Causes and Conditions of the Industrial Revolution Causes

Causes and Conditions of the Industrial Revolution

Causes The Industrial Revolution began in England because they had: A stable government A large navy Access to a lot of coal Intellectual climate open to innovation

Living Conditions England Pre Industrial Revolution – Population ~ 5. 5 million

Living Conditions England during the Industrial Revolution – Population ~ 15. 9 million (1841)

What were conditions like? • • • Cramped Noisy Unsanitary Uncomfortable Conditions weren’t improved because the wealthy, influential people didn’t live in the slums so they didn’t care what live was like for the poor

Health and Sanitation Poor public health Many diseases Pretty much no sanitation system Poor diets Poor air quality, lack of fresh water No health insurance system – bad medical care Dangerous/Toxic work environments

Working Conditions

Factory Acts Factory Act 1819 Limited the hours worked by children to a maximum of 12 per day. Factory Act 1833 Children under 9 banned from working in the textiles industry and 10 -13 year olds limited to a 48 hour week. Factory Act 1844 Maximum of 12 hours’ work per day for Women. Factory Act 1847 Maximum of 10 hours’ work per day for Women and children. Factory Act 1850 Increased hours worked by Women and children to 10 and a half hours a day, but not allowed to work before 6 am or after 6 pm. 1874 No worker allowed to work more than 56. 5 hours per week.

Families and Women Pre Industrial Revolution

Families and Women in the Industrial Revolution

Families and Women Before the Industrial Revolution, lower and middle class families worked together on farms and women mostly did domestic work After the Revolution, all members of the family still worked, but not together. Individual family members would work in separate settings. Women now worked regularly outside of the home. How might this have impacted the family?

Gin Alley – William Hogarth

Child Labour Children as young as 6 could up to 19 hours a day and usually only had a 1 hour break A regular work day was 12 -14 hours with minimal breaks Children were often preferred as labourers because they were cheaper than adults Orphans were often paid nothing

Child Labour "Sarah Golding was poorly and so she stopped her machine. James Birch, the overlooker, knocked her to the floor. She got up as well as she could. He knocked her down again. Then she was carried to her house. . . . she was found dead in her bed. There was another girl called Mary. . . she knocked her food can to the floor. The master, Mr. Newton, kicked her and caused her to wear away till she died. There was another, Caroline Thompson, who was beaten till she went out of her mind. The overlookers used to cut off the hair of any girl caught talking to a lad. This head shaving was a dreadful punishment. We were more afraid of it than any other punishment for girls are proud of their hair. " An interview in 1849 with an unknown woman who worked in a cotton factory as a child.

One common punishment for being late or not working up to quota would be to be "weighted. " An overseer would tie a heavy weight to worker's neck, and have them walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children could see them and "take example. " This could last up to an hour.