Industrial Revolution Dbq Essay

The Industrial Revolution, which was a change from “domestic” work to new factories and machinery that began in England, took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. Women and children worked in farming, so when England “upgraded” to factories, they also “upgraded” their jobs. Women worked in harsh conditions, practically lived without seeing their children, and for long hours.
The women during this era suffered with the harsh conditions of factories. According to a journalist’s report, windows were not opened in factories, so the air was filled with dust (Doc 2). Having “dust-filled air” had to have caused respiratory problems in at least one woman, as it is dangerous. This journalist is unknown and does not have much background to him/her. The journalist’s passage is, but is not reliable because it is unknown if the person worked in a factory, so they would not have much experience, but if they visited a factory and saw the conditions, it could be reliable.

Children were being raised by their siblings while their mothers were working working.

Children “bonded” with their mothers for only a short amount of time per day. A woman, who worked both in factories and farms, found factory working more difficult than farming. This woman also claims to have worked for many years in a factory while her eldest son took care of her other six children (Doc 1). The woman’s testimony was most likely accurate and reliable because she worked for many years and was not able to “fully raise” her children. According to Mr. Matthew Crabtree, who was a blanket mill worker, married men conceived children with young women (Doc 4). This testimony is reliable because Crabtree was a worker who experienced and saw these events occur in the

mills.
Besides working in harsh conditions, the hours were also long; they took up most of a woman’s life and day. In Annie Besant's statement, she says that work began at 6:30 or 8:00, depending on the season, and ended at 6:00 (Doc 3). Annie Besant was one of the very few women who did not work in factories. Annie also mentions the income that these women received. Besant’s statement is not reliable because her position on the income and working hours is simply an opinion, since she did not actually have to work in the factories and receive that income.
The cottage industry, which began in the 1700s, was similar to the women working in factories and the continuities with traditional working-class ways of life. It began before the creation and expansion of the factories. They were similar in the way that the workers were to produce “goods” that would then be sold. These were also similar because they were both in difficult conditions, worked for a long time, and it was a family separation.