The Industrial Revolution made a lot of changes to the United States; it had some positive and negative aspects when it started. When it started it brought great opportunities for work, but one negative affect that the Industrial Revolution brought was child labor. During the Industrial Revolution companies started to hire children to do work, but doing labor it affected children by exposing their life in the workplace, being paid low wages, and in their education. These three affects changed children’s life due to child labor.
Child labor affected children’s education. Many of these children wanted to live a normal life and go to school, but certain circumstances prevented children to go to school. Children who worked in cotton mills had the opportunity to go to school. These cotton mills offered schools and teachers to their children employees. The reason these kids did not have a chance to take advantage to get their education is due to their parents. In the article that Snow wrote she explains the reason why parents sometimes prevented their children to attend school. Snow stated, “Other parents felt schools were taking money out of their pockets. A child going to school meant a child not working and thus not being paid.”[1] Parents wanted their children to work rather than get an education because these children were bringing income back home. Some parents of these children deprived their kids from their education just so they can have a higher income at home.
Children worked long hours in factories, and they were earning low wages. Many of these children were sent to work in order to help bring money to their household. According Holleran, “In Carrboro [North Carolina], as in all cotton mill villages, the father’s wage had to supplemented by mother’s and children’s earnings.”[2] Children sometimes did not get paid for their labor because they were too young. Davidson stated, “This was the origin of the system of “helpers” and nonemployed workers which complicated the gathering of statistics. The wage of such a child was not paid directly to him but was included in the pay of some other members of his family.”[3] Factory owners paid the child wages to an adult member due to their age. Children earned a few cents for the long hours of labor they worked, and got paid less than women and men workers. In an article by Lindenmeye explains the wages that children got paid for their work, “But Mildred, at 15, has been the sole support of a family of ten for the last year. From 7 o’clock in the morning until 5 in the evening, Mildred trimmed shirts in a factory in Allentown. The highest wages she made in one week for all her long hours of work was $1.10. One week she made just five cents.”[4] Children sometimes worked the same amount of hours as adults, but they got paid less for their work. Factories took advantage on children by paying them low wages and making them work for long hours.
The last form that child labor affected children is the dangers they encountered in their workplace. Many of these children worked with machinery that risked their lives, and could even kill them. One industry that exposed children workers to danger were the U.S. coal mines. In the United States, coal mines would hire children as young as ten years old to work in the mines. Working in the coal mines exposed children to health risks. For example, young boys in anthracite mines inhaled coal dust for more than twelve hours that will later lead to future complications as lung disease. In the article called World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey, Hindman mentions how working in mines will get children injured and get broken bones. Hindman stated, “The process culminated with the work of the breaker boys, who handpicked and discarded pieces of slate and other debris. They were “seated on ladders beside the chutes, bent over all day long, their backs were round, their chest narrow. Cut, broken, and crushed fingers were common.”[5] Children that worked in mines ran high risk of getting injured in mining accidents than adult men. Due to the Industrial Revolution, mines became a dangerous job for children that risk their everyday life.
The Industrial Revolution helped the economy of the United States, but it cursed certain people. Children were affected by the Industrial Revolution, and they had to grow up real fast in order to help provide for the family. These children faced the hardship of working at an early age as young as ten. The Industrial Revolution deprived children from their education, it endangered children’s life due to facing dangerous machinery, and children were paid lower wages for all the labor they did. Children weren’t treated fairly during the Industrial Revolution, and didn’t have a lot of protections laws as they do now. In conclusion, children were victims of the Industrial Revolution due to facing unfairness, dangerous working environments, and hardships that it helped later for future generations of children to be protected.
[1] Whitney Adrienne Snow. 2010. "Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989." Alabama Review 63, no. 4: 243-281. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 24, 2014).
[2] Holleran, Philip M. 1997. Family Income and Child Labor in Carolina Cotton Mills. Social Science History. 21, no. 3: 297-320.
[3]Elizabeth S. Davidson, Child Labor Legislation in the Southern Textiles State (The University of North Carolina Press, 1939), 16.
