Industrial Work Dbq Essay

The 1800’s, when people were moving from the countryside to the city. Now, families were in search of new jobs, but machines created a new problem because they were replacing people’s jobs. Owners of businesses and lands noticed the issue and realized that families needed more income in the household, so they were going to need every member in the family to work, including the young ones. Children were taken advantage of because they didn't have much power; therefore, we think industrial work was perilous for working-class children due to the lack of attention that was given towards the safety of the children. Also, the fact that children could die under the conditions they were put under, was not taken into consideration.
First of all, children were often injured by the various machines in the factories. Dr. Ward tells us, “...accidents were very often admitted to the infirmary, through the children’s hands and arms having been caught in

the machinery; in many instances the muscles, and the skin is stripped down to the bone, and in some instances a finger or two might be lost… The number of children who had received injuries from the machinery amounted to very nearly one half.” (Doc A). Even after a severe injury, children were ordered back to work. The only excuse that exempted a child from working was if they were to die. In the video “Children Who Built Victorian Britain: Part 1”, specialists told us that at times when children were cleaning machines, the child holding the machine back from crushing the one in the machine would let go assuming the other one heard over the loud machinery. As a result of the child inside not hearing the other one, they would get crushed in an instant. Children were not treated as human beings but rather as simple producers.
However, some people were opposed to this claim and believed child labor was a perfectly safe and healthy environment. Dr. Holme’s, for example, collected statistics on the health of children in factories “He employs 401 persons; and, of the persons examined in 1796, 22 were found to be of delicate appearances, 2 were entered as sickly, 3 in bad health, 8 cases of scrofula (tuberculosis): in good health, 363.”(Doc B). The first faultiness in these statistics are that they were taken 22 years before the interview, which means they are not trustworthy because the people 22 years prior to the interview could have been a lot healthier than the people Mr. Pooley employs now. The second faultiness is that the statistics do not mention children in particular which make them irrelevant.
Furthermore, children were threatened and mistreated in these hostile environments.

For example, John Birley experience was the following, “But before we were examined we were washed and cleaned up and ordered to tell them we liked working at the mill and were well treated… we answered as we had been told, not daring to do any other, knowing what would happen if we told them the truth.” (Doc C). Children were threatened to lie to the officials, so factory, mill, etc. owners wouldn’t be stripped of their cheap labor: children. Not only were they being threatened, but they were full of so much fear to what would happen if they were to tell the truth. They were aware of the punishments they could receive, meaning they had seen the punishments take place before and frequently. Another mistreatment children faced, according to “Children Who Built Victorian Britain: Part 2”, was sexual abuse. Children seemed vulnerable to the people that were in charge of them; therefore, they were taken advantage of and didn’t have a source of

help.
The Industrial Revolution consisted of a string full of new inventions, concepts, and ideas: child labor being an important one. Industrial work was dangerous for working-class children at these times because of the abuse, mistreatment, frequent injuries, harsh conditions, and various threats. Working-class children in this era did not experience a nice and memorable childhood. Think about what an average 5 year old in this generation would be doing right now in his or her free time . I’m sure working long hours at a factory or textile mill with little or no pay didn’t come to mind, thus proving child labor in the Industrial Revolution was a crucial time.