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Child labour during the industrial revolution working conditions
Effects of industrial revolution on families
Childhood as a social construction
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When Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle, a book about the terrible environment of the meat-packing factories in Chicago, he hoped to motivate reform in immigrant working conditions and promote socialism. Instead, what shocked readers the most was the sordid surroundings in which their future meals were prepared. Sinclair 's audience saw these conditions as a threat to themselves, and that energized reform in the meat-packing industry. What scared audiences the most was how real this threat was to their lives. As can be witnessed in the results of Sinclair 's crusade, the most effective propaganda is that which rouses the visceral survival instinct.
The use of child labor in factories prompted concern by the 1830s, resulting in legal limits on labor. This also led to the eventual installation of the child education system. These harsh environments are undeniable but did cause necessary changes in the way the social structure was built in early Europe and the United
“During the 1800s there were few laws in Britain regulating the employment of children,” (Document#7). In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, there were few to none laws controlling how long or under what conditions anyone worked, even kids. In spite of the horrible working conditions for all, workers were to be flooded with beneficial change in a few decades. In The Working Man’s Companion, it is written “you are surrounded… with an infinite number of comforts and conveniences which had no existence two or three centuries ago,” (Document #9). After years of horrid working conditions, worker unions were formed to create new laws for employers.
In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls reflects on her unstable, chaotic, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of her profoundly dysfunctional parents. Constantly getting into trouble, being short on food and money, the Walls family frequently tried to escape their issues by moving from one city to the next, as her father Rex refers to it -- “skedaddling”. Despite sounding a little silly, the word “skedaddle” has a rich history, developing overtime into today's meaning -- “ to run away or flee in a hurry”. This cultural idiom finds its origins in late 19th century Britain and Ireland.
According to Merriam-Webster childhood is the period during which a person is a child; the early period in the development of something. Think of a moment when you were free without a single care in the world yet at the same time at your most vulnerable. During this precious time, you are being introduced to many things such as surroundings, individuals, objects, and getting acquainted with what they are. Children are raised into different surroundings. Perhaps raised in the nicest of the nice homes, or very privileged in the poor side of town.
(Document 7). This shows that some children weren’t properly cared for in their job. They later made rules to better the working environment for men and women. Children also started working at a very young age. For instance,” C:
Therefore, the innovative Industrial Revolution was an enormous improvement throughout Great Britain, regardless of the negativities it caused. The Revolutionary act in 1780 in England would not have been fulfilled without the help of hundreds of men, women, and children sparing dangerously long hours in factories or mines. Even though the work was tough, these people were essential in the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Document one of the evidence exemplifies the use of child labor in England, through a simple interview.
Throughout European history the views on children varied depending on the time and environment , in the early 1500’s when the plague was still at large children were treated older because they may not live much longer. In the 1600’s during the scientific revolution and enlightenment, children were treated fairly and were able to live like children due to rationalism and higher quality of living. Social, religious, and cultural developments affected childrearing through punishment their children, loyalty to their parents/God, and properly caring for them. More so in the earlier times of this period punishment was very popular, parents believed that punishing their children would help them grow and make them better later in life.
One of the negative factors regarding the Industrial Revolution in our society is child labor. Children were taken out of there homes to work in factories and farms.
In the early 1900’s during the progressive era, child labor had become widespread throughout the United States. Children were useful workers for factories due to the fact that they were small and on often be paid less than the adult working in same factory. The work area that they underwent were exceedingly hard and dangerous often times leading to death. John Spargo, a progressive writer, wrote a book called The bitter cry of children. In his book he exposed the conditions that children faced in their working environment to the public.
Childhood is seen by sociologists as something which has been developed by society and in different cultures childhood varies widely. For example in developed westernized countries such as UK and US childhood is occupied with watching TV, extracurricular activities and playing video games. However in third world countries this is not the case as children do not have financial provision of this and are instead expected to work to feed their families. This also links to children in westernized society’s being more dependent on their parents where as children in lesser developed countries hold more responsibility over themselves.
During the beginning of modern Europe, there were conflicting views on the proper way to view children. Previously in history, the infant mortality rate was very high, so kids were treated more like adults and were often neglected because odds were they would die. There was a resounding view that kids should be treated harshly in order to become strong. Then in the seventeenth century, the idea of being tender and gentle to your kids was introduced. The way in children were brought up was influenced by assumptions made on both old and new schools of thought.
In the 20th century, many things changed as far as child and childhood are concerned. Firstly the family size was reduced and the average number of children per family went from five or six in the 1870s to below two in the 1970s. This change happened because there was a very significant drop in infant mortality. This reduction in the average family size greatly changed the amount of time, effort and attention that parents devoted to each child. After all, it is easier to focus on one or two children than seven or eight.
Child labor was a great concern in the Industrial revolution but very few people did something to stop it. Women and Children were forced to work more than 10 hours a day with only forty minutes to have lunch. Elizabeth Bentley once said that they didn’t have any time to have breakfast or drink anything during the day. They worked standing up and if they didn’t do their work on time they were strapped (whipped). Children were treating like they were not important, like they didn’t deserve a better life.
Child development is an area of significant interest to professionals who deal with children on a daily basis. It is through child development theorists and their theories that we begin to form an understanding of how children develop emotionally and socially to become fully grown adults in society with a moral and emotional compass/. Teachers need to study child development in order to provide developmentally appropriate educational experiences for children. Health professionals also need to understand this area to support children in their physical, social, emotional and cognitive journey to becoming functioning adults in society. Childhood is a concept that is affected by social context and also by history. Here in the West childhood was not always considered to be a fundamental developmental phase in life with children in Victorian times working from as early as the age of four.
