Name
BlockThe IndustrialRevolutionbroughtmany benefits- first to GreatBritainand then to other countries. But it
also createdsome difficultnew problems,especiallyfor factoryworkersand coal miners. The following
describesthe conditions underwhichthese peopleworkedand lived. You may find il hard to believethat
human beingscould enduresuch hardships.You may also have dfficulty understandinghow capitalists
couldtreattheirworkea so badlyor how govemmenlscould allowthem to do so.
Remember,however,that most people in Great Britain in the eighteenthcenturywere farmers. They
worked from sunriseto sunsetsix days a week. They eamedvery low wages and often went hungry.
Women and childrenoflendid heavywork alongsidemen. Yearspassedbeforethe workers and miners
gainedenoughforceto complainabouttheirconditions.Afierawhile,enoughpeoplebecameinterested
in their problemsto presstheir governmentto supportthe workers'cause. Then, at last, Parliament
beganto investigate
andto take action.
The followingshows how badlyfactoryworkersand coal minerswere treatedin Great Britainduring the
early stagesof the lndustrialRevolution.lt also showswhat the govemmenl,businessmen,and the
workersthemselveseventuallydid to improveconditions.
HARD LABOUR
Englandwas not the only placefor poor workingconditions.ln the secondhalf of the 19h Century,
workingconditionsin Canadawereterrible.
providedjobs in factories,but it also led to the exploitationof workers.
Increasingindustrialization
Children-s youngas eightworkedarounddangerousmachinery
from six in the morningto six at night.
Many factorieshired mainlywomenand childrenbecausethey could pay less money. Typicalpay in
textilefactorieswas 25 centsa day for childrenand 75 centsa day for women;a man might expectto
make $7.75for a 59 hour week. Men ofien worked35 hoursat a stretchin New BrunswicKsshipping
industry.
ln some factories,fineswere imposedfor poorqualitywork. Oftenthis lefl the employeeowing moneyto
the employerafterworkinga 50 hour week. Beatingsof employees
were common. In 1889, a Royal
in Montrealimprisonedapprenticesin a
Commissionrevealedmanyhonorstories. A cigar manufacturer
"blackhole"for hoursat a time,evenaflerthe workday was over. A specialconstablewas maintainedto
frightenthe youngworkers.
Many poor, uneducatedimmigrantswere exploitedby landowners,railway and factory owners. An
examplewerethe Chinesecoolieswho werehiredfor $1.00a dayto workon the buildingof the railways
in the West. A conditionof employmentwas that they shop at companystores for their necessities,
where pricesof course,were higher. They were paid only80 centsif they shoppedelsewhere.
Aclaptedftom: Sevift,Carot. Canadaand the Wottd.Vol' 44, No. 3, p. 12.
ReviewQuestions:"HardLabour"
1.
What soecificexamolescan you find which show that the worker was treated unfairly by the
employel?
2.
What soecificbenefilsdid the workerreceivedespitediffcult workingcondilions?
3.
Manyworkers,and especially
the ownersof industrybelievedin the work ethic;i.e.,
.Hardwork is good for a person'. In whatwaysdid this belief
contributeto industrialgrowth?
4.
\/Vttydo you thinkworkersallowedtheiremployersto treatthem the way they did?
WorkinqConditionsDurinqthe IndustrialRevolution
or old bams.
Someearlyfaclories'were
well-buih,
light,andairy. Butotherswerelocatedin basements
Theywereofien crowdedwith loud,noisymachines,
whichmightincludea hot,smokysteamengine.
that
Ventilation
waspoor. Sometimes
it wasjusta doorthatwaslefi openin hotweather.Theselections
followshowhowbadworkingconditions
sometimes
were.
a.
"Such Slavery,SuchCruelty"
The first selection is part of a newspaperarticle that arousedpublic interestworkers' problems.
The article desczbes the harsh working conditionsof a spinning factory, Such factories were
usually kept hot because the high temperatureproduceda better thread. Can you imagine
working underthe conditionsdescribedbelow?
Someof the lordsof the loom[employers]
hirethousands
of miserable
creatures.ln the cofton-spinning
trade,thesecreatures
workfourteenhoursin eachday. Theyarekeptlockedup,summerandwinter,in
a heatoffrom80 to 84 degrees.
Working ConditionsPage2
The poorcreaturesare doomedto workday afterday for 313 days in the year. They slavefourteenhours
eachday in an averageheatof 82 degrees.Can any man with a heartin his body keep from cursinga
systemthat producessuchslaveryand suchcruelty?
