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INDEX
PAGE
THE HISTORY |
"In the 18th century, many
changes began to take place in the way people lived and worked in Britain.
These changes later spread across the world, and together they became
known as the Industrial Revolution [...] By the 1850s, there were
factories in many parts of Britain, and large, busy towns were growing up
around them. Although the factory owners were growing rich and lived in grand
houses, the workers were paid very little and were extremely poor. They
lived in dirty, crowded parts of town, known as the slums." Excerpt from Usborne World History: The Last 500 Years, by Jane Bingham, Fiona Chandler and Sam Taplin
A Candle Factory Picture Courtesy of "The Industrial Revolution and Nationalism 1800-1870", http://sun.menloschool.org/~sportman/westernstudies/first/2122/ The idea of factories was thought up by Richard Arkright, who created the first factory in Cromford, England in 1769. His factory was the first of its kind and after twenty years, it remained strong and employed over 800 workers. His idea was greatly influenced by the invention of the power loom; this creation put an end to the need for skilled weavers in order to make fabric. This invention greatly facilitated the production of textiles.
Picture Courtesy of Nottinghamshire History With factory towns sprouting all over the nation, many rural families left their farms in order to make money in the new cities. The factory workers lived in the slums; they shared cramped living quarters with many other families in dirty and disease infested communities. The "factory way of life" greatly differed from the traditional domestic system:
The factories were opened and run with one aspect in mind; to generate as much profit as possible. Safety measures (such as better machines) would hinder profits because they were more costly, therefore the owners completely disregarded them. The factory owners exploited their workers by forcing them to work long hours, and by paying them low wages. |
In addition,
child labour was very common during the Industrial Revolution.
According to
Child Labour and the British Industrial Revolution, children were
used as factory workers for four distinct reasons: " - there were plenty of them in orphanages and they could be replaced easily if accidents did occur" " - they were much cheaper than adults as a factory owner did not have to pay them as much" " - they were small enough to crawl under machinery to tie up broken threads" " - they were young enough to be bullied by 'strappers' - adults would not have stood for this"
Picture Courtesy of "Hog Wild", http://hogwild.net But, after years of being mistreated and abused, the factory workers decided to form groups which would protect their rights in the workplace, the trade unions. These unions fought for better wages, an increase in pay and improvements in the safety measures taken at work. At first, the British government banned them in 1825, but the workers furthered their points with strikes. These protests helped bring about social change; by the mid to late 1850s, the factories improved safety measures and improved housing units were constructed and by 1900, children of ages 12 and under were obliged to attend school (basic education was free of charge). By the late 19th century, there were numerous sweatshops located around the world. But after The Second World War, they disappeared because many governments created new rules and regulations for factories. However, towards the late 1980s, and well into the 1990's, sweatshops returned.
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