Introduction
The Industrial Revolution was many things to many people. The Industrial Revolution started when our technology developed, opening new job positions. Some of those jobs were filled by slaves, but they were also filled by women and children. Since it started, we have been asking ourselves the same question, "Was the industrial revolution a blessing or a curse?" The Industrial Revolution was a curse because it brought on more child labor, terrible working conditions, and it brought discrimination against women at work.
Child labor
Child labor is the employment of children as wage earners. Young children were forced to work in factories or mines in hard working conditions, making a very small wage. Since the amount of work and jobs had to be filled from the Industrial Revolution, they used children. They often performed jobs that would need adult strength. Buissness also hired children for their small hands, as they could tend the machines. These children had little to no access to education since they were working all day, they had no time fo school. Instead of learning, they were performing unskilled labor, tasking away their chance to better themselves.
Working conditions
The working conditions of factories, mines, mills, etc. during the Industrial Revolution were brutal. The machines took a great burden of physical work from the muscles of the workers. Usually, there was little to no light. Workers worked long hours and were usually forced to move close by to their job. It was very unsanitary and there was no place to wash their hands. Since here was no place to clean, the workers became sick and that sickness spread. The buildings had not heating or cooling, so the tempreure inside always related to the temperature outside. All of this made the jobs very dangerous. Some jobs had to do with handling acid or other harmful chemicals when in contact with human skin.
Discrimination against women
The Industrial Revolution afforded women new opportunities and at the same time exposed them to new dangers. During this time, women and children made up seventy seven percent of the textile industry work force. This was because women and children could be/were paid less then white adult men. Most women found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, piece work shops,and sometimes coal mines. They worked from sunrise to sunset. Work in the mills started at 12 hours a day and rose but the pay remained the same for the women at $3.00 a week. Women worked out of nessisity, as the United States did not have a welfare program to aid to the poor. Men typically held supervisory roles, and which sometimes that came sexual harassment and forms of discrimination and abuse.
Works cited
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“Chapter 13 / Section 11.” Virginia SOL World History & Geography 1500 to Present, Nate Sullhivan, study.com/academy/lesson/impact-of-the-industrial-revolution-on-women-children.html.
Cox, Laura. “Working in a Tobacco Factory.” Learnnc, North Carolina Department of Curltural Resources , 17 Jan. 1926, lwww.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4701. Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.
“Industrial Revolution .” Neofascist.com, www.neoias.com/images/article_images/industrial_revolution.jpg. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017.
“Section 7/ the Conditions of Labor.” Industrial Revolution , school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/Industrial-Revolution/275053.
“ The Plight of Women's Work in the Early Industrial Revolution.” Women's World History.com, www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson7.html. Accessed 9 Mar. 2017.
Windham, Lane. "Child labor." World Book Student, World Book, 2017, www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar110760. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017
