Industrialization Dbq

The industrialization of Great Britain led the planet with modern technology because of their ample amount of natural resources and their political stability. With multiple entrepreneurs looking for innovative machines and capital to invest in those machines, they continued to demonstrate to the world they were the leaders in urbanization at that time. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of modernized machines, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s negative effects were child labor, separated families, and bad quality of life.

During the Industrial Revolution not only did grown men and women have to work laborious jobs, children had to as well. “C:

What time did you begin work (doffing) at the factory?

B: When I was six years old…Do you consider doffing a laborious employment? B: Yes.”(Document 7) Elizabeth Bentley, twenty-three at the time of her testimony, shared that she began working a laborious job at an incredibly young 6 year old. During the 1800s, grown men and women had to work difficult jobs for long hours, and it seems that children were no exception. At that time, a large amount of children were not being educated because they had to work at young ages for a long time. This caused them agony and incurable medical issues because of the lack of care for the people’s wellbeing. Bentley also mentions that she was constantly on her feet and was considerably deformed because of it. (Document 7) She started working at a young age and consequently gained a deformity because of it just as many other children did. This helps give reasons as to why there should

be child labor laws. In Document 8, the children were standing on the machine and one of the children did not have shoes on. (Document 8) The machine looks very dangerous and the children are not only standing on it, but they are also working that machine. It appears there are no safety precautions being taken by the floor manager or the children. Grounded on Elizabeth Bentley’s testimony, it looks as though it did not matter whether the children were healthy or safe when working. Heaps of children suffered from hard labor and long work hours; not only did they have to work, they were also separated from their families.
Countless mothers and fathers had to leave their children at home for great lengths of time leaving a family separated. “[Before] dawn my labor drives me forth Tis night when I am free; a stranger am I to my child; and he one to me.” (Document 2) This poem was written during the Industrial Revolution by a miserable mother who never gets to see her child. The long hours she works constantly keeps her away from her own son. Understandably, this will cause tension in the family because they never see each other. Document 6 shows a picture with multiple children, and it suggests there is no adult/one adult. (Document 6) During the Industrial Revolution, a mass of children were left home alone or left at work for large lengths of time therefore parents had no chance to spend time with them. Children and parents separated for long amounts of time grow up not knowing each other, and therefore is no chance for them to bond. “Mary Paul worked in a textile factory in Lowell, Massachusetts. In an 1846 letter to her father in New Hampshire…” (Document 1) Although Mary Paul conveyed her content with being employed at the textile factory, she was still a lengthy distance from her family. She had to live away from the people she grew up with; the people who taught her basically everything she knows. Even if she remained satisfied with her situation, that does not suggest Mary was not troubled about being separated from her family. Numerous families were suffering as a result of the long hours all of them had to work and it only increased their bad quality of life.
Although people grew to have higher standards of living that did not stop them from having dreadful quality of life.

Document 3 contains a picture of factory polluting the air from the coal; the factory is also next to a small body of water, which suggests water pollution as well has agricultural issues from watering the crops. (Document 3) This contributes to people’s awful quality of life because of the severe pollution causing illness and lack of nutrition. Not only does the contaminated water cause atrocious quality of life, but so does the air pollution. It is possible that a vast amount of people in that town suffered from respiratory issues because of the smoke there were inhaling; especially people living in close proximity. The picture in Document 6 shows a crowded household and close neighboring rooms and buildings. (Document 6) Considering the houses are very close together, there is a strong risk of spreading illness. The poor quality of the picture does not show all of the details of the picture, but based on multiple recorded experiences during that time, one can assume the housing was not in decent shape. Not only were people forced to live in cheap, unhealthy housing, they also gained an abundant amount of medical issues because of their jobs. “It is very common to have weak ankles and crooked knees? B: Yes, very common indeed…C: Where are you now? B: In the poorhouse.” (Document 7) Elizabeth Bentley testifies that she was a victim of poor quality of life

just as other families were. People became used to a privileged standard of living, but that did not prevent people from having the poor quality of life just as Bentley had stated.
Child labor, separated families, and bad quality of life were the Industrialization’s negative effects were. Some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of modernized machines, it was actually a negative thing for society. Throughout that period, children had intricate occupations because they were petite enough to fit. It did not matter if they would have to live with permanent health difficulties. This only contributed to their awful quality of life. As they matured, as well as other people, they had to live with their problems without little help because they still needed to work; whether it was to support themselves or their family. They had no other option besides living on the streets. Not only did child labor and poor quality of life effect people, separated families were a great problem at that time. People were not given an alternative option if they wanted to work even if their family life would suffer. In conclusion, Industrialization was not a positive thing and many people suffered because of the mediocre conditions of that time.