[4] Lindenmeyer, K. 2006. An Historical Perspective on Child Labor in the United States. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 18(2), 133-142. Doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10672-006-9011-1
[5] Hugh D. Hindman. 2009. Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution. “World of Child Labor : An Historical and Regional Survey.” 38-44.
Child labor affected children’s education. Many of these children wanted to live a normal life and go to school, but certain circumstances prevented children to go to school. Children who worked in cotton mills had the opportunity to go to school. These cotton mills offered schools and teachers to their children employees. The reason these kids did not have a chance to take advantage to get their education is due to their parents. In the article that Snow wrote she explains the reason why parents sometimes prevented their children to attend school. Snow stated, “Other parents felt schools were taking money out of their pockets. A child going to school meant a child not working and thus not being paid.”[1] Parents wanted their children to work rather than get an education because these children were bringing income back home. Some parents of these children deprived their kids from their education just so they can have a higher income at home.
Children worked long hours in factories, and they were earning low wages. Many of these children were sent to work in order to help bring money to their household. According Holleran, “In Carrboro [North Carolina], as in all cotton mill villages, the father’s wage had to supplemented by mother’s and children’s earnings.”[2] Children sometimes did not get paid for their labor because they were too young. Davidson stated, “This was the origin of the system of “helpers” and nonemployed workers which complicated the gathering of statistics. The wage of such a child was not paid directly to him but was included in the pay of some other members of his family.”[3] Factory owners paid the child wages to an adult member due to their age. Children earned a few cents for the long hours of labor they worked, and got paid less than women and men workers. In an article by Lindenmeye explains the wages that children got paid for their work, “But Mildred, at 15, has been the sole support of a family of ten for the last year. From 7 o’clock in the morning until 5 in the evening, Mildred trimmed shirts in a factory in Allentown. The highest wages she made in one week for all her long hours of work was $1.10. One week she made just five cents.”[4] Children sometimes worked the same amount of hours as adults, but they got paid less for their work. Factories took advantage on children by paying them low wages and making them work for long hours.
The last form that child labor affected children is the dangers they encountered in their workplace. Many of these children worked with machinery that risked their lives, and could even kill them. One industry that exposed children workers to danger were the U.S. coal mines. In the United States, coal mines would hire children as young as ten years old to work in the mines. Working in the coal mines exposed children to health risks. For example, young boys in anthracite mines inhaled coal dust for more than twelve hours that will later lead to future complications as lung disease. In the article called World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey, Hindman mentions how working in mines will get children injured and get broken bones. Hindman stated, “The process culminated with the work of the breaker boys, who handpicked and discarded pieces of slate and other debris. They were “seated on ladders beside the chutes, bent over all day long, their backs were round, their chest narrow. Cut, broken, and crushed fingers were common.”[5] Children that worked in mines ran high risk of getting injured in mining accidents than adult men. Due to the Industrial Revolution, mines became a dangerous job for children that risk their everyday life.
The Industrial Revolution helped the economy of the United States, but it cursed certain people. Children were affected by the Industrial Revolution, and they had to grow up real fast in order to help provide for the family. These children faced the hardship of working at an early age as young as ten. The Industrial Revolution deprived children from their education, it endangered children’s life due to facing dangerous machinery, and children were paid lower wages for all the labor they did. Children weren’t treated fairly during the Industrial Revolution, and didn’t have a lot of protections laws as they do now. In conclusion, children were victims of the Industrial Revolution due to facing unfairness, dangerous working environments, and hardships that it helped later for future generations of children to be protected.
[1] Whitney Adrienne Snow. 2010. "Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989." Alabama Review 63, no. 4: 243-281. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 24, 2014).
[2] Holleran, Philip M. 1997. Family Income and Child Labor in Carolina Cotton Mills. Social Science History. 21, no. 3: 297-320.
[3]Elizabeth S. Davidson, Child Labor Legislation in the Southern Textiles State (The University of North Carolina Press, 1939), 16.
[4] Lindenmeyer, K. 2006. An Historical Perspective on Child Labor in the United States. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 18(2), 133-142. Doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10672-006-9011-1
[5] Hugh D. Hindman. 2009. Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution. “World of Child Labor : An Historical and Regional Survey.” 38-44.