Industrial Revolution Primary Source Assignment
The growing industrial unrest is the consequence of denying certain rights to the English working citizens. To begin with, their working conditions are horrendous, working for endless hours in a hazardous environment without rest. One major issue which strikes me as the most appalling is the excessive use of child labor in factories. Charles Aberdeen, a witness who worked in a Manchester cotton factory mentioned in a recent interview that: “The smallest child in the factories were scavengers……they go under the machine, while it is going………. it is very dangerous when they first come, but they become used to it." To work in the polluted environment of factories is a highly undesirable occupation for any middle-upper class citizen, but is not the case for the working-lower class citizens who see their minimal wages as high value; however, for children to work in such conditions? Another interview by the Select Committee with a working-class parent Samuel Coulson further reveals the horror of child labour, and how working in factories is severely detrimental to the health of children. His children first went to work at the mills at the age of 12, 11 and 8. When asked about the number of hours for their work, he answers: “In the brisk time, for about six weeks, they have gone at 3 o'clock in the morning and ended at 10 or nearly half past at night.” That is seventeen hours of work, and they barely have half-an-hour in between for a break. When asked if his children are fatigued by the excessive labor, he answers that he and his mistress has indeed wept for their misfortune and hard work, and that his children had fallen asleep several times with food in their mouths.
As Aberdeen mentioned, children worked in very dangerous conditions, and as Coulson pointed out, they severely lacked rest. Oftentimes without much sleep, they cannot concentrate on their work, which makes it very dangerous because a misstep in their actions could subject them to death or injuries within a matter of seconds, such as going under a working-machine while it is in use.
The mistreatment of workers is also a severe issue. An overlooker John Fairbrother, witnessed an owner physically abusing child laborers, stating: “I have seen my master, Luke Taylor, with a horse whip standing outside the mill when the children have come too late.........he lashed them all the way to the mill.” Furthermore, a worker named John Brown shares how he is harassed in his workplace: "Woodward and other overlookers used to beat me with pieces of thick leather straps made supple by oil, and having an iron buckle at the end, drew blood almost every time it was applied." A pressing matter which is quite evident in the cities of Great Britain are the loud protests and violent acts by a group of highly dissatisfied workers known as “The Luddites.” The trade of these laborers were threatened by the rise of machines in factories which replaced their work, as well as other practices imposed by manufacturers. Stockingers, workers who produced stockings, also joined the Luddites. Their grievances included the fact that wages were being cut, unskilled children were hired to perform labor (make stockings), and efficient machines were beginning to be used to produce cheap and low-quality goods. They objected to non apprenticed child labor and machines because it ruined “the reputation of their trade,” which further demonstrates the conflict between the free market/industrialists and skilled artisans (The Luddites at 200, 2005). The Luddites also engaged in acts known as “Machine Breaking”, where they destroyed machines in factories (which resulted in unemployment among the majority of working-lower class citizens) if the masters refused to remove them.
The Chartist Movement also rose as a result of neglecting the rights and needs of the working-class. The six main demands by the Chartists were: the right for all men to vote, remove the requirement that all Parliament Members (M.P.s) must be property owners, payment for Parliament Members, annual elections, and the secret ballot.
Specific reforms must be made in order to improve working conditions and prevent further unrest. (1) Working hours must be legally limited; no person shall work for more than 10 hours a day, the time can be decided by factory masters; however, working hours must be between 6A.M. and 9P.M. (2) Child labor is strictly prohibited; only citizens above the age of 16 can be employed into a factory. (3) All manufactured goods [produced by machines] must be labeled, in order to protect the reputation and trade of skilled laborers. (4) Strictly prohibit masters/owners from physically attacking or abusing workers in any form, or lay hands on a worker against his or her will, such as hitting, inflicting torture, or even cutting one’s hair. Workers are prohibited to do so to each other as well. (5) A legal contract must be signed between the owner and worker, and if any part of the agreement is not fulfilled, such as if the owner does not fulfill his payment to the worker, the worker has the right to report the owner, and he may be penalized for dishonesty. If these proposed reforms do not become law, the increase of violent protests can result in more deaths, and businesses all over England will begin to decline with the constant interference of protesters.