Commack Schools



Responses to Child Labor during the Industrial RevolutionThe Sadler Committee Report(1832)Excerpts from the Original Electronic Text at the web site of the Victorian Web (Laura Del Col). Introduction by Laura Del Col: In 1832 Michael Sadler secured a parliamentary investigation of conditions in the textile factories and he sat as chairman on the committee. The evidence printed here is taken from the large body published in the committee's report and is representative rather than exceptional. It will be observed that the questions are frequently leading; this reflects Sadler's knowledge of the sort of information that the committee were to hear and his purpose of bringing it out. Peter Smart, called in; and Examined.You say you were locked up night and day?-Yes.Do the children ever attempt to run away?--Very often.Were they pusued and brought back again?--Yes, the overseer pursued them, and brought them back.Did you ever attempt to run away?--Yes, I ran away twice.And you were brought back?--Yes; and I was sent up to the master's loft, and thrashed with a whip for running away.Were you bound to this man?--Yes, for six years.By whom were you bound?--My mother got 15s. for the six years.Do you know whether the children were, in point of fact, compelled to stop during the whole time for which they were engaged?--Yes, they were.By law?--I cannot say by law; but they were compelled by the master; I never saw any law used there but the law of their own hands.To what mill did you next go?--To Mr. Webster's, at Battus Den, within eleven miles of Dundee.In what situation did you act there?--I acted as overseer.At 17 years of age?--Yes.Did you inflict the same punishment that you yourself had experienced?--I went as an overseer; not as a slave, but as a slave-driver.What were the hours of labour in that mill?--My master told me that I had to produce a certain quantity of yarn; the hours were at that time fourteen; I said that I was not able to produce the quantity of yarn that was required; I told him if he took the timepiece out of the mill I would produce that quantity, and after that time I found no difficulty in producing the quantity.How long have you worked per day in order to produce the quantity your master required?--I have wrought nineteen hours. [Parliamentary Papers, 1831-1832, vol. XV. pp. 44, 95-97, 115, 195, 197, 339, 341-342, reprinted in Jonathan F. Scott and Alexander Baltzly, eds., Readings in European History Since 1814 (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1930. ] . . . Be it enacted that no person under eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in the night—that is to say, between the hours half-past eight o'clock in the evening and half-past five in the morning—in or about any cotton, woolen, worsted, hemp, flax, tow, linen, or silk mill or factory, wherein steam or water or any other mechanical power is or shall be used to propel or work the machinery. . . . And be it further enacted that no person under the age of eighteen years shall be employed in any such mill or factory more than twelve hours in any one day, nor more than sixty-nine hours in any one week. . . . And be it further enacted that there shall be allowed in the course of every day not less than one and a half hours for meals to every such person. . . . "Factory Act (1833)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO. (accessed October 4, 2011).Factory Act of 1833Due to the Sadler Commission, this factory act banned employment of children under 9 years old, limited workday to 9 hours for children 9-13 years old, 12 hours for kids from 13-18 and forbade night work for young people. Other factory acts that followed further limited the working hours of children and women, mandated children’s attendance at schools and ordered that factory owners must fence their machines to improve safety, which resulted in fewer accidents.Ashley Mines Commission (1842)Betty Wardle described her experience of mine work to the 1842 British Parliamentary Commission investigating women's labor in the mines. Her testimony showed how private life and working life intersected in unexpected ways. Betty Wardle, housewife, [from] Outwood, near Lever, was asked: Have you ever worked in a coal-pit? -- Ay, I have worked in a pit since I was six years old.Have you any children? -- Yes. I have had four children; two of them were born while I worked in the pits.Did you work in the pits while you were in the family way [pregnant]? – Ay, to be sure. I had a child born in the pits, and I brought it up the pitshaft in my skirt.Are you sure that you are telling the truth? -- Ay, that I am; it was born the day after I were married, that makes me to know.Did you wear belt and chain [used to haul coal wagons up to the surface]? - Yes, sure I did.Parliamentary Papers, 1842, vol. 17, 163, cited in Edgar Royston Pike, "Hard Times": Human Documents of the Industrial Revolution (New York: Praeger, 1966), 258Due to the Ashley Mines Commission, an act was passed prohibiting mine owners from employing women, girls and boys under 10 for underground work.Robert Owen and Utopian Socialism157353034747This is a view of New Lanark, Scotland, as it was when Robert Owen was the owner of the cotton mills, the largest such operation in Great Britain. The rightmost building housed a School for the Children, and the foremost 3-storied building was a School for the Formation of Character. The other five large buildings housed most of the cotton operations.Robert Owen purchased an entire town and provided decent housing, basic education, and inexpensive company store, decreased work hours, forbade young children from working, increased wages and still made a profit. Many came to see his experiment but few followed his example. Responses to the Industrial RevolutionChadwick’s Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain (1842) – eventually leads to improvement of health and living conditions in the urban areas.Sewers were built, streets cleaned by street sweepersFilters to purify waterGovernment set up public baths and wash-housesSoup kitchens were set upMetropolitan Police Force made slums saferPublic Health Act of 1875 – officials were forced to pave, light, and clean town streets and appoint a medical officer of health and appoint a sanitary inspectorDo you believe that these acts helped improve the living conditions of most people in Great Britain? Explain. Growth of unions – 1824- unions could legally exist to bargain for better working conditions (from skilled to all workers). Unions provided workers strength through unity. In 1871, 290,000 workers were union members. By 1901, the number of workers in the union rose to 2,000,000. Within the following 13 years, that number doubled.We meet today in freedom’s cause, And raise our voices high;We’ll join our hands in union strong, To battle or to die.Chorus:Hold the fort we are coming.Union me, be strong!Side by side, we battle onward;Victory will come.Look, my comrades, see the union; Banners waving highReinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.See our numbers still increasing; hear the bugle blow.By our numbers we shall triumph; over every foe.Fierce and long the battle rage, but we will not fear.Help will come whene’er it’s needed, cheer, my comrades, cheer. - Excerpt from “Hold the Fort” adapted from the British Transport Worker’s Union (1873)Why was the creation and growth of unions seen as a positive political effect of the Industrial Revolution? Communist Theory of Karl MarxMarxist TheoryRock, Paper, ScissorCAPITALISMPrivate ownership of industryFreedom of competitionResults in unequal economic classesCAPITLISMCLASS STRUGGLEUpper class (bourgeoise) and working class (Proleterait) struggle over wealthCLASS STRUGGLEWORKERS REVOLTWorking class carries out plan to overtake upper classWORKERS REVOLTSOCIALISMGovernment ownership of industryGoal is to bring economic equalityAims for a classless societySOCIALISMCOMMUNISMGoal of a classless society achievedNo government neededCOMMUNISMCapitalist IdeasAdam Smith: Wealth of Nations (1776)Laissez-faire policy – economy works best when the forces of supply and demand function without government interference Free market- sellers and buyers act on self-interest Private ownership of business and free competition 507174518288000Thomas Malthus: An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)Population growth will outpace the food supply.War, disease, or famine could control population.The poor should have less children.Food supply will then keep up with population.David Ricardo: “Iron Law of Wages.” When wages are high, workers have more children.More children create a large labor surplus that depresses wages.New Ways of Thinking UtilitarianismJeremy Bentham:The goal of society is the greatest good for the greatest number.There is a role to play for government intervention to provide some social safetynet. (Better code of law, education for all, public health) ................
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