The Oppression of Children During the Industrial Revolution Today, six-year-old children would be starting elementary school. Often times, this was not the case during the Industrial Revolution. William Arnold was born in 1860 and was sent to work at only six years old. Arnold stated, “When I was six years and two months old I was sent off to work. Fancy that, only just over six years of age!” (Arnold qtd. in Humphries 2). Forget about having a childhood going to school and playing with peers, children were sent to work at such a young age. During the Industrial Revolution, children were harmed mentally, socially, and physically while working long hours in the factory based on their lack of education, dangerous working conditions and heavy machinery, and the overall loss of a pleasant childhood playing with friends. Children today have simple lives, while during the Industrial Revolution, it was a little more complex. Children during the Industrial Revolution worked long hours in appalling conditions for little pay. Furthermore, “A picture was painted of the ‘dark satanic mill’ where children as …show more content…
Long hours left no time for social interaction with peers. Children grew up illiterate because they did not attend school and may have even seen some of their peers die while working which affected them mentally. The most heart wrenching thing about the whole situation was the physical abuse that the children had to endure. From being chained to machines, to the loss of limbs, and being slaughtered in a machine while they were just doing their job is absolutely heartbreaking. After all, history tends to repeat itself, hopefully it will not in this case because children were being affected socially, mentally, and physically. It would be ideal if children got a proper education so they could contribute to today’s advancing society and if the death rates of children stayed
At this time in history, there were “two million children under the age of sixteen” working to provide for their families, and some kids beginning labor at the tender ages of “six and seven years (in the cotton
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, children looked up to their parents achievements and accomplishments and some would start work at 13 years old. They rather have worked in factories then attend school, because factories were better at the time (Divine, page 451). To be fair, the construction of factories and jobs being administered to the working class was a great thing it was also ruining children’s future to prosper. Children should be going to school, to get an education and having better jobs to be equivalent to the middle or upper class in the
The Industrial Revolution was a period between both the seventeen as well as eighteen hundreds, and was mainly acknowledged as a time of immense change. Throughout the numerous years, various inventions were shortly to be developed such as the refined Newcomen steam engine, the cotton mill machine, and most importantly, the water frame. These modern developments certainly affected the revolution positively, though after several years however, factories for these inventions were eventually to be manufactured. The factories in particular were privately operated by wealthy factory owners who required others to complete the complex tasks. According to the wealthy operators, the less fortunate of mankind were required to complete these hazardous duties.
As you can see in document 5 ,little children were climbing on machinery and could have been injured. Children were hired because they could fit into smaller spaces and typically demanded less pay. The negatives of industrial growth were horrifying and would eventually be remedied by labor unions. To sum up, the era of industrial growth was a period of many highs and lows, positive and negative developments. The positives are more luxuries and a lot of money into the US.
During the Eighteenth and the early Nineteenth centuries, Child labor was a major part of the industrial revolution, especially in Great Britain where child labor was a large part of the working class and soon became a social and political problem/issue. In late Eighteenth century child labor became a necessary thing for the working class and society of Britain and other countries such as modern day Germany and America. Children were hired because they could do jobs the adults simply couldn 't do because of their sheer size and incapability to do certain things like clean chimneys and fix the machines in the
(This picture shows seven children at home while their parents work) (Document 6). These children are not at work because of the child labor laws that came out of the first Industrial Revolution, although it looks like they could use some adult supervision because they are playing on a fire escape. “‘What time did you begin work at the factory?’ ‘When I was six years old.’ ‘You are considerably deformed in person as a consequence of this labour?’
The laundry hanging shows it was definitely during the day, so it was around the time school would be in”(Document 6). Children like those in the photo were missing out on an education that could broaden their thinking and make them suitable for a career. Instead of raising up businessmen and women, doctors, or inventors, children who only cared about work and providing were produced. These robots of children only thought about working hard and not giving up, not about opening their minds to knowledge. So really, this means that the Industrial Revolution produced
Throughout human history, children were thought of as servants, apprentices, or a means to ease workload. Children would work on the family farm or a family business. They could be easily taken advantage of compared to adults. The exploitation of children for labor without concern for their education or welfare was common and even the norm. No special concern about children existed.
The industrial revolution was a time of immense progress. It marked an era of technological advancements and a changing society, yet also a period smeared with unfair and unsafe working conditions. The history is filled with stories of people suffering, being injured, and even dying, all in the process of creating goods for the changing consumer culture. Thousands looked past the suffering, condoled themselves with the goods they purchased at economical prices all at the expense of the working class, a class that had no other choice than to work in the dark, dangerous factories to feed their family. While the consumer culture in this time could look past the anguish of those in the working class, progressives could not.
Unsafe working conditions plagued next to, if not, all factories during industrialization. Thousands of workers grew ill or suffered injuries as a consequence of their labor, and would yield their jobs, surrendering their source of income. Taken in the early 1900s, “Lewis Hine’s picture depicts two children working on a very dangerous machine” (Document 8). The matter that children were allowed to manage these machines is awful enough, ignoring just how dangerous the machines were. In addition to this, the children did not appear to be well supervised, which made it all too easy for a disastrous injury to occur.
As the rate of industrialization in America grew during the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, child labor became more and more common. The rapid growth of the economy and the vast amounts of poor immigrants during the Industrial Age in America justified the work of children as young as the age of three. By 1900, over two million children were employed. However, the risks of involving child labor greatly outweighed the positives; child labor was inhumane, cruel, and caused physical deformities among children. Children typically worked in coal mines, mills, and factories which contained many life-threatening hazards.
The Industrial Revolution was a horrific time in the 1700s by the fact that it caused bad pollution and children would be worn out at the end of their work day. The greatest aspect of industrialization was that the kids and adults had good surroundings. “Of these there are 500 children who are entirely fed, clothed, and educated by Mr.Dale” (Document 6). The quote is evidence that shows the kids were well cared for.
Child labor during the 18th and 19th century did not only rapidly develop an industrial revolution, but it also created a situation of difficulty and abuse by depriving children of edjucation, good physical health, and the proper emotional wellness and stability. In the late 1700 's and early 1800 's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for making most manufactured items. Many of America 's factories needed a numerous amount of workers for a cheap salary. Because of this, the amount of child laborers have been growing rapidly over the early 1800s.
Conditions were hazardous and grueling. They worked long hours for little pay. Most of them could not read or write and they could not attend school because they needed to work. They suffered from malnutrition and exhaustion. They were innocent children that were locked up in factories, like they had committed a crime.
Child labor was a great problem in the Industrial Revolution. Factory owners usually hired women and children rather than men. They said that men expected higher wages, and they suspected that they were more likely to rebel against the company. Women and children were forced to work from six in the morning to seven at night, and this was when they were not so busy. They were forced to arrive on time and they couldn’t fall behind with their work because if they did they were whipped and punished.