Imagine you were a factory worker, waking up at 4am to get ready for a 17+ hour day. The working environment was unsafe and the only concern of those running the factory was the productivity of the facility. There was absolutely no concern for the wellbeing of the workers. Hard work was rewarded each week with very low pay, which only allowed an individual to afford a small, crowded home with little furnishings. This was the typical life of a factory worker during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in 1760 and made its way across Europe and eventually to the United States. It was a time of significant innovation, technological and economic advancements. The Industrial Revolution created both benefits …show more content…
Charles Knight wrote about the benefits in his “The Working Man's Companion 1831 The Results of Machinery, Namely Cheap Production and Increased Employment” that the results of machinery and mass production caused houses to be better built, people to have cheaper clothes, and an infinite number of domestic upgrades. People can now travel cheaply from place to place, and not only travel at less expense, but travel ten times quicker (Doc K). All of this is really good for society, but at what cost? Lewis Wickes referenced a story of a kid named Giles Edmund Newsom who, while working at the Sanders Spinning Mill, Bessemer City, N.C, August 12th, 1921, had a piece of a machine fall on his foot and smash his toe. This event caused him to fall onto a spinning machine and his hand went into unprotected gear, crushing two fingers. This is just one example of how dangerous the factories are for the workers. As part of the story, his father tried to receive the money for his kid's accident and his aunt wanted to get him back to work. Neither was overly concerned about his well-being. This shows the environment of the time and how all the families only cared about the money and not about their kids and the type of dangerous conditions they were working in (Doc E). “The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844” by Friedrich Engels illustrated the home life of these factory workers as well. The homes were uncomfortable, filthy, overcrowded and badly furnished. The entire family went to work so they never saw each other while working those long hours. These conditions didn’t provide for a great family life after working all day and returning home to an uncomfortable, overcrowded home (Doc G). There wasn’t much to look forward to when returning home after the long day in the