise in urban population. One of the most controversial and widely debated issues until today among historians is the use of child labor. Despite that this era led to massive economic growth and social development, it violated women’s rights and exploited children. The purpose of this paper is to examine the exploitation of children during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, and provide information about the improvement of the labor market as a result.

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.

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

In the documentary “The Children Who Built Victorian Britain” by BBC, talks about the children of the industrial revolution, it shows the jobs they had, where these children came from, their motivation and the progression of laws against child labor. Before the industrial revolution people used to manufactures their goods in their homes using simple machines, but in the late 1700’s this shifted drastically in Britain. They started to implement new ideas of modernization using industries to manufacture goods at a larger scale. The steam engine, iron and textile industries were one of the many industries that played a key role to improve economy, transportation and living conditions in the late 1700’s. Without the industrial revolution we wouldn’t have the technology that we have nowadays, but the industrial revolution also brought a dark chapter for history, the exploitation of children.

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

To begin, people debated whether child labor during the Industrial Revolution was a social problem or a political problem. During the Industrial Revolution, the extent of child labor changed due to Britain becoming more industrialized. In the article “Child Labor during the British Industrial Revolution,” Wade Thatcher stated that the majority of scholars argued that since there was a plentiful supply

During the 19th century children from ages of 3 onwards were forced into employment, mainly to work in factories. Child labour was extremely popular and played a big part of Britain’s economic success. Adults seemed to

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

During the Second Industrial Revolution many people were getting jobs because of the growing industrialization. By the mid-1800’s child labor started to be a major issue. Child labor became a bigger issue once machines in factories replaced hand labor. Starting in Britain and spreading throughout Europe and North American many new business and factories started to open. When the factories started to open they needed more workers for cheap labor.

Also, the factory and workplace conditions were poor and not suitable for any person, let alone a child. There were several possible solutions to these problems that could have been implemented at the time. Because there was such a need to work in order for families to survive, child labor was on the rise during the Industrial Revolution. This corrupt situation is best described by Edward Potter, a coal viewer and manager of a collier.

During the Industrial Revolution in America, industrialization and urban development took place at an unprecedented pace. Due to the increasing demand for production and the desire for cheap labor, the number of factories increased. As a consequence, the number of child laborers drastically increased. Child labor became more widespread and it eventually became a staple of the American economy. As the use of child labor increased, it began to be scrutinized by organizations, like the National Child Labor Committee, who criticized the method and claimed that it damaged the individual child and the society as a whole. Those who opposed child labor saw the correlation between the long hours/dangerous conditions and the vast lack of education (and

The Industrial revolution took place in the 19th and 18th century it began it Britain and spread to other parts of the world, it was a time of rural society in Europe and America because industrial and urban. It was the process of going from hand tools to industry and machinery. The Industrial revolution brought many new developments such as economic changes with brag wealth, agricultural improvements, and increased international trade. During the Industrial revolution, children of all ages would face child labour at work some even six years old; they work long hours some hours expanding to 15 hours with little pay. They have terrible working conditions and have much body issue from the pressure that work gives them.

The conditions that children were working in during the 19th century were not safe for a child who has not fully developed. In 1841 the most common occupations for boys was in agriculture with 196,640 children, serventry with 90,464 children and in cotton manufacturing with 44,833 children. The occupations were similar for girls in 1841 with cotton manufacturing with 62,131, servantry with 346,079 girls, and in dress making with 22,174 children ("Child Labor During The British Industrial Revolution"). These numbers were very surprising and they truly show just how many families were in a situation where they weren't financially able to care for their families. Not only were the numbers surprising but the conditions in which the children were

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.