Child Labor was very common in the 1800s. Many children from 6 and up worked in the factories. Most children worked 12-14 hour days, with one hour long break. The conditions the children worked in were horrible. The equipment was very heavy and dangerous. Throughout the day, there were many accidents and even deaths. The pay wasnt very good for the children. They got half of what the adults made, and they didnt make that much. Sometimes children didnt get paid anything for working. Most orphans were used for slave-like labor.
Treatment in the factories were harsh. Many children got abused verbally and physically. If the children were late only by a few minutes, the owner would tie a weight around the kids neck and make them walk down the aisles to show the other kids not to be late. The weights caused serious neck and back injuries. My opinion i feel like the punishments were a little harsh, these kids are only like 6 years old. Some boys were sent to work naked to show them not to be late. The kids would climb into parts of the machine that were still running to fix the problem. Most the time clothing or anything would get caught. Their hair would get scalped when it got caught in the machine and their hands got crushed. The factories had very harsh toxics which caused the kids to get dieases and illnesses.
http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html
Reformin child labor laws were passed for a minimum work age and better conditions. It took several years for Congress to get the pass the law about child labor.
http://www.eiu.edu/eiutps/childhood.php
The child labor took off during the industrial revolution, and by 1900 over two million children were employed in factories. Children were also telegraph messengers, shoeshine boys, newspaper boys. They worked ouside during all year, they got dieases and illnesses from the cold weather.
Personally i think the children shouldnt have worked in harsh conditions and instead of going to school to get an education. I'm glad that laws were passed to limited the working days and for children not being able to work in harsh conditions.
Comments
Well done!