These poor creatureshaveno coolroomto relreatto. They do not have a momentto wipe off the sweat,
nor a breathof air. The door of the placewherelhey work is locked,excepthalf an hour at teatime. The
workersare not allowedlo sendfor waterto drink. Eventhe rainwateris lockedup by the master'sorder.
Othenruise,
they would be happyto drink eventhat. lf any spinneris found with his window open, he is to
pay a fine of a shilling!
There is also the aMul stink of gas,which addsto the murderouseffectsof the heat. In additionto the
gas mixedwith steam,thereare the dust andthe cotton-flying
, or fuzz. The unfortunatecreatureshave to
inhalethese. Men becomeold andare unableto work at fortyyearsof age. Childrenbecomesicklyand
deformed.Thousandsof themarekilledby diseasebeforethey reachthe ageof sixteen.
Adaptedtrcm E. RoystonPike(ed.),Hard Times: Human Documents of the lndustrialRevolution,pp. 660 - 661.
b.
"A Bite and a Run"
The next serection comes from the repoft of a parliamentary committee that investigated working
conditions in the factortes in 1833.
Occasionally
withoutstoppingduringthe whole of meal hours. The engine never
the work continues
stops,exceptfor ten minulesto be oiled. The workers,in their own words,"eatwhenthey can."
"Sometimesthe breakfastwouldslandan hourand a half. Sometimeswe wouldnevertouch it."
'All in my room
would ratherstopto eat becausethe breakfastgot so coveredwith dust [when they ate
whileworkingl."
No time was allowedfor breakfastor tea. They took il as they could,a bite and a run. Sometimesthey
were not ableto eat it becauseit was so coveredwith dust.
Adaptedlrom E. RoystonPike (ed), Hard Times: Human Documentsof the lndustial Revolution, p 71.
c.
"DreadfulMultilations"
The following selection is from an invesligation of factories conducted by Parliament in 1842.
populationof Birminghamare very severe and numerous.
The accidentsthat occurto the manufacturing
This is shownbythe registersof the GeneralHospital.Manyaccidentsare causedby the lack of proper
attentionto the fencirigof machinery[puttingguards aroundmovingparts]. This appearsto be seldom
thought of in the manufactories.Many accidentsoccur when loose portionsof dress are caught by the
machinery.The unfortunate
are draggedintothe machine.The shawlsof the females,or their
sufferers
long hair, often causedreadfulmutilations[injuries].So do the apronsand loosesleevesof the boys and
men.
Adapted lrom 'Reporl on the SanitaryConditionsof the Labouing Population.'Padiamentarypapers,(Vol. 27), 1842,p. 208
d.
"The Mother Sets Out First"
This fourth and final passage about bad working conditions describes the work done by
"carriers." Ihese were usually women and children in the coal mines, for they could be paid less
than men. Eesfdes, men were hired to dothe actual mining, which was even more burdensome.
The mothergoes down into the pit [coalmine]with her daughters.Each has a basket,and the large
coals are rolledinto it. Suchis the weightcaniedthat il oftentakestwo men to lifi the burdenupon iheir
backs. The girls are loadedaccordingto their strength. The mother sets out first, carryinga lighted
WorkingConditionsPage3
candlein herteethand the girlsfollow. In this mannerthey go slowlyup the stairs,stoppingoccasionaily
to draw breath. They anive at the hill,or pit-top,wherethe coalsare laid down for sale.
In this mannerthey go for eightor ten hoursalmostwithoutresting. tt is not uncommonto see them,
when comingup from the pit, weepingmost bitterlyfrom the excessivelyhard work. But the instantthey
havelaid downtheirburdenon the hill,they are cheerfulagainand retumdownthe pit singing.
Adaptedtrom lnquiry lnto the Conditionsof WomenWho carry CoalslJnder Groundin Scot/and,Edinburgh, 1812.
ReviewQuestions
1.
The passagesdescribethe bad workingconditions
in variousindustriesin nineteenth-century
Brttain.
a) \Mrataretheseconditions?
b) \A/hichdo you considerthe worst? Why?
2.
The lastselectiondescribes
carriersin a coalmine.
a) Why did the mothercarrya tightedcandlein her teeth'.
b) \My do you thinkthe girlssang on theirway back intothe pit?
3.
Tenibleworkingconditionswerecommonduringthe first half of the nineteenthcentury.
a) \Mry were peoplewillingto work undersuch conditions?
b) Do youthinksuchbadworkingconditions
canbefoundin anycountries
today? Whyor why
not?
WorkingConditionsPage4
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