The Industrial Revolution : The Positive Effects Of The Industrial Revolution

A regular shift for any factory worker was 12-16 hours a day, six days a week. The poem “My Boy” written by a working mother during the Industrial Revolution says that her “labor drives [her] forth…” (Document 2) until “…night when [she is] free.” (Document 2) She is “a stranger… to [her] child and [her child] one to [her].” (Document 2). This was not unheard of during this time. Parents and their children being driven away from each other to provide for the family. However, the mother working at the factory provided better financial opportunities for her family and in turn a higher standard of living. Elizabeth Bentley, a woman who testified on the child labor in Britain, when asked “what time [she] began work at the factory” (Documents 7) responded “when I was six years old” (Document 7). She worked in the mill “for about a year” (Document 7). Long hours and separation of family weren’t the only problem when it came to the Industrial Revolution. The use of child labor was also a significant

A new work culture emerged, The Tyranny of the Clock: under the domestic system, workers could set their own pace and hours of work and but in the factory system workers were ruled by the dictates of the machinery and the factory owners. We can look at a primary source which shows the working hours and conditions for a child in a factory in the late 1700's. Charles Aberdeen first started work in a cotton factory when he was twelve years old, he was sent to one in Hollywell by the Westminster Workhouse. In 1832 he was sacked from a cotton Factory in Salford at age fifty three for signing a petition in favour of factory reform. He was interviewed by Michael Sadler and his House of Commons Committee on 7th July 1832 when he told about life as a scavenger in the mill, and how he had to work under the machine whilst it was running.

This was a little bit on the extreme, children who operated in factories work 12-14 hours with 1 hour break. Not only were these children subject to long hours, but also, they were in horrible conditions. Large, heavy, and dangerous equipment was very common for children to be using or working near. Many accidents occurred injuring or killing children on the job. Not until Florence Kelly helped win the passage of the Illinois Factory Act in 1893. The law prohibited child labor and limited women’s working hours. The law became a model for other

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.

Employers would often require their employees to work long, grueling hours for little pay, often implementing a “sun up to sun down” work day. This is equivalent to fourteen-sixteen hours a day, six days a week. People were okay with this because as long as they got paid, they would do the work. Workers would get paid ten cents an hour. If you were a skilled worker, you earned a little bit more.

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

During the Industrial Revolution, from 1760 to 1850, work life for children dramatically changed. Children had always helped on farms or assisted in making textiles at home. However, as life became more urban and industrial there were fewer domestic job opportunities. This forced many children from working on their family farm to working in unsafe factory conditions.

Children aged from six years old in the industrial revolution worked hard hours for very little. The children usually worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour break. Not only were these children subject to long hours, but also, they were in horrible conditions. Large, heavy, and dangerous equipment was very common for children to be using or working near. Many accidents happened killing or injuring children on the job. Children were only paid only a fraction of what an adult would get, and sometimes factory owners would pay them

One negative effect of the Industrial Revolution was the poor working conditions in factories which were a big problem during the Industrial Revolution. Many people worked in factories, which had very tight spaces and poor lighting. Many

“An act called the Factory act of 1847 was passed and it says that I can only work you all for 10 hours a da-”(“Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution”). He was cut off from the cheering of the entire factory. “SILENTS!! This simply means that lunch will be shortened thank you and continue working.” And with that he vanished.

Throughout the American Industrial Revolution, child labor in industries such as textiles, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, laboring, street work, and domestic work was endemic in the United States. Several factors, including mechanization, urbanization, industrialization, poverty, labor shortages, and lack of regulation were the primary causes for this increase in child labor. Children, as young as three years old, worked from sunrise to sunset in factories, mines, fields, and mills where conditions were excruciating. The arduous work resulted in myriad deleterious effects, namely, afflictive injuries, pitiful deaths, and bleak futures. In order to curtail the abusive conditions, numerous people championed the rights of child laborers and ultimately achieved their concordant goal of gaining federal regulation of minimum employment ages, permissible types of jobs, and duration of work hours for youths.

The Industrial Revolution had an enormous and deplorable effect on children and family life. During the 19th century, children worked in various industries such as textile mills, foundries and farms etc. Major changes during the industrial revolution occurred in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology (The Industrial Revolution, Par 1).

Imagine a world without cars, phones, and radio. This world would feature children working in slums and trips that take twice the amount of time they would if one would have simply taken the train. Believe it or not, but this was how society was before Industrialization. It is argued whether or not Industrialization had a positive or negative impact on society, as it brought the dangerous world of child labor and several ill business practices. Despite these hardships, Industrialization had a greatly positive effect on society, as with it came the creation of child labor laws, the advancement in the mass production of goods, and technological advancements that changed our world forever.

The Industrial Revolution had many positive and negative impacts on society. The positive include cheaper clothes, more job opportunities, and improvement in transportation. And the negative would include exploitation of women and children, workers work long hours and environmental damages. These are just a few that I believe had an impact on the Industrial Revolution.

(Laslett, 1970) Coupled with these innovations was the new concept of applying scientific methodology to industrial processes. (Laslett, 1970) All of these changes, while beneficial to businesses, did little to improve the lot of the industrial laborer. (Laslett, 1970) One of the key complaints of an entirely unregulated labor force in the late 1800s was the extensive use and abuse of child labor. In 1870, nearly three quarters of a million children between the ages of ten and fifteen worked in hazardous aspects of manufacturing, agriculture and street trade. (Laslett, 1970) By 1880, that number was over one point one million, or one in every six children in that age group. (Laslett, 1970) By 1900, that number doubled. The conditions under which children worked were very dangerous. They worked the same shifts as adults (about 12 hours a day, six days a week), denying them the opportunity for school and play. (Laslett, 1970) The factories, mills, mines and other work venues in which they labored were unsafe and unregulated. Children were also often used in the most dangerous aspects of industrial work, such as clearing jammed machines or working in confined spaces too small for adults. (Laslett, 1970) In 1881, only seven states had any kind of regulation laws for child laborer. Desperate for money to survive, immigrants and working-class Americans forged