Working Conditions In The 1800s

Public schools before the 1830s weren’t technically public because education was not open to the general public. At the time, the “public” schools were made up of a majority of white children, because their parents were wealthy enough to pay for their education. While some schools in both the North and the South allowed African Americans to attend, a lot of the African American families still could not afford to send their children. On top of not being able to afford school, in the South most schools did not believe in educating slaves. The monetary problem holding kids back from getting an equal opportunity to access education was what sparked the movement to reform the public schools.

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.

Conditions of factories were not safe for anyone, let alone a small child. Due to these conditions many children died before their prime. Many children “began work at age 5, and generally died before they were 25” (www.victorianweb.org), America was beginning to lose an entire generation due to these working conditions that so many had to endure. Children were hired at an alarming rate. “In 1870, the first time census reported child workers, there were 750,000 workers in the United States age 15 and under, not including those who worked on family farms or in other family businesses” (“Child Labor in America”), these numbers were not something that was looked over, it astonished many. “A cotton manufactory of 5 or 6000 spindles will employ those 200 children” (Bremner 232). The workforce would continuously grow, hiring more and more children each day. Factories were good for using children as a means of their productivity. “Textile factories, for the most part […] were in the forefront of this industrial revolution, and children formed an essential component of the new industrial workforce” (Bremner 232). Many times without these children working some of these factories would not have survived through the revolution.

Child labour, which began in the early 1800’s and ended around the 1920’s. Child labour was commonly used to help poor/immigrant families receive more money. According to history.com it states, “25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.” This reveals children worked even below the age of 15 and even 12 years old. They weren't given tolerable working conditions despite their young age. Also according to american-historama.org it states, “The typical hours of work lasted from sunrise to sunset, 11 or 12 hours per day, six days a week. They had less than one hour break in their working day … They earned an average weekly wage of one dollar.” This shows children worked a considerable number of hours and only earned little wage. Lastly according to scholastic.com it says “Many children began working before the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often damp, dark, and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often became ill.” This shows at very young ages children began work as they worked in damp, dark, and dirty work areas. However in

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 early America, only a couple of schools were open, and children were mainly taught at home or were sent to a boarding school. In 1837, a man named Horace Mann led the Massachusetts Board of Education and he seeked free, equal, non-religious education for all social classes. This was a major step towards obtaining natural rights. In documents H and E, it shows that education is one of the most important things in life. For example, “... It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility towards the rich; it prevents being poor” (Doc. H). This quote shows that having an education can prevent someone being in poverty because, if you are smart, then you can get a high paying job, which will prevent you from being poor. Another example is, “When he goes to school he walks quickly, and does not lose time on the road. ‘My parents,’ he says, ‘are very good to save some of their money in order that I may learn to read and write’...” (Doc. E). This shows that his parents were willing to spend the extra money for their child to get an education, which will give him a chance at a better life. Without having an education, you will not get very far in life. It is a necessity to life. Education really helped expand democratic ideals in the United States because, giving different class people the chance to attend school and get a free education is the best possible way to do it. You are giving poor and wealthy children the

To begin with, power driven machines replaced hand labor and factories were being built left and right in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. While the new, shiny machines were bringing in money for the companies they were still looking for ways to make more and they turned to hiring children rather than adults. Children were a source of cheap labor. For example, a child with a factory job might work 12 to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn

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.

Employees were often in dangerous working zones or conditions and there were not many laws to protect their wellbeing and their safety. Workers during this time employees like the workers that worked in steel mills had very long work days, longer than most citizens in the United States. Many times the workers in the steel mill would lose fingers just working in the mill. Also at this time, there was a lot of child labor going

“The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families. However, child laborers rarely experienced their youth” (National Archives). Child labor was a “normal” thing to many people

by the 1800 the average workday was 11.4 hours worker became very tired and more likely to get hurt on the job or work accidents mine factory machines had rapidly and there was kids working in there and they were not fit to do that and they would often get hurt. or they would get hurt all the time because of lack of sleep. they would be dozing off and fall and get hurt.

Rarely keeping any of the money they earn. Although, the wages that young labourers earned during this time were inhumanly low. Since their was no minimum wage at this time, business owners paid their employees how they saw fit. If a child had graciously asked for a raise in their pay or a longer break their boss would not take a second thought before firing them. Life of an American child was not good at this time.

Before the educational reform there were very little public schools. If there was a public school in a town it was part time and only one room. Wealthy families could afford to send their children to private school or

When kids went to work the bosses wouldn’t let them work less hours because they can fit in tight space and they were quicker. The conditions while working were harsh, most kids died with bad air quality or not having food a water. Companies gave the adults good healthy working conditions. The reason to that was because most of the older men and women had bad health so they needed to help them more often.

Education in America started with the Pilgrims in the early 1600’s. The first public school was opened in 1635 in Boston Massachusetts. In 1642, Massachusetts started an education reform that stated “Any child not properly educated would apprentice to a trade”. This education reform was created because they believed it was important for children and citizens to be able to read the laws of the land. This was the first law that required children to be education. If they were not properly educated they would be moved from their home to a better fit environment where they would be able to learn. Virginia then followed with a similar law in 1646. In 1647 Massachusetts founded an act called “Old Deluder Satan Act”. This act required towns of more than fifty families to hire a teacher for reading and writing. Towns of more than a hundred families had to establish a grammar school which served as college preparation. Dame schools taught reading and writing to females because this was all they were expected to learn so that they would not have the same intellect as men. Their classes were held in the teacher’s kitchen who continued her chores while the students did their lessons. At the beginning of the 20th century, parents and public schools began demanding more practical and useful curriculums.